Himalayan Mountaineering Institute
Darjeeling
Within the zoo precinct, the prestigious HMI was founded in 1954 and has provided training for some of India’s leading mountaineers. Its fascinating…
Must-see attractions in India
Ladakh
Restored by the army in the late 1990s, this tiny white cube of a temple is said to date back to the time of the 'Great Translator' Ringchen Zangpo (10th…
Tibetan Refugee Self-Help Centre
Darjeeling
Established in 1959, this refugee centre includes a Tibetan Buddhist temple, workshops producing carpets, woodcarvings, wool and woollen items, plus a…
New Delhi
Firozabad, the fifth city of Delhi, was built by Feroz Shah Tughlaq in 1354, the first city here to be built on the river. Only the fortress remains, with…
Telangana & Andhra Pradesh
This historic site was the earliest centre of Buddhism in southern India, with the nation's biggest stupa, 27m high and 49m across, constructed in the 3rd…
Mcleod Ganj
Men-Tsee-Khang is an organisation established to preserve the traditional arts of Tibetan medicine and astrology. The Gangchen Kyishong branch includes a…
Rajasthan
The main edifice of this temple complex is the Ghateshvara Temple, which features a hall of impressive columns and a finely carved sikhara (temple spire)…
Ladakh
Predating Hemis Monastery by several centuries, Gotsang is a hillside hermitage with two attractive main temple buildings. The main shrine is the mountain…
Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram)
Standing like a magnificent fist of rock-cut elegance overlooking the sea, surrounded by gardens and ruined courts, the two-towered Shore Temple…
Rajasthan
According to legend, the main building in this grand complex of 108 temples was originally built in the 8th century by the early Mewar king Bappa Rawal,…
Gujarat & Diu
This small, 6-sq-km sanctuary, 12km northeast of Jamnagar, encompasses salt- and freshwater marshlands and hosts more than 200 bird species, including the…
Odisha
Made up of the Satkosia and Baisipalli Wildlife Sanctuaries, this 964-sq-km forested tiger reserve, 125km northwest of Bhubaneswar, is straddled by a…
Kerala
Rising to 1868m at Agasthya Peak and surrounding an idyllic lake created by the 1964 Neyyar Dam, 30km east of Trivandrum, this 128-sq-km sanctuary has a…
Rajasthan
A series of small laneways at the western end of Nehru Bazaar (a short rickshaw drive north of the bus station) leads to the imposing Khetri Mahal, a…
Khasi Hills Archery Sports Institute
Shillong
This is the venue for a 50-person archery event whose outcome is the subject of a highly popular betting game in Shillong, known as Thoh Tim or Teer or…
Jaisalmer
The silky Sam dunes, 41km west of Jaisalmer along a good sealed road, are one of the most popular excursions from the city. About 2km long, the dunes are…
Kolkata (Calcutta)
Kolkata’s 16-hectare zoo opened its doors in 1875 as one of British India's showpiece zoological gardens, but has gradually dropped in stature and…
Himachal Pradesh
Gue village (rhymes with 'few') is photogenically crowned by a colourful three-layered shrine-temple. This celebrates Tulka Sangya Tenzin, a mysterious…
Odisha
In about 260 BC, 11 of of Ashoka’s 14 famous edicts were carved onto a rock at Dhauli, 8km south of Bhubaneswar. Above the edicts, the earliest Buddhist…
Library of Tibetan Works & Archives
Mcleod Ganj
Inside the government-in-exile compound, nearly 2km downhill from the Tsuglagkhang complex, the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives began life as a…
Odisha
Jagannath Temple, whose whitewashed sikhara (temple spire) overlooks Koraput town, is well worth visiting. The courtyard around the sikhara contains…
Northeast States
The giant 26-sq-km phumdi filling up the southern part of Loktak Lake is home to some 250 sangai (Manipur brow-antlered deer or dancing deer), the world's…
Kerala
This 90-sq-km sanctuary, 50km northeast of Munnar, protects deer, leopards, elephants, gaur, langurs and endangered, Nilgiri tahr and grizzled giant…
Leh
This arts-media trust occupies an adjoining pair of 17th-century Ladakhi mansions, one of which was the home of the munshi (king's secretary) and thus one…
Mumbai (Bombay)
One of the few nature sanctuaries within day-trip reach of Mumbai's city limits, this small (12 sq km) but important forest-birding destination sits 63km…
Hyderabad
Out on the city's northeastern fringes, the dramatic rock mound of Moula Ali hill has long-distance views, cool breezes and at the top, up 500 steps, a…
Kashmir & Ladakh
In a cave within a forested mountain rising steeply above Katra, the Vaishno Devi Shrine was popularised in the 1990s songs of Gulshan Kumar, and has…
Madurai
Housed in a 17th-century Nayak queen's palace, this impressive museum contains a moving, comprehensive account of Gandhi's life and India’s struggle for…
Mumbai (Bombay)
Located on one of Mumbai's seven islands, Mazgaon, the Kwan Kuang Temple is a monument to the city's once-strong Chinese community, most of whom were…
Shimla
A 108ft (33m) vermillion-pink statue of monkey-god Hanuman pokes his head above the treetops on Shimla’s highest hilltop. Appropriately, hundreds of…
Tamil Nadu
Three kilometres west of Kumbakonam, this late-Chola Shiva temple was constructed by Raja Raja II (1146–73). The steps of Rajagambhira Hall are carved…
Srinagar
On top of thickly forested Shankaracharya Hill, this small Shiva temple is built from hefty blocks of ancient grey stone. Previously known as Takht-i…
Himachal Pradesh
Founded by lamas from Tibet's important Khampagar Monastery who fled to India in the 1950s, Tashijong is a veritable monastic township, 1km north of the…
Sajjan Garh Wildlife Sanctuary
Udaipur
On the way to Sajjan Garh, at the foot of the hill you enter the 5-sq-km Sajjan Garh Wildlife Sanctuary. A good way to visit is with the daily sunset…
Sikkim
Layered amid peaceful forests, Lingdum Gompa is arguably the most photogenic monastery in the Gangtok area. Its centrepiece is a large, attractive…
Assam
The grasslands and lowland forests of Unesco-listed Manas National Park, abutting the Bhutan border about 150km northwest of Guwahati, are home to a very…
Rajasthan
To the southwest of Bala Qila Fort is a group of six havelis (traditional, ornately decorated residences), known as the Aath Havelis, erected around 1900…
Himachal Pradesh
Clinging to a rocky spur 2km north of Sangla, Kamru village was the original capital of the kingdom of Bushahr. The old Kamru Fort, a 329-step climb up…
Kashmir & Ladakh
In the 1890s the Dogra maharajas moved from the Mubarak Mandi to this European-style brick mansion in the north of town, with castle-style miniturrets and…
Odisha
Hidden among rice fields 15km south of Bhubaneswar, this small but serene 9th-century open-roofed temple is dedicated to yoginis (female tantric mystics)…
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