Ajanta & Ellora Caves Travel Guide

Ajanta and Ellora are two separate rock-cut cave complexes near Aurangabad in Maharashtra, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites and both cut directly into hillside rock rather than built up from the ground. Ajanta's caves are entirely Buddhist and celebrated for their ancient wall paintings, some of the best-preserved anywhere in the world. Ellora's caves span three religions, Buddhist, Hindu and Jain, side by side, and include the extraordinary Kailasa temple, an entire temple carved downward out of a single rock face.

Ajanta and Ellora sit roughly on opposite sides of Aurangabad and are usually visited on separate days given the driving distance between them and the time each site rewards. Most travellers fly into Aurangabad rather than drive from Mumbai, given the distance. Two days, one for each site, is the realistic minimum to see both properly.

October to March is the comfortable season, avoiding the pre-monsoon heat; the caves themselves offer some relief from the sun regardless of season, since much of the detail is in shaded interiors.