Delhi
Lotus Temple – Baháʼí House of Worship in Delhi
Notable for its flower-like shape and very reminiscent of the Sydney Opera House, the Lotus Temple in Delhi is the first memorable building I recall…
Jantar Mantar – Delhi
The Jantar Mantar was built in 1724 by Sawai Jai Singh, on land owned by his great grandfather Mizra Raja Jai Singh of Amer. It…
Goa
Viceroy’s Arch
Close to the Mandovi river and Church of St.Cajetan in Old Goa is Viceroy’s Arch. The arch was originally erected in 1599 by Viceroy Francisco da…
Loliem Vetal – Goa
One of my many reasons for visiting Goa was to seek out the Loliem Vetal, which proved to be quite difficult as my driver had…
Gujarat
Ahmedabad Old City Heritage Walk
During my stay in Ahmedabad I signed up for a morning heritage walk around the old city. Having done a similar walk in Pune, I’ve…
Jammu & Kashmir
Ladakh – An Introduction
In the far north of India set within the Himalayas lies Ladakh. Known as “Little Tibet”, it is a land of dramatic landscapes and mystical Buddhist…
Leh Heritage Walk
As an amateur archaeologist, it should come as no surprise that I am passionate about the heritage of any country I visit, and in particular any…
Hemis Festival 2015 – Day 2
Having attended Day 1 of the Hemis Festival I was a little unsure what to expect from the second day. I arrived early again, and it…
Hemis Festival 2015 – Day 1
According to the Tibetan calendar, the great annual festivals held in the villages of Ladakh takes place in winter, with the exception of thseshu held…
Pangong Tso – Ladakh
Pangong Tso in the eastern highlands of Changthang bordering Tibet is one of Ladakh’s most spectacular and popular destinations. When I visited Ladakh last year…
Turtuk
Turtuk lies 85km beyond Hundar in the Shyok Valley, and was the highlight of my stay in the region. The journey to get there is nothing…
Khardung La Pass
At an elevation of 18,379 ft, the Khardung La is the world’s highest motorable road and serves as gateway to the Nubra Valley. Khardung La…
Leh
“Leh, Ladakh – you must go to Leh, Ladakh !”. I’ve lost count how many times I was told this during my work visits to…
Karnataka
Kempe Gowda Towers and the Founding Fathers of Bangalore
Situated on a high rocky outcrop immediately south-east of the pretty Lalbagh Botanical Gardens in Bangalore (Bengaluru), the Kempe Gowda Tower is a relatively small…
Srirangapatna
Srirangapatna (also spelled Shrirangapattana; anglicized to Seringapatam during the British Raj) is a town in Mandya district of the Indian state of Karnataka. This is…
Best Location for a Stunning Hampi Sunset
Long before I visited Hampi I knew it was potentially a great location to photograph sunset. You only have to google “hampi sunset photos” to see what…
Badami Town
Having done the obligatory tour of the monuments of Badami, I decided to break away from all of that and immerse myself into the daily…
Kerala
Kerala Backwaters – the good, the bad, and the ugly
The Kerala Backwaters are a network of interconnected canals, rivers, lakes and inlets, a labyrinthine system formed by more than 900 km of waterways. The…
Periyar National Park
Periyar National Park is the oldest national park in the state of Kerala, created in 1934 by the Travancore government. This vast reserve of some…
Kathakali Dance
During my short stay in Kochi I was fortunate enough to attend a Kathakali dance performance. The venue for this was the Kerala Kathakali Centre.…
Madhya Pradesh
Lakshmibai – Rani of Jhansi, Rebel Leader, and Warrior Queen
My last couple of trips to India have taken me to a couple of locations famously attached to the life of Rani Lakshmibai. These are…
Gurdwara Data Bandi Chor Sahib – Gwalior
Dominating the landscape on top of Gwalior hill, Gurdwara Data Bandi Chor Sahib is a Sikh monument associated with the imprisonment and subsequent release of…
Best Location for a Stunning Orchha Sunset
The best location for a stunning Orchha sunset.
Datia – Karan Sagar Chhatris
The chhatris are located just 10 minutes drive north-east from the center of Datia, by the shores of Karan Sagar lake. Here the royal families…
Khajuraho – Chhatri of Raja Pratap Singh
Located directly opposite the western group of temples behind a row of shops and restaurants is quite an impressive chhatri. You can just catch a…
The Chhatris of Orchha
In total there are 15 chhatris of Bundela kings and their families, located on the banks of the river Betwa just 800m south of the…
Maharashtra
Shrimant Nanasaheb Peshwe Samadhi – Pune
Located on the east bank of the Mutha river 1km south-west of Shaniwar Wada in Pune, the Samadhi of Shrimant Nanasaheb Peshwe was until recently…
Tambat Ali – The Coppersmiths of Pune
As many of you know, my annual two month trip to India always starts with spending some time in Pune. It was my former career…
Alandi – Home to a Marathi Saint
Situated on the banks of the sacred Indrayani river 22km north of Pune, Alandi is a famous pilgrimage site that attracts hundreds of thousands of…
Ganesha Chathurthi: Birthday of the Elephant-Headed God
Some may consider Ganesha a curious God. With a human body and an elephant’s head, he often seems a little comical, even grotesque at times…
Vishrambaug Wada – Bajirao II’s Preferred Residence in Pune
Located at the busy junction of Bajirao Road and RB Kumthekar Road in Pune, Vishrambaug Wada was the very first heritage building I visited in the…
Return to the Zero Stone – Pune
Those of you who have been following my blog for a number of years will be familiar with my interest in the plight of what…
Bhigwan
Located on the Pune-Solapur Highway 120 km from Pune, Bhigwan is best known for its wildlife around the backwaters of Ujjani Dam. This is the…
Illuminated Mumbai
Prior to my long overdue visit to Mumbai I did quite a bit of research on locations for photography in the city, and discovered that…
Pashan Lake – Pune
Although I would consider Pune a relatively green city compared to many urbanised areas of the country, I still find myself occasionally longing for a…
The Zero Stone – Pune
Located outside the General Post Office on Sadhu Vaswani Mission Road in Pune, the Zero Stone is probably one of the city’s smallest and least noticed…
Naneghat
Naneghat is an ancient mountain pass in the Western Ghats range near Junnar in Pune district of Maharashtra. During the reign of the Satavahana (200…
Mahabaleshwar Viewpoints
Mahabaleshwar is a hill station located in the Sahyadri mountain range of Maharastra. With one of the few evergreen forests of India, it served as…
Mahathma Jyotiba Phule Mandai – Pune
Street photography from Pune’s Mandai, officially known as Mahathma Jyotiba Phule Mandai, which is the biggest vegetable market in Pune city.
Kathak Dance
Kathak Dance event in Pune, India
Pune Old City Heritage Walk
Having visited Pune over fifteen times, I’ve often wanted to go on one of the guided heritage walks around the old city. For some reason…
Odisha
Raghurajpur Artist Village
Located 15 km north of Puri in Odisha, Raghurajpur is a heritage crafts village, the first to be established in the State in the year…
Rajasthan
Jodhpur Street Photography
Below are some shots taken during my time roaming about the city of Jodhpur. They are essentially left over shots having already done ten blog…
Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park
Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park on the outskirts of Jodhpur was created in 2006 to try and restore the natural ecology of a large, rocky…
How to protect your camera for Holi
If you’re planning to be in India for Holi then you’re probably quite keen to ensure you protect your camera and yourself during the big…
Holi – Day 2 – Rangwali Holi
If yesterday (Holi Day 1 – Holika Dahan) was one of my more memorable days in India, I knew that today was going to take…
Holi – Day 1 – Holika Dahan
It’s staggering to think that my previous 18 visits to India had never coincided with the Holi festival. So this year I decided that had…
Patwon Ki Haveli
Located just 400m to the north of Jaisalmer fort and palace, Patwon Ki Haveli is a complex of five separate havelis owned by five brothers,…
Bada Bagh
Bada Bagh (also known as Bara Bagh or Barabagh) is a garden complex 6km north of Jaisalmer. If you’ve already visited Jaisalmer Fort and Palace…
Gadisar Lake
Originally a conservation lake to collect rain water, Gadisar Lake (also called Gadsisar Lake) was built in 1367 by Maharawal Gadsi Singh to meet the…
Mandore Gardens
Mandore is best known for the chattris memorialising the rulers of Marwar up until the late 1890s, but until the mid 15th century it was…
Ghantaghar Clock Tower
Built by Maharaja Sardar Singh (1880-1911) from whom the market takes it name, the clock tower is in the very heart of Sardar Market, slap…
Jaswant Thada
Built by Maharaja Sardar Singh in 1899 in memory of his father, Maharaja Jaswant Singh II (the 33rd ruler of Jodhpur), Jaswant Thada is a…
Ghanerao
Ghanerao is just 19km north of Ranakpur, and makes for a useful place to stop if you end up arriving at the Ranakpur Jain Temple…
Jaipur Street Photography
This will be a blog post with even less verbiage than normal 🙂 Below are some random shots I took whilst exploring the streets of…
Gangaur Ghat – Udaipur
Gangaur Ghat is located at the heart of the city of Udaipur and is very easy to find. Upon leaving the City Palace via the north…
Udaipur Street Photography
Below are some shots taken during my time roaming the old city of Udaipur. They don’t fit into any of the other categories really, but…
Gaitore
Gaitore is a royal cremation ground for the Kachhwaha Rajput kings and the members of the royal family. It’s located right on the edge of…
Mandawa
This is a longer excursion from Jaipur than Abhaneri, the 168km journey will take you at least 3 hours. Whilst it can be easily achieved…
Jantar Mahal
The Jantar Mantar is a collection of architectural astronomical instruments (or observatory), built by the Rajput king Sawai Jai Singh. In total he constructed five…
Tamil Nadu
Mahabalipuram Beach
Mahabalipuram is of course most famous for the Shore Temple, Pancha Rathas, Central Monuments and Tiger Cave – all built during the period of the Pallava Kings.…
Mudumalai National Park
The Mudumalai National Park lies on the northwestern side of the Nilgiri Hills (Blue Mountains) about 150 km north-west of Coimbatore city in Tamil Nadu. Sharing its boundaries with the states of Karnataka and Kerala, the…
Mudumalai Tiger Reserve Elephant Sanctuary
Set in the Nilgiris foothills, the 320 square km Mudumalai Tiger Reserve is home around 50 tigers, giving Mudumalai one of India’s highest tiger population…
Madurai – The friendliest city in India ?
What’s clear to anyone visiting Madurai is just how proud the people are of their city and heritage, and simply how friendly everyone is. I don’t…
The Toda Tribe
Whilst planning my trip to South India in 2016 I spent a good many hours scouring what information Google maps can provide, in particular looking…
Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary
Vedanthangal is the oldest water bird sanctuary in the country, established in 1858 by the order of the Collector of Chengalpattu who identified the ornithological…
Uttar Pradesh
Anand Bagh – Memorial to a Holy Man of Banaras
Situated immediately east of Durga Kund in the southern sector of old Varanasi, Anand Bagh (Garden of Bliss) is a compact lush green park that…
The 85 Ghats of Banaras
Indian Heritage Podcast The ghats on the great Ganga riverfront at Banaras are unquestionably the city’s most iconic and celebrated image. For thousands of years…
Manikarnika Ghat – Breaking the Cycle of Death and Rebirth
Often referred to as the ‘the burning ghat’, Manikarnika Ghat is the main cremation ground of Banaras and is quite unlike anywhere else in India.…
Rajghat – The Origins Of Kashi
Right up at the very northern end of present day Varanasi (Baranas) is Malviya Bridge, spanning the Ganga where for over three thousand years boats…
The Art of Ganga Aarti
Long before I travelled to Varanasi I knew that one of the things I absolutely had to do was witness the daily Aarti ceremony that…
A Taj Built in Memory of a Husband – Roman Catholic Cemetery – Agra
The Roman Catholic Cemetery in Agra dates from 1550 and was first used for the burial of Armenian Christians who settled in the city during…
Gurudwara Guru Ka Taal – Agra
Guru Ka Tal is a historical Sikh pilgrimage site located in the Sikandra district of Agra in Uttar Pradesh. It is dedicated to Guru Tegh…
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