About 330–350 km north-east of Mumbai, the city of Aurangabad — officially renamed Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar — is the base for two of India’s most extraordinary monuments. Both became UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1983.
Ellora, about 30 km from the city, has 34 caves cut between roughly the 6th and 10th centuries by Buddhists, Hindus and Jains side by side. Ajanta, about 100 km away in a horseshoe-shaped river gorge, has around 30 Buddhist caves dating from the 2nd century BC to about the 5th century AD, with the finest surviving paintings of ancient India.
What to see and do: Ajanta & Ellora Caves
Marvel at the Kailasa temple
Ellora’s Cave 16 is not a cave at all but a complete temple — courtyard, gateway, shrine and tower — carved downwards out of the hillside from a single mass of rock in the 8th century under the Rashtrakuta king Krishna I. It is among the largest monolithic structures in the world.
Walk Ellora’s three groups
The Buddhist caves (1–12) include the cathedral-like Cave 10; the Hindu group (13–29) centres on the Kailasa; the Jain caves (30–34) lie a short drive north, with delicate carving in Cave 32.
See the Ajanta murals
Caves 1, 2, 16 and 17 hold the great paintings of the Buddha’s lives and of courtly life; Caves 19 and 26 are superb sculpted prayer halls. Lighting is kept low to protect the pigments, and flash photography is forbidden.
Add Aurangabad’s own sights
With a spare half-day, see the Bibi ka Maqbara, a 17th-century Mughal tomb modelled on the Taj Mahal, and the hilltop fortress of Daulatabad on the road to Ellora.
How to get there
- By air: flights from Mumbai to Aurangabad take about an hour. Schedules change — check current timetables.
- By train: day and overnight trains link Mumbai with Aurangabad in roughly six to eight hours.
- By road: around seven to eight hours.
- From Aurangabad: Ellora is about 45 minutes by road, Ajanta two to three hours. At Ajanta, private vehicles stop at a visitor centre and shuttle buses run the last few kilometres. A private guided day tour from Aurangabad is the simplest way to do it.
Insider tips
- Ajanta is closed on Mondays and Ellora on Tuesdays. Plan your days around this.
- Give each site its own day if you can; doing both in one day is possible but rushed.
- October to March is the comfortable season. From April to June the rock radiates fierce heat.
- Foreign visitors pay a higher Archaeological Survey entry fee than Indian visitors at both sites; check current prices.
- Same-day trips from Mumbai exist but involve a very early start and a late return.
Tours that include this stop
These guided experiences cover this place or combine easily with a visit:
Private guided day tour from US$31 From Aurangabad: Ajanta & Ellora Day Tour
If you fly or take the train to Aurangabad and stay a night or two, this is the tour to book there: a private guided visit to the UNESCO-listed Ajanta and Ellora caves.
- Private guided visit to both cave groups
- The monolithic Kailasa temple
- Ajanta’s ancient paintings
Long day trip Mumbai: Same-Day Tour of Ajanta & Ellora Caves
A very long day that begins and ends in Mumbai and covers both UNESCO sites. It saves the cost of a hotel but is tiring — read the itinerary carefully, and check that your date avoids the weekly closing days (Ajanta on Mondays, Ellora on Tuesdays).
- Two UNESCO World Heritage Sites
- Starts and ends in Mumbai
- No overnight stay needed
