Huffing and puffing up a hill was not what I had in mind when I pictured the basalt caves of Ellora, built between the 6th and 11th centuries. I tell my guide, Amod Basole, that I was expecting to hold torches - why, even candles - up to immaculately coiffured gods and goddesses in deep, dark, bat-infested chambers.

The ribbed ceilings at the Mahayana chaityas at Ellora have acoustics that facilitate soul-stirring echoes