The Fulbright Conference in Aurangabad

The USEFI Foundation gathers all Fulbrighters in the region together every six months. This spring's locale was Aurangabad, a city slightly northwest of Mumbai. It's noted for two World Heritage sites--more on those in a minute. About 40 Fulbright scholars and students, some with spouses or families, gathered for three days a hotel in Aurangabad. They chose the location well--outstanding swimming pool, gym, grounds, tennis courts, and other sport activities were available for the family members.

The essence of the meeting was to allow each Fulbrighter to discuss the work that he or she was doing or was getting underway, and to discuss ideas for longterm collaborations that could grow out of the Fulbright experience. It was extremely inspiring to learn about others' projects: water management in the Himalayas, domestic violence education, traditional dance and music, caste and identity, fund-raising for the arts, translations from Sanskrit, and more. I did my part by describing the "pleasant time" I was having lecturing about and being lectured to about American foreign policy.

After two long days of discussion, the group loaded on buses and went to the Ajanta cave complex. Starting in 200 BCE, Buddhist monks began carving man-made caves out of a sheer rock face above a bend in a river. Then they began painting the interior of the caves with vivid, detailed frescoes describing scenes in the lives of the Buddha and other saints. After 800 years, Buddhism lost out to Hinduism and the religion of the land, and the caves were abandoned and forgotten!

In 1819, a British hunting party pursuing a wounded tiger stumbled upon the caves and their reclamation began. The paintings are remarkably preserved--despite some setbacks and fiascos. They are kept in dim light, flashlights and special illumination only, no camera flashes. It's essential to have a guide who can explain everything that's depicted. We toured them for about 2 hours before retreating to the buses for a picnic lunch. First we had to pass through the gauntlet of trinket stalls and parking lot vendors. I bought two (very nice) handcrafted items for $1.00 each just to quiet the vendor who was pestering me!

On the final day, several groups of us went to the Ellora Caves, Hindu successors to the Ajanta Caves. The most miraculous structure here is a temple, more than 30 meters high, carved out of solid rock from the top downwards! Imagine Michaelangelo carving the statue David from above, working from the part of his hair down to his toes. Now magnify that hundreds of times over--and that's what they accomplished in 800 C.E.!

Below are some photos of both sights, but with this disclaimer: I dropped my lovely digital camera and it's now in the shop for repairs. On this trip (and the Mahaballipuram trip) I had to use a regular camera with--gasp--film! Some fellow Fulbrighters will be sending me their superior digital photos to make up for my poor little Kodak efforts.

Enjoy, nevertheless! First are Ajanta shots (no interiors of the paintings, yet) including a Fulbright dance student posing artfully; then Ellora; then some folk dancers who entertained us in Aurangabad.