Famous places
Temples, forts, natural wonders and cities that every Indian should know.
Showing 1–60 of 280
- Aizawl
आइज़ोल
Mizoram’s capital, a city of houses stacked along steep ridges, with views across green hills and valleys.
MizoramCity - Ajanta Caves
अजंता की गुफाएँ
Buddhist rock-cut caves in a horseshoe-shaped gorge, famous for their wall paintings of the Jataka tales.
MaharashtraMonumentUNESCO 1983 - Alappuzha backwaters
अलप्पुझा के बैकवाटर
A maze of canals, rivers and lakes around Vembanad Lake, lined with coconut palms and paddy fields, best seen from a kettuvallam houseboat.
KeralaNatural wonder - Baba Baidyanath Dham, Deoghar
बाबा बैद्यनाथ धाम, देवघर
One of the twelve jyotirlingas of Shiva, visited by millions of kanwariyas who carry Ganga water on foot during the month of Shravan.
JharkhandPilgrimage site - Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur
बृहदीश्वर मंदिर, तंजावुर
The great Shiva temple built by the Chola king Rajaraja I, part of the UNESCO-listed Great Living Chola Temples.
Tamil NaduTempleUNESCO 1987 - Capitol Complex
कैपिटल कॉम्प्लेक्स
Le Corbusier's group of government buildings at the head of the city, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
ChandigarhMonumentUNESCO 2016 - Cellular Jail National Memorial
सेल्युलर जेल राष्ट्रीय स्मारक
The colonial prison of solitary cells where the British held freedom fighters, now a national memorial and museum.
Andaman and Nicobar IslandsMemorial - Charminar
चारमीनार
The four-minaret monument at the heart of old Hyderabad, built in 1591 by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the founder of the city.
TelanganaMonument - Chitrakote Falls
चित्रकोट जलप्रपात
A wide, horseshoe-shaped waterfall on the Indravati river in Bastar, often called the Niagara of India.
ChhattisgarhNatural wonder - Churches and Convents of Goa (Old Goa)
गोवा के चर्च और कॉन्वेंट (पुराना गोवा)
The churches and convents of Old Goa, once the capital of Portuguese India, including the Basilica of Bom Jesus and the Se Cathedral.
GoaMonumentUNESCO 1986 - Dal Lake, Srinagar
डल झील, श्रीनगर
Srinagar's famous lake of houseboats, shikaras, floating gardens and lotus beds, ringed by the Zabarwan hills.
Jammu and KashmirNatural wonder - Diu Fort
दीव का किला
A massive sixteenth-century Portuguese fort at the eastern tip of Diu island, surrounded by the sea on three sides and a rock-cut moat on the fourth.
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and DiuFort - Group of Monuments at Hampi
हम्पी स्मारक समूह
Ruins of Vijayanagara, the capital of a great South Indian empire, spread among giant boulders along the Tungabhadra river.
KarnatakaMonumentUNESCO 1986 - Jaipur, the Pink City
जयपुर, गुलाबी नगरी
The planned walled city founded by Sawai Jai Singh II in 1727, with its grid of bazaars, Hawa Mahal and City Palace. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
RajasthanCityUNESCO 2019 - Kavaratti
कवरत्ती
Capital island of Lakshadweep, with a calm lagoon, old mosques and a marine aquarium.
LakshadweepIsland - Kaziranga National Park
काज़ीरंगा राष्ट्रीय उद्यान
Floodplain grasslands, wetlands and forest on the south bank of the Brahmaputra, home to most of the world’s great one-horned rhinos.
AssamNational parkUNESCO 1985 - Khajuraho Group of Monuments
खजुराहो स्मारक समूह
Hindu and Jain temples built under the Chandela rulers, famous for their soaring spires and finely carved sculpture.
Madhya PradeshTempleUNESCO 1986 - Khangchendzonga National Park
कंचनजंगा राष्ट्रीय उद्यान
A vast high-mountain park around Khangchendzonga, the world’s third-highest peak, with glaciers, lakes and forests sacred to the people of Sikkim.
SikkimNational parkUNESCO 2016 - Kohima War Cemetery
कोहिमा युद्ध समाधि स्थल
A memorial on Garrison Hill to the soldiers who died in the Battle of Kohima in 1944 during the Second World War.
NagalandMemorial - Kurukshetra: Brahma Sarovar and Jyotisar
कुरुक्षेत्र: ब्रह्म सरोवर और ज्योतिसर
The land of the Mahabharata war, with the vast sacred tank of Brahma Sarovar and Jyotisar, where tradition holds Krishna taught the Gita.
HaryanaPilgrimage site - Loktak Lake
लोकटक झील
The largest freshwater lake in North East India, famous for its floating islands of vegetation called phumdis.
ManipurNatural wonder - Mahabodhi Temple Complex, Bodh Gaya
महाबोधि मंदिर, बोधगया
The place where Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree and became the Buddha; the holiest site in Buddhism.
BiharPilgrimage siteUNESCO 2002 - Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks
नंदा देवी और फूलों की घाटी राष्ट्रीय उद्यान
A World Heritage Site in Chamoli district: the wild basin around Nanda Devi, one of India’s highest peaks, and an alpine valley that blooms with hundreds of wild flowers in the monsoon.
UttarakhandNational parkUNESCO 1988 - Pangong Tso
पैंगोंग त्सो
A long, narrow high-altitude lake whose waters change from blue to green to grey with the light.
LadakhNatural wonder - Promenade Beach (Rock Beach)
प्रोमेनेड बीच
Puducherry's seafront promenade along the Bay of Bengal, lined with memorials and heritage buildings.
PuducherryBeach - Red Fort (Lal Qila)
लाल क़िला
The red sandstone palace-fort of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in Old Delhi, from where the Prime Minister addresses the nation every Independence Day.
DelhiFortUNESCO 2007 - Shillong
शिलांग
The hill capital of Meghalaya, with pine forests, lakes, waterfalls and colonial-era buildings, and a lively music culture.
MeghalayaHill station - Shimla
शिमला
The capital of Himachal Pradesh and the summer capital of British India, with colonial buildings, the Ridge and Mall Road, and forests of deodar and oak.
Himachal PradeshHill station - Shri Jagannath Temple, Puri
श्री जगन्नाथ मंदिर, पुरी
One of the Char Dham pilgrimages of Hinduism, the 12th-century temple of Lord Jagannath at Puri is the heart of Odisha’s faith and the starting point of the Rath Yatra.
OdishaTemple - Somnath Temple
सोमनाथ मंदिर
A seaside temple of Lord Shiva at Prabhas Patan, revered as the first of the twelve Jyotirlingas.
GujaratTemple - Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple), Amritsar
श्री हरमंदिर साहिब (स्वर्ण मंदिर), अमृतसर
The holiest gurdwara of Sikhism, a gold-covered shrine in the middle of a sacred pool, open to people of every faith and home to a langar that feeds tens of thousands every day.
PunjabPilgrimage site - Sri Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala
श्री वेंकटेश्वर मंदिर, तिरुमला
The hilltop temple of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala, near Tirupati, one of the most visited pilgrimage centres in the world.
Andhra PradeshTemple - Taj Mahal
ताजमहल
White-marble mausoleum on the Yamuna at Agra, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal.
Uttar PradeshMonumentUNESCO 1983 - Tawang Monastery
तवांग मठ
The largest Buddhist monastery in India, standing on a ridge above Tawang town at about 3,000 m, a centre of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Arunachal PradeshMonastery - Ujjayanta Palace, Agartala
उज्जयंत पैलेस, अगरतला
The white palace of the former Manikya rulers of Tripura, now the Tripura State Museum.
TripuraPalace - Victoria Memorial, Kolkata
विक्टोरिया मेमोरियल, कोलकाता
A large white marble memorial hall set in gardens on the Maidan, now a museum of the history of Kolkata and India.
West BengalMuseum - Agatti
अगत्ती
Island with Lakshadweep's only airport, surrounded by a wide, shallow lagoon and coral reefs.
LakshadweepIsland - Agra Fort
आगरा का किला
Red sandstone fort of the Mughal emperors on the Yamuna, with marble palaces added by Shah Jahan.
Uttar PradeshFortUNESCO 1983 - Amber Fort
आमेर किला
A hilltop fort-palace of pale yellow and pink sandstone and white marble above Maota Lake near Jaipur, part of the 'Hill Forts of Rajasthan' World Heritage Site.
RajasthanFortUNESCO 2013 - Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi
साँची के बौद्ध स्मारक
The Great Stupa of Sanchi, begun in the time of Emperor Ashoka, with its richly carved stone gateways.
Madhya PradeshMonumentUNESCO 1989 - Dakshineswar Kali Temple
दक्षिणेश्वर काली मंदिर
A 19th-century riverside temple of Bhavatarini Kali on the Hooghly, where Sri Ramakrishna lived and worshipped.
West BengalTemple - Dudhsagar Falls
दूधसागर जलप्रपात
A tall, four-tiered waterfall on the Mandovi river in the Western Ghats, its white spray giving it the name ‘sea of milk’.
GoaNatural wonder - Dwarkadhish Temple, Dwarka
द्वारकाधीश मंदिर, द्वारका
The temple of Krishna as King of Dwarka, on the bank of the Gomti where it meets the sea. Dwarka is one of the Char Dham.
GujaratPilgrimage site - Ellora Caves
एलोरा की गुफाएँ
Hindu, Buddhist and Jain cave temples side by side, including the Kailasa temple carved from a single rock.
MaharashtraMonumentUNESCO 1983 - Fort Kochi and Mattancherry
फोर्ट कोच्चि और मट्टनचेरी
Old port quarters of Kochi where centuries of Arab, Chinese, Jewish, Portuguese, Dutch and British trade have left churches, a synagogue, a palace and the famous Chinese fishing nets.
KeralaCity - French Quarter (White Town)
फ्रेंच क्वार्टर (व्हाइट टाउन)
The grid of tree-lined streets near the sea with colonial villas in yellow and white, churches and Tamil heritage houses close by.
PuducherryCity - Gangtok
गंगटोक
Sikkim’s capital on a ridge facing the Khangchendzonga range, known for its clean streets, monasteries and the pedestrian MG Marg.
SikkimCity - Golconda Fort
गोलकोंडा किला
A hilltop fort on the western edge of Hyderabad that grew from an early mud fort into the capital of the Qutb Shahi kings.
TelanganaFort - Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram
महाबलीपुरम के स्मारक समूह
Seaside Pallava rock-cut temples, monolithic rathas and giant reliefs, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Tamil NaduMonumentUNESCO 1984 - Group of Monuments at Pattadakal
पट्टदकल स्मारक समूह
A cluster of Chalukya temples on the Malaprabha river where northern (Nagara) and southern (Dravida) temple styles stand side by side.
KarnatakaTempleUNESCO 1987 - Hemis Monastery
हेमिस मठ
One of the largest and wealthiest monasteries of Ladakh, known for its summer festival of masked dances.
LadakhMonastery - Jallianwala Bagh
जलियांवाला बाग
A walled garden in Amritsar where British troops fired on an unarmed crowd on 13 April 1919, now a national memorial to those who were killed.
PunjabMemorial - Jim Corbett National Park
जिम कॉर्बेट राष्ट्रीय उद्यान
India’s first national park, set up in 1936 as Hailey National Park, in the foothills of Nainital and Pauri districts and known for its tigers.
UttarakhandNational park - Kalka–Shimla Railway
कालका–शिमला रेलवे
A narrow-gauge mountain railway that climbs from Kalka in the plains to Shimla through more than a hundred tunnels and many arched bridges.
Himachal PradeshMonumentUNESCO 2008 - Kanger Valley National Park
कांगेर घाटी राष्ट्रीय उद्यान
A forested valley near Jagdalpur with limestone caves, the Tirathgarh waterfall and rich birdlife.
ChhattisgarhNational park - Keibul Lamjao National Park
केबुल लामजाओ राष्ट्रीय उद्यान
The world’s only floating national park, on the phumdis of Loktak Lake, and the last natural home of the sangai deer.
ManipurNational park - Kisama Heritage Village
किसामा हेरिटेज विलेज
Home of the Hornbill Festival, with model morungs (traditional houses) of the different Naga tribes.
NagalandHeritage village - Manas National Park
मानस राष्ट्रीय उद्यान
A forested park on the Manas river at the foot of the Bhutan hills, a tiger reserve and UNESCO World Heritage Site rich in rare wildlife.
AssamNational parkUNESCO 1985 - Mughal gardens of Srinagar
श्रीनगर के मुगल उद्यान
Terraced gardens of fountains, water channels and chinar trees built in the 17th century along the Dal Lake: Shalimar, Nishat, Chashme Shahi and Pari Mahal.
Jammu and KashmirMonument - Naida Caves
नायडा गुफाएँ
A maze of rock tunnels and chambers just outside the Diu town wall, with shafts of sunlight falling through openings in the roof.
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and DiuNatural wonder