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Aurangabad
 Aurangabad, once a Mughal capital, is now a thriving industrial metropolis and an important base for visiting the Ajanta and Ellora Caves. Apart from being the jump-off point for Maharashtras most celebrated tourist attraction, it also has its own merits as one of the cleanest cities in the country (having escaped the plague of pollution that most large cities of India have succumbed to). The Aurangabadi inhabitants have inherited the pleasant charms of the Nizams and are courteous, polite (even rickshaw wallahs and touts!) and very helpful. To date probably the most temporary thing about Aurangabad (apart from its successive rulers) is its name. All political machinations in the city begin on this note so Khadke became Fatehnagar and then Aurangabad. Today the Shiv Sena counsellors have once again renamed Aurangzeb's capital in honour of Shivaji Maharaja's son, a Maratha hero in his own right, Sambhaji, though few use the new name Shambhajinagar. Spend a few days here and check out the Deccan Mughal architecture before rushing off to be overwhelmed by the splendour of the caves.
HOW TO GET THERE?
Air: Alliance Air flights connect the city with Delhi, Jaipur, Udaipur and Mumbai. Jet Airways has daily connections to Mumbai from Aurangabad. Aurangabad's Chikalthana airport is 10 km from the city
centre.
Road: State Transport buses run from Bombay, Pune, Ahmednagar, Jalgaon, Shirdi, Nasik and Dhule to Aurangabad, and from Jalgaon to Ajanta. MTDC operates a bus sevrice and conducts tours from Bombay to Aurangabad by luxury coach.
Rail: The mainline Railway station stands on the southern edge of the city. Aurangabad is a section on the Manmad-Kachiguda line on South Central Railway. Mumbai would be the main city of transit at manmad where you need to change train for the 113 kms trip to Aurangabad.
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