India's built history runs from Harappan water systems to Art Deco cinemas, with more than forty UNESCO World Heritage sites in between.
Carved from rock
Ellora, Maharashtra
Kailasa temple, cut downward from a single cliff.
Ajanta, Maharashtra
Painted cave walls two thousand years old.
Elephanta, Maharashtra
A three-headed Shiva carved 20 feet high.
Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu
Temples from single granite boulders.
Cities and forts
Delhi
Red Fort, seat of Mughal emperors for 200 years.
Fatehpur Sikri, Uttar Pradesh
Abandoned after fourteen years.
Golconda, Telangana
Source of the Koh-i-Noor.
Dholavira, Gujarat
The earliest known water-conservation system.
Temple architecture
Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
A granite tower standing a thousand years without mortar.
Konark, Odisha
A stone chariot with 24 sundial wheels.
Belur & Halebidu, Karnataka
Lathe-cut Hoysala soapstone friezes.
Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh
About 25 of 85 temples survive.