Plan your budget trips: Aurangabad The Tourism Capital of Maharashtra

Hello Guys,

Aurangabad was the most frequently tour destination during my school time but every time I have been deprived of attending one. When this fact suddenly hit me, I could not stop myself from planning one with my family during the Christmas Vacation last year and I could make it happen rather easily. Aurangabad is the fifth largest city of Maharashtra and falls under Marathwada region. It is well known as the Tourism capital of Maharashtra. Ajanta Caves, Ellora caves, Bibi ka Maqbara are UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Aurangabad.

Brief History :

This city was founded in 1610 by Malik Amber. “Khadki” was the original name of the village which was made the capital city by Malik. His Son Fateh Khan changed the name from Khadki to “Fatehnagar”. In 1633 both Daulatabad (Devagiri) and Fatehnagar went into the possession of Moghals. In 1653 when Mughal prince Aurangzeb was appointed the Viceroy of the Deccan for the second time, he made “Fatehnagar” his capital and renamed it Aurangabad.

In 1724, Asif Jah, a Turkic general and Nizam al-Mulk of the Mughals in the Deccan region, decided to withdraw from the crumbling Mughal Empire, with the purpose of founding his own dynasty in the Deccan and decided to make Aurangabad his capital. His son and successor, Nizam Ali Khan Asaf Jah II transferred his capital from Aurangabad to Hyderabad in 1763.

In 1795, the city came under the Maratha rule, following the Maratha victory in the Battle of Kharda, along with an indemnity of 30 million rupees paid by Ali Khan Asaf Jah II, Nizam of Hyderabad to the Marathas. However, Maratha rule lasted only eight years before the city came under the rule of the Nizam of Hyderabad, under the protection of the British East India Company, following the British victory in the Second Anglo-Maratha War.

So let’s look at the details of the trip :

Aurangabad is well connected to major cities of Maharashtra like Mumbai, Pune, Dhule etc.

From Pune: Bus is the preferable option because It’s 235 Km by road, takes approximately 5 Hrs. The train will take 7 to 9 Hrs. Many public and private Buses are available from Pune.

If you have a private vehicle the route via Ahmadnagar is best because on the way you can cover “Ranjangao” and “Shani Shignapur” temples which are very famous in Maharashtra.

From Mumbai: Both train and bus are convenient to reach Aurangabad from Mumbai. It is about 335Km by road.

Train (Devagiri Exp-22:00- CST ) this train takes 7 hrs to reach Aurangabad.

From Dhule: Dhule comes under Khandesh part of Maharashtra. Aurangabad is only 149 Km from here. There are so many public buses you can take from Dhule bus stand and they are cost effective ;)

Day 1 :

Below is the route map for day 1 tour which covers four major parts of your trip.

Route map

If you are in a group, booking a cab/auto/taxi would be the best option and you can do this at the Aurangabad bus stand. Public buses are also available and are very cheap.

Places to Visit :

1) Bibi ka Maqbara :

“Bibi Ka Maqbara” is the Tomb located in Aurangabad. This strongly resembles to the Taj Mahal also called “Deccan Taj”.

Bibi ka Maqbara

2) Deogiri Fort:

Also known as Daulatabad Fort. it is also considered to be one of the seven wonders of Maharashtra. The historical triangular fort of Daulatabad was built by first Yadava king Bhillama V in 1187.

In 1499 the Nizam Shahis of Ahmednagar captured and made Daulatabad as their capital in 1607. The subsequent period witnesses a series of wars between the Deccan Sultans and the Mughals under Akbar and Shah Jahan. In 1633 AD Daulatabad was finally captured after a prolonged siege of four months. It was during this time Aurangzeb was placed as viceroy of Deccan who had his campaign against Bijapur and Golconda from Daulatabad. For a short period, Daulatabad was under the control of the Marathas before the Nizams of Hyderabad took control of it in 1724 AD.

Devagiri Fort

3) Ghrishneshwar Temple :

This is the temple of Lord Shiva. Also 12^th Temple amongst Twelve Jyotirlingas mentioned in a sacred Shivpuran. This temple was destroyed by the Delhi Sultanate during the Hindu-Muslim wars of 13th and 14th-century. The temple went through several rounds of rebuilding followed by re-destruction during the Mughal-Maratha conflict. It was rebuilt in the current form in the 18th century under the sponsorship of a Hindu queen Rani Ahalyabai of Indore, after the fall of the Mughal Empire.

Ggrishneshwar Temple

4) Ellora Caves :

There are 34 caves excavation from the Basalt cliffs in the Charanandri Hills of Verul, Aurangabad. These are having 12 Buddhist (caves 1–12), 17 Hindu (caves 13–29) and 5 Jain (caves 30–34) caves. These monuments are made with Dravidian architecture and artwork dating from 600 to 1000 CE period. All of the Ellora monuments were built during Hindu dynasties such as the Rashtrakuta dynasty, which constructed part of the Hindu & Buddhist caves, and the Yadava dynasty, which constructed a number of the Jain caves.

Kailash Cave is the most visited and 16^th Cave. If you want to see all other caves may need a half day.

Ellora Cave

Day 2 :

Ajanta Caves are 97 Km far from Ellora caves. It is better to stay in Verul for the night so that you can leave for Ajanta caves early the next morning.

1) Ajanta Caves:

The Ajanta Caves are about 29 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 CE in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state of India.[1][note 1] The caves include paintings and rock cut sculptures described as among the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian art, particularly expressive paintings that present emotion through gesture, pose and form

The Ajanta Caves constitute ancient monasteries and worship halls of different Buddhist traditions carved into a 250 feet wall of rock. The caves also present paintings depicting the past lives and rebirths of the Buddha, pictorial tales from Aryasura's Jatakamala, as well as rock-cut sculptures of Buddhist deities. Textual records suggest that these caves served as a monsoon retreat for monks, as well as a resting site for merchants and pilgrims in ancient India. While vivid colors and mural wall painting were abundant in Indian history as evidenced by historical records, Caves 16, 17, 1 and 2 of Ajanta form the largest corpus of surviving ancient Indian wall-painting. To know more follow below link –

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajanta_Caves#Cave-by-cave