Aurangabad - Exploring the city of gates

Aurangabad officially known as Chatrapati Sambhaji Nagar is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. This place got its name Aurangabad from the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb who ruled this region during the 17th century. This city is best known for its UNESCO world heritage sites of Ajanta and Ellora caves.

Aurangabad is also called the city of gates with about 52 gates built during the Mughal era and some of them stand prominently even today in the city. One drive through the city will take you through some of the these gates.

 

I had signed up for this tour with f5escapes and the itinerary was meticulously planned to ensure we cover most of Aurangabad during our 3 days stint. 

During our stint in Aurangabad, we were put up in Hotel Fern Residency. This property is located fairly near to the airport. In case you want to travel within the city, you can take local autos that are available in front of the hotel. 

Day 1

Daulatabad Fort

This fort is the ruling fort of Muhammed Bin Tughlaq. Daulat means wealth and hence Daulatabad stands for “Abode of Wealth”. The highlight of this fort is the dark passage (locally known known as Bhool Bhulaiyya) that was designed to mislead the enemies thereby getting them trapped here and eventually feeding them to crocodiles. The defense mechanism comprises of some interesting mazes with a complex arrangement of entry ways which can be crossed only one at a time  The mesmerizing views of the city from the hill-top is the most alluring feature of this fort. This fort also houses some of the prominent monuments like Chini Mahal, Chand Minar, Elephant tank, Bharat Mata temple and many more thereby making it one of the best tourist attraction of this city.  This fort easily takes around 2-3 hours to explore.

Entry fee – Rs 25

Bharat Mata temple

Chand Minar

This took almost half day of our day 1 sightseeing. So we headed straight to lunch from here. We had lunch at Hotel Annapurna which was located at a driving distance of around 20 minutes from Daulatabad fort.

 

Pathani Saree Weaving and Handloom shop

Aurangabad is known for Himroo and Paithani sarees.  There are lot of Paithani handloom weaving showrooms located closer to Daulatabad fort. So after our lunch we took a quick stop and visited Silk Bazaar to witness the weaving work and the main shop to purchase sarees as souvenirs. 

Panchakki

Panchakki ( Pani means water and chakki means mill) literally means water mill. It was designed to generate energy via water brought down from a spring on a mountain. It is really amazing to see the mechanism that has been used. Its underground pipes go up to a distance of 11 Kms to distribute water around the city. There are some shops in the vicinity of this and a museum too that was unfortunately closed. You will need around 10-15 minutes at this place.

Entry fee – Rs 10 per person

 

Bibi ka Maqbara

This is called the Taj of the Deccan since it’s a replica of the famous monument Taj Mahal in Agra. This was built by Azam Shah, the son of Aurangzeb in loving memory of his mother Rabia-ul-Durrani Alias Dilras Ban Begum (Aurangzeb’s wife). Bibi ka Maqbara (Bibi means wife and Maqbara means grave/memorial) literally translates to translates to Wife's Memorial. Aurangzeb commissioned a mausoleum to act as Dilras's final resting place. But eventually Azam Shah completed the work on this memorial. 

Entry fee – Rs 25 per person

This was our plan on day 1 and we retired for the day by having dinner at Fern’s in-house restaurant. Food was ok here but there are not many options in ala-carte. Buffet is good.

 

Day 2

 

Ajanta Caves – a UNESCO World Heritage Site

You will need to dedicate an entire day for this. These caves are located at a distance of 110 km from Aurangabad city which will easily take around 2 hours to reach.

The caves are 31 rock cut Buddhist monuments which date back to 2nd century B.C. In every cave you will see interesting paintings and sculptures. There are two ways to reach these caves – one from the viewpoint side and other is the main entrance. We took the viewpoint side and our journey to Ajanta caves from here was indeed memorable.

Entry fee : Rs 40 per person. Ajanta caves are closed on Monday.

Exploring all the caves easily took around 4 hours. While returning we took the Govt vehicle(Rs 25 per person) from Ajanta caves and were dropped to Parking area where our vehicle was parked. Then we headed straight to lunch. We had lunch at Hotel Ajanta Green Restaurant which is located very close to Ajanta caves.

 

We then started our journey back to Aurangabad and reached our hotel late evening. Today we had dinner at Green Leaf restaurant which is located at walking distance from Fern Residency. Food was good here. 

 

Day 3

Grishneshwar Temple

This was our first stop since we thought better to finish darshan before it gets crowded. There are around 12 Jyotirlingas scattered all across India. In Aurangabad, you will get an opportunity to visit one of the Jyotirlingas, i.e., Grishneshwar Temple. This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is located just around 1 KM away from Ellora caves. Phones are not allowed inside the temple. So we left our phones in our vehicle itself. Hence I don’t have any pictures of this temple. But it’s totally worth visiting  to witness the architectural grandeur of this temple with red bricks which I have not seen in other Jyotirlingas.

Ellora Caves – a UNESCO World Heritage Site

There are a total of 34 rock cut caves excavated out of Chandranandri hills having Hinduism, Jainism and strong Buddhist Influence.  My favorite pick is Cave# 16 which houses the Kailash temple. The Kailash temple is a great monolithic rock cut temple isolated from the surrounding rock and excavated from top to bottom and scooped out all through from outside to inside. Our guide told us that 10 generations worked for it and took more than 200 year to complete it.

Entry fee – Rs 40 per person. Ellora caves are closed on Tuesday.

You will also find EV vehicles within the premises to commute from one cave to another (Rs 25 per person).

We had lunch at Hotel Kailash which is located at the parking spot of Ellora caves. Food was good here.

Tomb of Aurangzeb

Located in the small town of Khuldabad are the tombs of various saints along with the most famous Aurangzeb’s tomb. Aurangzeb’s last wish was to keep his burial simple. So you will find his tomb here adjoining a dargah.

Entry fee – none

We also got to savor Khuldabad’s famous savory Khaja in this area.

Khaja

We then started our journey back to hotel. Today we had dinner at Sai Bhoj restaurant which is located right next to Fern residency and savored their awesome wholesome Rajasthani thali. 

 

Day 4

 

Today we had our return flights to Bangalore in the evening. So we thought of making the best use of last day by covering some offbeat places in the city.

 

Goga Baba Hill

Located in the quaint Aurangabad university campus is this offbeat destination for trekking enthusiasts. We had planned this  trek for sunrise. From the parking point there is a temple and a trail which one needs to trek to reach the hill-top. This is a simple trek and can be easily done by beginners. This is mostly thronged by university students and staff and is totally safe. Worth visiting for the enchanting views of the city from the hill-top at sunrise. 

Entry fee - none

Aurangabad caves

This is very closer to Bibi ka Maqbara. So you can plan to cover these two places together. This place doesn’t see a good tourist footfall so you can enjoy the serenity of this place.  If you are visiting this before Ajanta or Ellora, then you will undoubtedly be impressed with the rock-cut caves from mountains. But if you are visiting this after, then you will like it for its striking location since it is located on hill-top offering you with spectacular views of Aurangabad city.

Entry fee – Rs 25 per person

Shivaji Maharaj Museum

This museum is located within the city and showcases the magnificent reign of the great Maratha ruler – Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. There are around 6 galleries inside the museum showcasing the weapons, coins, social life and many more aspects of Maratha life. Photography is prohibited inside the museum. But its worth visiting.

Entry fee – Rs 5 per person.

So Aurangabad is a city that will surely satisfy every wanderlust’s soul. And I hope my blog will help you plan your vacation in this city of gates and make some great travel memories.