Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Aurangabad's
train station
(Station Rd East)
is not on a main line, but two heavily booked trains
run direct to/from Mumbai. The Tapovan Express (2nd class/chair ?112/476, 7½ hours)
departs Aurangabad at 2.35pm, and departs Mumbai at 6.10am. The Janshatabdi Express
(2nd class/chair ?142/555, 6½ hours) departs Aurangabad at 6am and Mumbai at 1.50pm.
For Hyderabad (Secunderabad), take the Devagiri Express (sleeper/2AC ?299/1180, 10
hours, 4.10am). To reach northern or eastern India, take a bus to Jalgaon (
Click here
)
and
board a train there.
Getting Around
Autorickshaws are as common here as mosquitoes in a summer swamp. The
taxi stand
is
next to the MSRTC bus stand; share jeeps also depart from here for destinations around
Aurangabad, including Ellora and Daulatabad. Expect to pay ?600 for a full-day tour in a
rickshaw, or ?1100 in a taxi.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Around Aurangabad
Daulatabad
This one's straight out of a Tolkien fantasy. A most beguiling structure, the 12th-century
hilltop fortress of Daulatabad is located about 15km from Aurangabad, en route to Ellora.
Now in ruins, the citadel was originally conceived as an impregnable fort by the Yadava
kings. Its most infamous highpoint came in 1328, when it was named Daulatabad (City of
Fortune) by eccentric Delhi sultan Mohammed Tughlaq and made the capital - he even
marched the entire population of Delhi 1100km south to populate it. Ironically, Dau-
latabad - despite being better positioned strategically than Delhi - soon proved untenable
as a capital due to an acute water crisis, and Tughlaq forced the weary inhabitants all the
way back to Delhi, which had by then been reduced to a ghost town.
Daulatabad's central bastion sits atop a 200m-high craggy outcrop known as Devagiri
(Hill of the Gods), surrounded by a 5km
fort
(Indian/foreigner ?5/100; 6am-6pm)
. The climb to
the summit takes about an hour, and leads past an ingenious series of defences, including
multiple doorways designed with odd angles and spike-studded doors to prevent elephant
charges. A tower of victory, known as the Chand Minar (Tower of the Moon), built in
1435, soars 60m above the ground to the right - it's closed to visitors. Higher up, you can
