I first visited Daulatabad about 25 years ago. From all those years ago, I remember two things distinctly: the frighteningly dark passages that can lead you straight to a moat full of hungry crocodiles if you take the wrong turn, and the smell of bats.
The latter stays the same, except that it’s mingled with the stench of sweat.
What has changed, though, is the passages. A few electric lights have been installed, but what really changes the feel of the place is the fact that everyone has a mobile phone with a flashlight! Where’s the drama of a flaming torch leading the way through dark, unpredictable, winding passages?
Unlike most other people who link Aurangabad with Ajanta and Ellora, it’s Daulatabad that I’ve always wanted to revisit. Something about the fort appealed to me even when I was a child. Workshops both with the British Council and with Ratna Sagar have taken me to Aurangabad countless times, and each time, I’ve thought about squeezing a trip to Daulatabad in. It finally happened two days ago!
And it was everything I hoped it would be. I looked it up before going there, just to know what to expect, and I’m glad I did that. The half-hour journey from Aurangabad to Daulatabad was shorter than I remembered, but I had clean forgotten the 750 steps you need to climb to get to the top. I’m glad I was mentally prepared!
Sunday is probably not the best day to visit, but monsoon is definitely the best season. The crowds were crazy, though. In addition to it being a Sunday, we’re celebrating Azadi ka Mahotsav – 75 years of independence – so entry to all tourist places is free.
Despite the crowd and the sweat, I loved it. I loved the dingy passages with unexpected puddles to catch you unawares. I loved stopping to catch my breath and admire the view. I loved watching the squirrels on the ramparts, and smelling the musty dampness of old stone.
Hot? Yes.
Humid? Very.
Crowded? Extremely.
But worth it? Oh, yes.
Just half an hour away from Daulatabad are the Ellora caves, and the road to the caves is flanked by fruit-sellers because there are guava and fig orchards all along.
Guavas! How could I not stop? Interestingly, to attract the attention of tourists, the fruit-sellers display cut guavas that they colour a deep magenta. If nothing else, I would have stopped to check if the fruits were actually that colour (they weren’t!).
At Ellora, it started to rain, and near the Buddhist caves at the end of the line, is a waterfall. Perfect! It was only when I reached the Kailasa Temple near the Hindu caves that the one thing I remember from my visit 25 years ago came back to me – the number of elephants without trunks! Of all the things to have stayed with me …
But I love it when a memory jolts me, reminding me of what the child Varsha saw.
Visiting a temple as a dancer is quite the experience too, one that I didn’t have earlier. As I examined sculpture after sculpture, this one stood out to me for its potential when we choreograph a piece on Shiva. Sure, we don’t have four hands, but a trishul in the left and a damroo in the right is a grand idea!
As I walked along, I also listened to snippets of what guides were telling tourists. At Narasimha, I did a double take. A guide said, confidently, in Hindi, ‘That’s Narasimhavatar. You can see Narasimha being killed.’
Um … no.
I didn’t stop to correct him, though. I just quietly minded my own business and walked on.
Tiring, but lovely – that’s how my day was. Next time, whenever the next time is – Ajanta!
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