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Heritage
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All things to do
Page 10 of 23
Experience
Chilika & Rambha Coast, Odisha
Boat trips to spot rare Irrawaddy dolphins in the lagoon.
Attraction
Pushkar, Rajasthan
One of very few temples anywhere dedicated to Brahma, and by some distance the most important of them. The structure dates to the fourteenth century with later partial rebuilding, in marble and stone slabs, with a red shikhara and a hamsa — the goose that carries Brahma — as its motif. The sanctum holds a four-headed image of Brahma with Gayatri beside him, and the temple is governed by a Sanyasi ascetic priesthood. It stands a few minutes from Pushkar Lake, to which its legend is tied. Shoes come off well before the steps, and cameras are not welcome in the sanctum.
Orchha, Madhya Pradesh
Built for a single visit by Jahangir, who is said to have stayed one night in it. Three storeys of chambers and terraces around a courtyard, and you can walk almost all of it unsupervised, which is rare for a building this size.
Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh
A 19th-century Scindia palace and museum famed for its durbar hall.
Jaisalmer, Rajasthan
Built in 1156 by Rawal Jaisal at a crossroads of trade routes that fed into the old silk roads, and the second-oldest fort in Rajasthan. It is one of the very few living forts left anywhere: around a quarter of the old city still lives inside the walls, alongside shops, guesthouses and the Jain temples in the middle, which are the best thing in it. The yellow sandstone reads tawny at midday and honey at sunset, which is where the golden fort name comes from. Seepage from the plumbing of all those households is undermining the foundations, which is why staying inside is discouraged.
Yamunotri, Uttarakhand
The road head six kilometres below the temple, where vehicles stop and the walk starts. Ponies and palanquins are hired here at posted rates.
Tirthan Valley, Himachal Pradesh
A small fall a short walk through deodar from the village, on a path that gets slippery in the rain. Ten minutes each way, and busy through the afternoon.
Old Manali, Himachal Pradesh
A short scenic hike from Old Manali through orchards and forest to a waterfall with valley views.
Market
Jaipur, Rajasthan
The old city's street of gem and jewellery dealers, known for silver work, hand-crafted kundan settings and tie-dye textiles.
Auli, Uttarakhand
The town sixteen kilometres below Auli, and the winter seat of the Badrinath deity. It is also subsiding — cracks in buildings forced evacuations in recent years, so check what is open before booking a room here.
Bikaner, Rajasthan
Begun in 1589 and never taken, which is why the painted and gold-leaf interiors survive as well as they do. The walls and moat went up between 1589 and 1594 under Karan Chand, prime minister to Rai Singh of Bikaner. It was called Chintamani until the early twentieth century, when the ruling family moved out to Lalgarh Palace and this became simply the old fort. Unusually for Rajasthan it stands on flat ground rather than a hill, so the city grew around it instead of below it. The museum holds a First World War biplane, which is not what anyone expects in a desert fort.
Thekkady (Periyar), Kerala
An institutional arena in Kumily showcasing daily evening performances of Kalaripayattu, India's oldest traditional martial art.
Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu
The city's oldest temple, an 8th-century Pallava sandstone masterpiece.
Mount Kailash
The sacred 52-km circumambulation trek around the base of the mountain.
Ellora Caves, Maharashtra
Cut downwards out of one piece of hillside in the eighth century until a complete two-storey temple stood clear of the rock — nothing was added, only stone taken away. Ellora closes on Tuesdays. Walk up the side path for the view down into it.
Pavagadh Hill, Gujarat
A Mahakali shrine on the summit of Pavagadh, about forty-six kilometres from Vadodara and one of the most visited hill shrines in Gujarat. The records point to a Jain origin — the temple belonged to the Svetambara Achalgaccha sect, and the Mahakali image was installed in the twelfth century. The hill and the ruined city below it form the Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park, which UNESCO listed in 2004 as the only complete pre-Mughal Islamic city in India. A ropeway covers most of the climb; the last stretch is steps, and it is shoulder to shoulder at weekends.
Shimla, Himachal Pradesh
The UNESCO narrow-gauge railway winding through 100+ tunnels to Shimla.
Chidambaram (Nataraja Temple), Tamil Nadu
The inner sanctum under a gold-plated roof, holding the Nataraja bronze and, beside it, the curtained empty space worshipped as ether. Ask a Dikshitar priest when the curtain is drawn back.
Workshops weaving the city's world-famous silk sarees.
Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh
The largest temple at Khajuraho, built around 1030 and thirty-one metres high, with close to nine hundred carvings on it. Only a small fraction are erotic, which surprises most first-time visitors.
Imphal, Manipur
The historic seat of Manipur's former kingdom in the city centre.
Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh
Prime safari zones for tigers and barasingha across sal forest and meadows.
Viewpoint
The expansive open grassland area inside the core zone, famous for spotting massive herds of the rare hard-ground Barasingha deer.
Hidden Gem
Varkala Beach, Kerala
A scenic coastal spot 6 km north where a quiet backwater lake meets the sea, split beautifully by a beach highway.
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