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Humayun’s Tomb
The most perfectly proportioned and captivating of Delhi’s mausoleums, Humayan’s tomb seems to float above the gardens that surround it. Built in the mid-16th century by Haji Begum, the Persian-born senior wife of the Mughal emperor Humayun, the tomb brings together Persian and Mug
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Nek Chand Rock Garden
Nek Chand Rock Garden is unique: the surreal fantasy of a local transport official who, starting in 1957, spent almost 20 years personally creating more than 2000 sculptures using stones, debris and other discarded junk that was left over from the 50-odd villages that were destroye
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Mahabodhi Temple
The magnificent Unesco World Heritage–listed Mahabodhi Temple, marking the hallowed ground where Buddha attained enlightenment and formulated his philosophy of life, forms the spiritual heart of Bodhgaya. Built in the 6th century AD atop the site of a temple erected by Emperor Asho
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Belur Math
Set very attractively amid palms and manicured lawns, this large religious centre is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, inspired by 19th-century Indian sage Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, who preached the unity of all religions. Its centrepiece is the 1938 Ramakrishna Mandir wh
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Norbulingka Institute
The wonderful Norbulingka Institute, 6km southeast of Dharamsala, was established in 1988 to teach and preserve traditional Tibetan art forms, and you can watch artisans at work on woodcarving, metal-statue-making, thangka painting and embroidery on free tours. The shop here sells
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Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary
Three rivers flow out to sea at Bhitarkanika forming a tidal maze of muddy creeks and mangroves. This is India’s second largest mangrove region after the Sunderbans, and most of the 672-sq-km delta forms this wonderful sanctuary, a significant biodiversity hotspot. The only way to
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Arjuna’s Penance
The crowning masterpiece of Mamallapuram’s stonework, this giant relief carving is one of Indias greatest ancient art works. Inscribed on two huge, adjacent boulders, the Penance bursts with scenes of Hindu myth and everyday vignettes of South Indian life. In the centre nagas (snak
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Manikarnika Ghat
Manikarnika Ghat, the main burning ghat, is the most auspicious place for a Hindu to be cremated. Dead bodies are handled by outcasts known as doms, and are carried through the alleyways of the old city to the holy Ganges on a bamboo stretcher swathed in cloth. The corpse is doused
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Rock Fort Temple
The Rock Fort Temple, perched 83m high on a massive outcrop, lords over Trichy with stony arrogance. The ancient rock was first hewn by the Pallavas and Pandyas, who cut small cave temples on its south side, but it was the war-savvy Nayaks who later made strategic use of the natura
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Sangam
This is the particularly auspicious point where two of India’s holiest rivers, the Ganges and the Yamuna, meet one of Hinduism’s mythical rivers, the Saraswati. All year round, pilgrims row boats out to this holy spot, but their numbers increase dramatically during the annual Magh
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Darbargadh
This walled complex houses three palaces from which Kachchh was once ruled. The largest is the 19th-century Prag Mahal . It’s in a sad state and most sections are closed, but it’s worth visiting for its ghostly Durbar Hall, a wonderful piece of decayed magnificence with broken chan
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Elephanta Island
Northeast of the Gateway of India in Mumbai Harbour, the rock-cut temples on Gharapuri, better known as Elephanta Island, are a Unesco World Heritage Site. Created between AD 450 and 750, the labyrinth of cave temples represent some of India’s most impressive temple carving. The ma
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Kailasa Temple
One of Incredible India’s greatest monuments, this astonishing temple, carved from solid rock, was built by King Krishna I in AD 760 to represent Mt Kailasa (Kailash), Shiva’s Himalayan abode. To say that the assignment was daring would be an understatement. Three huge trenches wer
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Mehrauli Archaeological Park
Bordering the Qutb Minar complex, but overlooked by most of the tourist hordes, the Mehrauli Archaeological Park preserves some of the most atmospheric relics of the second city of Delhi.Scattered around a forest park are the ruins of dozens of tombs, palace buildings and colonial
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Tabo Gompa
The gompa was founded in AD 996 by Ringchen Zangpo, the Great Translator, as Tibets Guge kingdom expanded into these outlying territories, and is reckoned to be the oldest continuously functioning Buddhist monastery in India. Bring a torch as lighting inside its shrines is dim at b
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Rumtek Gompa
Meant to replace the Tsurphu Monastery in Tibet, Rumteks main monastery building was constructed between 1961 and 1966. Unusually for a monastery, the place is guarded by armed forces, following heated altercations and an invasion by partisan monks in the wake of the Karmapa contro
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Janjira
The commanding, brooding fortress of Janjira, built on an island 500m offshore, is the most magnificent of the string of forts which line the Konkan coastline. This citadel was completed in 1571 by the Siddis, descendants of slaves from the Horn of Africa, and was the capital of a
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Udayagiri & Khandagiri Caves
Six kilometres west of the city centre are two hills riddled with rock-cut shelters. Many are ornately carved and thought to have been chiselled out for Jain ascetics in the 1st century BC. Ascending the ramp at Udayagiri (Sunrise Hill), note Swargapuri (Cave 9) to the right with i
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Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple
Constructed in 894 AD, this attractive Vaishnavite temple has a mix of Hoysala and Vijayanagar design. Within are cavernous walkways, pillars and the centerpiece 4.5m-long reclining statue of Ranganatha, a manifestation of Vishnu.
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Shatrunjaya
One of Jainism’s holiest pilgrimage sites, Shatrunjaya is an incredible hilltop sea of temples, built over 900 years. It is said that Adinath (also known as Rishabha), the founder of Jainism, meditated and gave his first sermon beneath the rayan tree at the summit. The temples are
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