Travel Guide Aurangabad

Aurangabad may not look very auspicious, but it's well worth stopping off for a couple of days. The city is, of course, the starting point for a visit to the Ellora and Ajanta caves, two UNESCO World Heritage sites. But with its glorious historical past, you'll need to add an extra day to grasp its subtleties and explore its surroundings. Aurangabad, too, boasts ancient Buddhist caves that provide an excellent introduction to the sites of Ellora and Ajanta. The last Mughal capital, occupied by Aurangzeb, you can follow in the emperor's footsteps at Bibi Ka Maqba, counting the last remaining city gates - he had 51 built - or visiting his tomb in the village of Khultabad, some 15 km away.Since ancient times, Aurangabad has always been an important locality, thanks to its location on the Silk Road that crossed Asia to reach Europe. Under the Chalukya and Rashtrakuta royal dynasties, Aurangabad developed as a center of culture and learning. It was the birthplace and inspiration of great poets, saints and philosophers. Aurangabad's strategic position in the Deccan earned it the name "Khidki", meaning window. It served, in fact, as an opening through which North India observed the Deccan. Mohammed-bin-Tughlaq, the "Mad King", moved his capital there, renaming it Daulatabad. Thus Aurangabad has the rare privilege, shared with Delhi and Kolkata, of having been the capital of India. Finally, Aurangabad became the seat of the last of the great Mughal chieftains, Aurangzeb, as he fought to halt the resurgent power of the Marathas.