Thirty rock-cut caves above the Waghora river: the Ajanta Caves of Aurangabad district

Background

Maharashtra's monuments are in view as the Bombay High Court tightens festival rules across the State; Ajanta is one of the State's World Heritage properties.
The Ajanta Caves were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1983 under criteria (i), (ii), (iii) and (vi).
The property lies at Lenapur Village, Soyagon Taluka, Aurangabad District, Maharashtra, and covers 8,242 ha with a 78,676 ha buffer zone.
There are 30 rock-cut caves carved into a cliff above the Waghora River, five of them chaityagrihas and the rest viharas.
Excavation took place in two phases: the first under the Satavahana dynasty around the 2nd to 1st century BCE, and the second under the Vakataka dynasty in the 5th to 6th century CE.
The Archaeological Survey of India manages the property.