GATEWAY OF INDIA, MUMBAI

The carved yellow basalt Gateway, built by the architect George Wittet in 1924 stands tall at Apollo Bunderin the metropolitan city of Mumbai. It was built to commemorate the visit of the first ever British Monarch, King George V and Queen Mary in 1911. It also includes the statues of patriot Shiva and Swami Vivekananda, which add to the beauty of the monument.

AJANTA CAVES, MAHARASHTRA

Built between 2nd century B.C to 7th century A.D., these caves are representation of Buddhist thoughts etched on walls. The 30 Chaityas and Viharas have paintings that illustrate the life and incarnations of Buddha. Ajanta caves were meant to provide seclusion to the Buddhist monks whose hammers & chisels offered a rich tapestry of images that speak of places, royalty, culture and tales of everyday life of ancient India.

Many of the panels of the caves hold depiction of the Jatakas and numerous images of Buddha, Nymphs and Princesses. These paintings have survived time and till date the numerous paintings glowing on the walls of these caves leave visitors spellbound.

JANTAR MANTAR, JAIPUR

This modernistic structure known as Yantralaya, situated in the Pink city of Jaipur is the unique creation of astronomer- king Sawai Jaisingh II. It was designed by him and built by experts to observe the movements of the sun, the moon, the planets and the stars.

This is the largest of the five observatories founded by him in 1716, others being at Delhi, Ujjain, Mathura and Varanasi. The monument was used to measure local time, the sun's declination, azimuth and altitude, the declination of fixed stars and planets and also to determine the time of an eclipse of the sun with extraordinary precision.

NAHARGARH FORT, JAIPUR

Beyond the hills of Jaigarh stand the fort of Nahargarh like a watchful sentinel guarding Sawai Jai Singh's beautiful capital.Much of the original structures are now in ruins, but the lovely buildings added by Sawai Ram Singh II and Sawai Madho Singh II in the 19th century are preserved in a good condition. Some of the rooms provide the most spectacular view of the city below.

QUTAB MINAR, DELHI

Qutab Minar,the emblem of Delhi, was erected in the 13th century by Qutab-Ud-Din Aibak. The Minar made up of red sandstone is 72.55 meters high and within the complex is an Iron pillar which has never rusted.

This five-storied tower is visible from several kilometers distance.

It is a landmark of the Walled City and is a major tourist attraction.

RED FORT, DELHI

Red Fort ,which is also called the All Qila, is laid out along the river Yamuna as an irregular octagon. It is surrounded by a wall of about 2.4 kms in circumference & is built of red sandstone. It was built by the Mughal ruler Shah Jahan.

The fort was completed in 1648, nine years after his transferring of his capital from Agra to Delhi. The fort has two main entrances, the Delhi Gate and the Lahori Gate. The latter faces Chandni Chowk, the city's most crowded but diverse market.

TEMPLES OF KHAJURAHO, KHAJURAHO

The Khajuraho Temples, situated in Madhya Pradesh, were built in a short span of a hundred years, from 950 - 1050 A.D. These temples are truly India's one of the most unique

temples, depicting a paean to life, to love, to joy, perfect in execution and sublime in expression. Life in its every form and mood stands captured creatively and imaginatively in stone.

These 85 authentic temples, depicting human passions and while doing so, bringing out the emptiness of human desire, are truly unique in the world.Architecturally too they are unique, each stands out on a high masonry platform, upward directional in structure.

The Kandariya Mahadeo, the largest of the Khajuraho temples rises to 31 meters height is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The Vishwanath Temple, a three headed image of Brahma is enshrined in this temple, with a beautiful entrance with lions flanking the north and the elephants the south, steps, that lead to it.

ELEPHANTA CAVES, MUMBAI

The architect sculptors carved out of the solid basalt rock, the Elephanta caves- a representation of the heavenly mountain residence of Lord Shiva. The Elephanta Temple is located 9 kms off the gateway of India.Opening out from three sides, the temple lets in light from many angles making the sculptures seem to move with the changing angles of light Inside the temple is a large hall, with nine sculptured panels representing Lord Shiva in different moods. The temple plan is so symmetric with important focal points worked out in a geometric Mandala (then design that represents the energy field). There are three opening to the caves which allows light to enter from various angles in different seasons giving an expression that the images are moving with transition of light.

These architects must have been genius who dared to construct something which was totally different from what was being constructed in those days.

The antiquity of Elephanta caves is said to be of third century. The place was the capital of powerful coastal kingdom and the excavation of the caves in the 6th century added to the glory of the kingdom. Later the Portuguese took possession of the Island and as they first found a monolith elephant the island was named Elephanta. It is believed that the caves were used as target practise after they constructed a fort and put a flag to ward off pirates. The best time to visit Elephanta is between November and March. May might prove to be difficult to cross the sea.

ELLORA TEMPLE CAVES, MAHARASHTRA

It took over five centuries for the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain monks to chisel the monastries, temples, chaples and decorate them with remarkable imagination and detail. 34 temples carved out of stones, 34 sculptured caves expressing Hindu, Buddhist and Jain themes, 34 priceless pages out of history. These caves run North-South and take on the Golden Radiance of the late afternoon sun.

The Buddhist Expression - Carved in the 5th century, these sixteen caves are the oldest in the group. It is an effort of the artist who has tried an element of surprise by giving them expression of wood .

Most of these 16 caves are Viharas but cave number 10 is a Chaitya.The Buddhists believe that Buddha returns after every five thousand years, thus the12th cave has seven images of Budhha depicting his seven incarnations. These caves are rightly called the Vishwakarma caves. Here life and religion go hand in hand.

The Hindu Expression - The Hindu caves exhibit a totally different league from the Jain and Buddhist temples in terms of style, creative vision and execution skills. Cave 14 was initially a Buddh Vihar but in 7th century it was dedicated as Shiva temple, lord Shiva being depicted as The Destroyer. Twice the area of Parthenon in Athens, the cave is 11/2 times high and entails removing 200,000 tonnes of rock. The Dumar Lena cave resembles the great cave shrine at Elephanta and is dedicated to lord Shiva. The Jain Dedication- Each of the caves show the beliefs of the Jains, and their strict ascetism that imbibed in them a spirit of non-violence towards all. The 32nd cave is a beautiful shrine with exquisite carvings of a lotus flower on the ceiling and an imposing yakshi seated on her lion under a mango-tree laden with fruit.

Therefore, what sets India apart from various other travel destinations is its vast cultural treasure stemming from a historic past. This grand repository of ancient cultural and natural treasures is of great significance not only to the history and civilization of India but also to that of the world.

Hence, this journey through the staggering topographical variations of India proves to be definitely stimulating and if viewed not virtually but, in person it would prove to be pleasing to one's visual sensibility.