Maha Travel

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad)

Ajanta and Ellora: how to plan your visit

Two of India's great monuments lie within a few hours of the same city. Getting the weekly closing days right is the single most important part of planning.

Your base: Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

The city long known as Aurangabad was officially renamed Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in 2023. You will still see both names on signs, tickets and timetables. It has an airport and a railway station with direct trains from Mumbai, and it is the usual base for both cave sites.

Ellora is about 30 km from the city, an easy half-day or full-day trip. Ajanta is about 100 km away, which makes it a long full day by car or bus.

Closing days

SiteUsually closedApprox. distance from the city
Ajanta CavesMondaysAbout 100 km
Ellora CavesTuesdaysAbout 30 km

These weekly closures have been in place for many years, but timings and holiday arrangements can change. Check the Archaeological Survey of India's current notices before you travel, and buy tickets from official counters or the official online system.

Ellora

Ellora's caves were carved over several centuries, roughly from the sixth to the tenth century. Its 34 main caves fall into three groups that sit side by side along the same escarpment:

  • Buddhist caves (1 to 12): monasteries and a prayer hall with a carved façade imitating timber.
  • Hindu caves (13 to 29): including Cave 16, the Kailasa temple, carved downward from the top of the cliff as a single free-standing temple. It is the reason many people come.
  • Jain caves (30 to 34): a short drive or walk north, with finely detailed carving and far fewer visitors.

Allow at least half a day; a full day is better. Visit the Kailasa temple early, before the light flattens and groups arrive, and climb the path to view it from above.

Ajanta

Ajanta's Buddhist caves are cut into a horseshoe-shaped gorge above the Waghur river. The earliest date from around the second century BCE; most of the famous ones were made in a second phase around the fifth century CE. Ajanta is celebrated above all for its wall paintings, the best preserved in Caves 1, 2, 16 and 17.

  1. Arrive at the visitor centre. Private vehicles generally stop some distance from the caves. A shuttle bus covers the last stretch.
  2. Climb to the caves. A path with steps runs along the gorge. Palanquin chairs are usually available for those who need them.
  3. Follow the numbering. Caves are numbered along the path, not by age. Some are dark inside to protect the paintings; flash photography is not allowed.
  4. Look out to the viewpoint. A path to a viewpoint across the gorge shows the whole horseshoe of caves.

Also near the city

  • Daulatabad Fort: a hill fortress with tunnels and a tall victory tower, on the way to Ellora.
  • Grishneshwar Temple: one of the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva, very close to Ellora.
  • Bibi Ka Maqbara: a seventeenth-century mausoleum in the city, often compared with the Taj Mahal.
  • Aurangabad Caves: a smaller set of Buddhist caves on the edge of the city.

Tips

  • Carry water, a hat and comfortable shoes; there is a lot of walking on stone.
  • Shoes must be removed in some caves. Socks help on hot stone.
  • Bring a small torch for dark interiors, but don't shine it directly at paintings.
  • Late monsoon (August and September) brings waterfalls at Ajanta and fewer crowds, though some paths are slippery.