The Ellora and Ajanta Caves are two fabulous sites in Maharashtra, India, both UNESCO World Heritage sites. Other than some dark passages and bats, there’s very little cave-like about them. They comprise a collection of monasteries and temples carved into cliff walls by artists hundreds of years ago. The oldest caves at Ajanta were carved by Buddhists in the 2nd century BC. There are also caves excavated by Hindus and Jains at Ellora.

It is really impressive what they were able to create with their carvings. Whole buildings and ornate temples loaded with sculptures, created from a single rock. There is no room for error.

The caves at Ajanta have some of the original paintings on the walls. Some are hard to see but they are in surprisingly good shape for their age.

There are more picture on Flickr.