Ruins of Basgo Monastery in Ladakh

While I was still trying to absorb the stunning beauty of clear blue skies, barren brown mountains with patches of green pastures and gushing turquoise waters of Indus river in Ladakh, I visited the Basgo Monastery or the Basgo Castle/Palace.

Situated at distance of just 40 kms from Leh city, Basgo monastery gives the impression of a part of history holding and hanging down the crumbling walls and cliffs of the surrounding landscape. It's difficult to distinguish between the landscape and the walls of the monastery as it gives the impression that the monastery is trying to camouflage its' ruined state with the landscape.

View of Basgo Palace/ Monastery from the highway...

Chamba Lhakhang, highest point in Basgo

Built atop a hill in 15th century, it was declared one of the 100 endangered world monuments by UNESCO in the year 2000. Due to its' strategic location, it was built to stop the constant attack by Muslim rulers. Back then, there were two important rulers who ruled over the Northern and Southern Ladakh- King Takbumde and King Takpabum who passed over Basgo among each other as a treaty. Later, the original king of Basgo fought back the kingdom and his descendants Dharmaraj Jamayang Namgyal and Dharmaraj Singay Namgyal built the Basgo monstery and castle.

Landscape around the  monastery...

Ruined walls in the midst of mountains...

The excitement of having visited a unique land made me wander around the deserted monastery. None of the three temple doors were open though I had followed the entry ticket counter searching for someone to provide the ticket. The altitude, the narrow alleys and the steps kept me gasping for breath even as I put forth slower than usual paces. The only sounds were that of our (my family) excited voices and rustle of the wind. Though my heart longed to see the massive Maitreya Buddha idol that is believed to be situated in one of the temples, I had to pacify myself and spend time basking around the palace with stunning views.

Steps leading to temple

Chamba temple

Kopeshwar Temple in Khidrapur

Khidrapur happened because of a family trip to Sangli.

We had driven after a long time- from Hyderabad to Sangli stopping at night in Solapur. Located between the borders of Maharshtra and Karnataka, Khidrapur is about an hours drive from Sangli. It is easily accessible from Kolhapur too. Khidrapur is a quaint little village with sugarcane farms all around it.

The legend behind the temple is as gorgeous as the carvings in it- Sati's immolation in Daksha's yagya on insulting Lord Shiva and eventual anger in Shiva who beheads Daksha only to be pacified by Lord Vishnu to restore Daksha's head with a goat's head is the story behind it. Lord Visnu brought Lord Shiva to Khidrapur to pacify him. Hence the name Kopeshwar temple. Unlike other Shiva temples, Nandi is missing here as he escorted Sati during her immolation. We can witness Lord Visnhu too in this temple.

Though part of it was built in 7th century by Badami Chalukyas, it was completed in 11th and 12th century by Shilahara king Gandaraditya and Vijayaditya. But, like all the other temples in India, this too was attacked and parts broken by Aurangzeb! Even today, none of the 92 elephant sculptures in the vicinity have their trunks in tact.

At the entrance of Swargamandapa

Exteriors of the temple...

The temple, built using hard basalt rock, stands as an example of one of the richest (in terms of architecture) in Maharashtra in the banks of river Krishna. The temple is divided in to four parts- the Swargamandapa, the Sabhamandapa, Antharal and Garbhagriha.
The first part- Swargamandapa, with its' circular open to sky ceiling, is its' unique feature. Though it looks incomplete, it was meant to be so. Of the total 48 pillars in the Swargamandapa, 12 main pillars have the sculpture of a deity  (Ashtadigpalas and other Gods) riding his/ her vehicle. Interestingly, these deities look as if they are riding alone if you look at them from front but a slight variation in angle would reveal their consort seated behind the deity except Karthikeya.

Complete view of Swargamandapa

Open to sky ceiling

Sculpture of deities on pillars

Pillars in Swargamandapa

The Sabhamandapa has 60 pillars with 5 Dwarapalas on lower panels of the door. The pillars depict stories from Ramayana, Panchatantra and other motifs of peacock, flowers etc., Photography inside the Sabhamandapa is prohibited. 

The Antaral has beautiful Madanikas carved (sadly broken) and an exquisitely carved  Chandrashila before entering the Garbhagriha. The Garbhagriha has two lingas- of Kopeshwar and Dhopeshwar. 
The exterior part of the temple has innumerable elephant and madanika sculptures.

The broken elephant sculpture, deity on the pillar with consort and dwarapalas...

Exterior carvings, lattice window and madanikas...

Spokes outside Swargamandapa

Unfortunately, there was guide available when we visited and the crowd too was large. But it didn't stop us from savouring the beauty of the temple especially the Swargamandapa! On our way back, we stopped at another temple village Narsoba Wadi; more for the food at one of the 'bhojanalayas' called the 'Soman Bhojanalaya' that served authentic Maharashtrian thalis. This village is famous for its' Dattatreya temple situated next to Krishna river. 

Allure of Ajanta Caves

Our visit to Ajanta caves was a part of trip to Aurangabad. Find the blog posts about Ellora cave temples here. Though Ajanta caves are in no way comparable to vastness and size of Ellora caves, they are more tourist friendly and totally worth the visit. The reflectors that are placed inside the caves is admirable which is completely missing in Ellora caves. And, the caves in Ajanta are not scattered unlike Ellora that makes it less exhausting.

Ajanta is about 100 kms away from the city of Aurangabad that consists of approximately 30 caves housing rock-cut monuments and paintings. The Indhyadri range of Western Ghats that lead to Ajanta from Aurangabad is very picturesque during the monsoons. The Chaityas and Viharas overlooking the Waghora (Tiger) river are cut in a horse-shoe pattern which gives a panoramic view of all the 30 caves to the visitors. Each cave has a unique Buddha sculpture, mural paintings and motifs. Some of the oldest caves date back to 2nd century B.C.E. and were accidentally discovered in 1819 by a British Officer Cpt. John Smith.

The view that leads to Ajanta Caves

Panoramic view of the caves

Cave No. 1
Ascending a good number of steps, when we reached the first cave an array of pillars with reflectors placed at various corners welcomed us. It takes a while to get adjusted to the lighting within the caves. This is the cave that holds maximum mural paintings that explains the stories of Bodhisathva (on the path of becoming a Buddha), Jataka Tales. One such stories include the Sibi Jataka: the story goes that a pigeon chased by a hawk sought protection of King Sibi who was a Bodhisathva. The hawk followed and demanded the king its' lawful prey. King Sibi struck a bargain to save the little bird's life by offering a measure of his own flesh equal to bird's weight. These paintings are depicted in cave number 1.

The cave paintings also show the Temptation of Mara: Buddha was tempted by the demon Mara during his course of meditations. When Buddha had left his palace and taken to the ascetic's life, Mara had been at his heels. "Turn back", Mara had told Buddha, "the jewel wheel of empire will be yours". Since Gautam scorned the prospect, Mara had made the threat,"Whenever you have a bad thought I shall know". For seven years Mara had followed Gautam like a shadow, he even sent his daughters to seduce him but after all this Buddha attains Enlightenment.

Read a very detailed blog post about all the paintings of Cave No.1 in Inditales. I love reading Anuradha Goyal's posts, they portray an in depth knowledge about the subjects she studies.

Notable thing to observe when one visits the caves is, the Viharas/ the monastery halls have  symmetrical square plans while the Chaityas/ the prayer halls have symmetrical rectangular plans.
Cave No. 1 contains the much famed paintings of Bodhisattva Padmapani (one who holds the lotus) and Vajrapani.

In contrast to this, the paintings on ceilings mainly contain motifs and other decorative designs unlike the paintings on walls that depict life scenes from Buddha's life and other Bodhisathvas,

The exterior of Cave No.1

Bodhisathva Padmapani at Cave No.1

Another painting from Cave No. 1

Cave No. 4
This is one of the largest monasteries planned that has a colossal image of Lord Buddha in the sanctum flanked by Bodhisathvas. The hall has 28 magnificent pillars. The ceiling of this cave has unique feature of lava flow called as 'Ropy'.

Pillars of Cave No.4

Cave No.9
This is one of the oldest Chaitya halls dating back to 1st century B.C. The hall is very simplistic with a stupa in the center with 23 pillars on both the sides that have intricate paintings which has faded. The walls have paintings of Jataka tales again.

Cave No.16 and 17
Records show that this cave was a gift from Varahadeva, a minister belonging Vakataka dynasty. The architectural beauty of these cave temples are striking. The paintings portray the various episodes from Buddha's life such as Maya's dream and Sujata's offering. Queen Maya, Gautama's mother, has a strange dream in her sleep- a white elephant with 6 tusks enters her body. When the Brahmanas in the royal court hear this, they interpret its' meaning. They say the queen is about to bear a son with all the auspicious marks of greatness. If he accepts the princely role, he will be a monarch of monarchs but if he renounces it would become a Buddha.

The portico of Cave No. 17 has the famous "Wheel of Life" depicted on it which is a living symbol in Tibetan monasteries.

Buddha relief inside Cave No.17

Flower motifs on the ceilings of Cave No.17

Cave No. 19
The entrance and the facade of this cave is richly decorated. The two life-size yakshas, statues of standing Buddha, sitting Buddha and flying Apsaras are very prominent here. Inside, there are 15 pillars dividing the hall into two aisles.  The ceiling has columns with paintings which adds beauty to the standing Buddha statue. It is a chaitya hall that depicts minute details from Mahayana period. Because of its' large number of stone figures it has been called 'the sculptor's treasure chest'.

Entrance of Cave No.19

Interiors of Cave No.19

Cave No.26
This cave which very similar to cave number 19 is one of my favourite! It is much bigger than cave 19, the sculptures around the aisle of this Chaitya hall is breathtakingly beautiful and intricate. There is a colossal reclining Buddha on one side of the wall. This cave is famous for its' Mahaparinirvana (demise) of Buddha.

On the way to Cave No.26

Entrance of Cave No.26

Stupa inside Cave No.26

Reclining Buddha...

Sculptures on the aisle 

The beauty of reclining Buddha through the huge pillars...

There are view points on the opposite side of these caves which can be accesses through a flight of stairs on the hillock. The water streams of Waghora river can also be seen in this area. But we could reach the view points as we were too tired after an exhausting walk through all the caves. On our way back, we stopped at the tourism department canteen that serves some amazing thalis. 

P.S: Once in Aurangabad, don't forget to devour the delicious 'Jalebi-Rabdi' dessert served at Green Leaf restaurant.