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Naini Lake
This pretty lake is Nainital’s centrepiece and is said to be one of the emerald green eyes of Shiva’s wife, Sati (naina is Sanskrit for eye) that fell to earth after her act of self-immolation. Boatmen will row you around the lake for ₹210 in the brightly painted gondola-like boats
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Bhimakali Temple
The former summer capital of the Bushahr kingdom, Sarahan is dominated by the fabulous Bhimakali Temple, built from layers of stone and timber to absorb the force of earthquakes. There are two towers here, one built in the 12th century, and a newer tower from the 1920s containing a
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Ibrahim Rouza
The beautiful Ibrahim Rouza is among the most elegant and finely proportioned Islamic monuments in India. Its 24m-high minarets are said to have inspired those of the Taj Mahal, and its tale is similarly poignant: built by emperor Ibrahim Adil Shah II (r 1580–1627) as a future maus
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Akshardham Temple
Rising dramatically over the eastern suburbs, the Hindu Swaminarayan Group’s controversially ostentatious Akshardham Temple draws elements from traditional Orissan, Gujarati, Mughal and Rajasthani architecture. Surrounding this spiritual showpiece is a series of Disneyesque exhibit
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Vishwashanti Stupa
Constructed in 1965, this blazing-white, 40m stupa stands atop the Ratnagiri Hill about 5km south of town. Recesses in the stupa feature golden statues of Buddha in four stages of his life – birth, enlightenment, preaching and death. A fun, but wobbly, single-person chairlift runs
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Hadimba Temple
This much-revered wood-and-stone mandir, constructed in 1553, stands in a clearing in the cedar forest about 2km west of central Manali. Pilgrims come from across India to honour Hadimba, the demon wife of the Pandava Bhima from the Mahabharata. The temples wooden doorway, under a
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Qila Mubarak
The ancestral home of the maharajas of Patiala, this richly ornamented but fading 18th-century fort is an Arabian Nights fantasy of soaring buttresses and latticed balconies. You can’t enter the interior of the fort, but you are allowed to walk between the hugely impressive inner a
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Khanqah Shah
This distinctively spired 1730s Muslim meeting hall is one of Srinagar’s most beautiful. It was constructed without using any nails and both frontage and interiors are covered in papier-mâché reliefs and elaborately coloured khatamband (faceted wood panelling). Non-Muslim visitors
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Ajanta Caves
Ajanta’s caves line a steep face of a horseshoe-shaped gorge bordering the Waghore River. Five of the caves are chaityas (prayer halls) while others are viharas (monasteries). Caves 8, 9, 10, 12, 13 and part of 15 are early Buddhist caves, while the others date from around the 5th
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Charminar
Hyderabad’s principal landmark and city symbol was built by Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah in 1591 to commemorate the founding of Hyderabad and the end of epidemics caused by Golconda’s water shortage. The beautiful four-column, 56m-high structure has four arches facing the cardinal point
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Kandariya
The 30.5m-long Kandariya-Mahadev, built between 1025 and 1050, is the largest temple and represents the highpoint of Chandelan architecture. It also has the most representations of female beauty and sexual acrobatics. There are 872 statues, most nearly 1m high – taller than those a
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Guntupalli
This former Buddhist monastic compound, high on a hilltop overlooking a vast expanse of forest and paddy fields, is specially noteworthy for its circular rock-cut chaitya-griha shrine. The cave’s domed ceiling is carved with ‘wooden beams’ designed to look like those in a hut. The
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Cellular Jail National Memorial
A former British prison, the evocative Cellular Jail National Memorial now serves as a shrine to the political dissidents it once jailed. Construction of the jail began in 1896 and it was completed in 1906 – the original seven wings (several of which were destroyed by the Japanese
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Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park
This 72-hectare park – and model of intelligent ecotourism – sits in the lee of Mehrangarh. It has been lovingly restored and planted with native species to show the natural diversity of the region. The park is criss-crossed with walking trails that take you up to the city walls, a
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Shore Temple
Standing like a magnificent fist of rock-cut elegance overlooking the sea, the two-towered Shore Temple symbolises the heights of Pallava architecture and the maritime ambitions of the Pallava kings. Its small size belies its excellent proportion and the supreme quality of the carv
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Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya
Mumbai’s biggest and best museum displays a mix of exhibits from across India. The domed behemoth, an intriguing hodgepodge of Islamic, Hindu and British architecture, is a flamboyant Indo-Saracenic design by George Wittet (who also designed the Gateway of India).Its vast collectio
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Leh Palace
Bearing a passing similarity to the Potala Palace in Lhasa (Tibet), this nine-storey dun-coloured palace is Lehs dominant structure and architectural icon. It took shape under 17th-century king Sengge Namgyal but has been essentially unoccupied since the Ladakhi royals were strippe
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Blackbuck National Park
This beautiful, 34-sq-km park encompasses large areas of pale, custard-coloured grassland stretching between two seasonal rivers. Formerly called Velavadar National Park, it’s famous for its blackbucks, beautiful, fast antelope that sport elegant spiralling horns – as long as 65cm
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Chowmahalla Palace
This opulent 18th-and-19th-century palace, the main residence of several nizams, comprises four garden courtyards in a line from north to south. Most dazzling is the Khilwat Mubarak at the end of the first courtyard, a magnificent durbar hall where nizams held ceremonies under 19 e
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Fort St George
Finished in 1653 by the British East India Company, the fort has undergone many facelifts over the years. Inside the vast perimeter walls is now a precinct housing Tamil Nadus Legislative Assembly & Secretariat, and a smattering of older buildings. One of these, the Fort Museum
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