Nasik-Ellora: cost of car rental per day?

Aishah

Katriin - do you mean the caves are 150km from where you start? If total round trip is 300 km then you shouldn't pay any more than 1500 rupees for the whole trip, if in a Tata Indica. Calculate roughly 5 rupees per km for round trip. For convenience etc. if this is to be a day trip, the car sounds a good idea to me. But there must be other cars and drivers available not just this overpriced one.

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katriin

Yes, 300 km a round trip is the rough distance that one distance calculator in internet gives me.

jyotirmoy

There is an overnight train 1005 CSTM UMD EXP which departs Nasik at 23:38 and reaches Aurangabad at 3 AM. There is a day train too 7617 TAPOVAN EXPRESS which departs at 9:50 and arrives at 13:30. You can spend that afternoon visiting the sites in Aurangabad and next day early morning set out for Ellora.

safari vala

VERY near Nasik there are Bhuddhist cave temples at Pandua lena and these would be quite interesting and less touristy .Don't spend the whole day in a car. there is plenty to see in the Nasik district. The Hill station just over the Gujarat border is close by , Saputara (spelling?)

safari vala

Pandu Lena
Location: Trirashmi Leni Hills, Pandavleni Mountains
Distance: About 8 km to the south of Nashik
Highlights: Hinayana Buddhist Caves
Built By: Jain Kings
Number of Caves: 24

Pandu Lena caves are situated near the Nashik city of India, at a distance of only 8 km towards its south. They are one amongst the numerous Buddhist Caves built in the country during the flourishing days of the religion and are twenty four in number. The caves date back to the time period between 1st century BC and 2nd century AD. Amongst all the caves situated at Pandu Lena, also known by the name of Pandavleni, the most significant ones comprise of those numbered eighteen and twenty.

All these caves are viharas (monasteries), with the exception of cave 18, and are counted amongst the oldest structures situated in the vicinity of Nasik. Another name for the Pandu Lena Caves is Trirashmi Leni, based on the name of the Trirashmi Leni Hills amidst which they are situated. These caves were built by the Jain kings, as home for the Jain saints. Cave 3 is a huge vihara, which has been adorned with a few magnificent sculptures. Cave 10, though older than cave 3 and with more intricately carved sculptures, looks almost identical to the latter.

Cave 18 comprises of a Chaitya Hall and is believed to have been built around the same time as the Karla Caves. The cave boasts of splendid sculptural designs and has a beautifully ornamented portico. It houses magnificent idols of Buddha and Bodhisatva, along with the icons of Jain Teerthankara Vrishabhdeo, Veer Manibhadraji and Ambikadevi. Other notable features comprise of skillfully chiseled water tanks. Though more than 2000 years old, Pandu Lena Caves are definitely worth having a look at.

Aishah

safari vala - interesting information here. We never heard back from OP - I wonder if she took a car or the train? Her posts were in Feb. and March. Maybe, she still hasn't arrived in India...

safari vala

i am a 'cave fancier' so i will see karle caves and pandu lena one day.