Wender·Vista
Aurangabad
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileIndia
in central Maharashtra, on the Deccan plateau

Aurangabad

— — the gate to Ajanta and Ellora.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A city on the Deccan plateau of central Maharashtra, officially renamed Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in 2023 and still widely known as Aurangabad. It sits a short drive from two of India's great rock-cut cave complexes — Ajanta and Ellora — and holds Bibi Ka Maqbara, the white marble tomb built in 1660 for Aurangzeb's empress.

from the studio
Aurangabad
— bring it home

Aurangabad, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Aurangabad

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Aurangabad, officially renamed Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in 2023, is a major city of central Maharashtra on the Deccan plateau, at roughly 568 metres elevation. The city sits about 330 kilometres east of Mumbai and houses around 1.5 million people. Founded in 1610 by the Ahmadnagar Sultanate's general Malik Ambar as Khadki, it was renamed Aurangabad when the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb made it his Deccan capital in 1653. Today the city serves as the administrative seat of the Aurangabad division and the usual base for visitors to the surrounding UNESCO cave sites.

— the stone

The region's defining monuments are carved, not built. The Ajanta Caves, 100 kilometres northeast, hold 30 Buddhist rock-cut shrines from roughly the 2nd century BCE through the 5th century CE, with murals counted among the finest in ancient Indian painting. The Ellora Caves, 30 kilometres northwest, hold 34 Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain caves cut between the 6th and 10th centuries — including the Kailasa Temple, a single monolith carved top-down from one basalt cliff. Both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites and are the reason most travellers arrive in the city.

— the year

The city's name has changed with the powers that held the Deccan. Founded in 1610 as Khadki by Malik Ambar, the Habshi statesman of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, it became Fatehnagar under his son and then Aurangabad in 1653, when the Mughal prince Aurangzeb established it as his southern capital. Aurangzeb ruled from here for much of his reign and died nearby in 1707. The city remained a Nizam holding through the 18th and 19th centuries, joined independent India in 1948, and was officially renamed Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in 2023.

— where
India · Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad), Maharashtra
— elevation
568 m · 1,864 ft
— position
19.8800° N · 75.3400° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
30 km NW
Ellora Caves
UNESCO cave complex
100 km NE
Ajanta Caves
UNESCO cave complex
15 km W
Daulatabad Fort
hilltop fortress
3 km N
Bibi Ka Maqbara
Mughal mausoleum
N
Aurangabad
Ellora Caves
Ajanta Caves
Daulatabad Fort
Bibi Ka Maqbara
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Aurangabad — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Aurangabad — officially Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar since 2023 — is a city in central Maharashtra on the Deccan plateau, about 330 kilometres east of Mumbai and 568 metres above sea level.

The Maharashtra government renamed Aurangabad to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in 2023, honouring the Maratha king Sambhaji. The older name, after the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, remains in everyday use and on most signage.

The Ellora Caves are about 30 kilometres northwest of the city; the Ajanta Caves are about 100 kilometres northeast. Both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites and the city is the usual base for visiting them.

A white marble mausoleum in Aurangabad built in 1660 for Dilras Banu Begum, Aurangzeb's empress. It deliberately mirrors the Taj Mahal in plan and silhouette on a smaller scale, and is sometimes called the Mini Taj.

A 12th-century hilltop fortress 15 kilometres west of the city, briefly the capital of the Tughlaq Sultanate in the 14th century. The approach climbs a single fortified path through several gate complexes to a basalt summit.

Marathi is the official language of Maharashtra and the everyday language of the city. Hindi, Urdu, and English are widely understood; Dakhini Urdu has historical roots here from the Mughal period.

— about the piece in your home

It has been a meaningful gift for customers with ties to the Deccan and to wider India. The piece reads as a place, not a postcard. A Small or Medium with a studio note carries well.

The piece sits well in Indo-modern rooms, in collected Maximalist interiors, and in spaces with terracotta, ivory, and deep teal. The marble whites and basalt tones in the artwork hold against a saturated or chalk wall.

Yes. The current Indo-modern direction favours pieces tied to a specific city or monument over generic Mughal-pattern prints. A ceramic tile of a named Deccan city places the room more truthfully than stock decor.

Above a standard sofa, a single Large carries the wall on its own. For a longer console or wider sofa, a 4-tile Mural sits well; a 9-tile Mural anchors a full feature wall.

Yes. Choose the Dura Satin or Matte finish for any room with steam or splash. Both are scratch-resistant and clean with a microfibre cloth and water; the Glossy finish stays in drier rooms.

A soft microfibre cloth and plain water. No solvents, no abrasives. The colour lives in the ceramic surface beneath a thin protective layer, so nothing on the cleaning rag reaches the pigment.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original work from a single studio in Knoxville, Tennessee, hand-finished in-house. We do not license imagery in or out; the eye is Reid Wender's.

— if this one stayed with you

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