Sights in India
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Vedantangal Bird Sanctuary
Located about 52km southwest of Mamallapuram, this wildlife sanctuary is an important breeding ground for waterbirds – cormorants, egrets, herons, ibises, spoonbills, storks, grebes and pelicans – that migrate here from October to March. At the height of breeding season (December and January) there can be up to 30,000 birds nesting in the mangroves. The best viewing times are early morning and late afternoon; head for the watchtower and look down on the noisy nests across the water.
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Sanctuary
Located about 52km southwest of Mamallapuram, this wildlife sanctuary is an important breeding ground for waterbirds – cormorants, egrets, herons, ibises, spoonbills, storks, grebes and pelicans – that migrate here from October to March. At the height of breeding season (December and January) there can be up to 30,000 birds nesting in the mangroves. The best viewing times are early morning and late afternoon; head for the watchtower and look down on the noisy nests across the water.
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Raja Rani Mandir
This temple, built around 1100 and surrounded by manicured gardens, is famous for its ornate deul (temple sanctuary) and tower. Around the compass points are pairs of statues representing eight dikpalas (guardians) who protect the temple. Between them, nymphs, embracing couples, elephants and lions peer from niches and decorate the pillars. The name of the temple isn’t for a particular king and queen, but is the name of the stone used in the temple’s construction.
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Anthropological Museum
The best museum in Port Blair provides a thorough and sympathetic portrait of the islands’ indigenous tribal communities. The glass display cases may be old school, but they don’t feel anywhere near as ancient as the simple geometric patterns etched into a Jarawa chest guard, a skull left in a Sentinelese lean-to or the totemic spirits represented by Nicobarese shamanic sculptures. Pick up a pamphlet (Rs20) on indigenous culture, written by local anthropologists, in the gift shop.
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Naropa Royal Palace
Once Ladakh’s summer capital, Shey is an attractively green, pond-dappled oasis from which rises a central dry rocky ridge, inscribed with roadside Buddha carvings. The ridge is topped by the small if photogenic Naropa Royal Palace. This mini-potala structure is undergoing considerable reconstruction, but its central shrine remains a very holy place, containing an inscrutably smirking two-storey gilded copper Buddha, originally installed in 1645.
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Wanla Gompa
Above Wanla village, tiny medieval Wanla Gompa is dramatically perched on a towering knife-edge ridge flanked by two shattered tower remnants of a now-destroyed 14th-century fortress. Its carved porch is reminiscent of Alchi’s and a single, spookily dark chamber contains three large statues backed by ancient smoke-blackened murals. If you’re driving to Lamayuru, Wanla is an easy 7km detour off the NH1D road: turn south at the colourful new photong (ceremonial residence).
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Temple of Somnath
This temple, 80km from Junagadh, has been razed and rebuilt at least eight times. It’s said that Somraj, the moon god, constructed a gold version, rebuilt by Ravana in silver, by Krishna in wood and by Bhimdev in stone. A description of the temple by Al-Biruni, an Arab traveller, was so glowing that it prompted a visit in 1024 by a most unwelcome tourist – Mahmud of Ghazni. At that time, the temple was so wealthy that it had 300 musicians, 500 dancing girls and even 300 barbers.
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Jain Temples
These remarkable Jain temples are Mt Abu's main attraction and feature some of India's finest temple decoration. It's said that the artisans were paid according to the amount of dust they collected, encouraging them to carve ever more intricately. Whatever their inducement, there are two temples in which the marble work is dizzyingly intense, a collection of delicate milky kaleidoscopes, with icing-like carving so fine it looks like you could break it off and eat it. No photography is permitted.
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Maharao Raja Bahadur Singh Museum
This museum is housed in the Moti Mahal, where the current royal descendents live. It is an extraordinary celebration of the lives of the more recent royal members. The first hall is stuffed with stuffed wildlife, chiefly tigers shot by Indian, British and American luminaries. Most visitors are dumbstruck by the tigress with two cubs – all shot by ‘Mr Milton Reynolds, inventor of the ball point pen, in 1953 at Bhimlat’. Other halls contain royal portraits and arrays of weapons.
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Raghunath Temple
Scenic Nakki Lake is a big attraction and the town’s focus. It’s so named because, according to legend, it was scooped out by a god using his nakh (nails). The 14th-century Raghunath Temple stands beside the lake. You can hire boats – a pedalo or a more romantic shikara (gondola-like boat) – at the edge of the lake near the temple; a two-person shikara costs Rs100 for 30 minutes, while a two-/four-person pedalo costs Rs50/100.
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Jain temples
The narrow streets of the old city conceal a number of old havelis and a couple of notable Jain temples. The temples date from around the 15th century. Bhandasar Temple is particularly beautiful, with yellow-stone carving and dizzyingly vibrant paintings. It's said the foundations contain 40,000kg of ghee, and the floor still gets greasy in summer. Sandeshwar Temple is smaller, but has some fine carving. Nearby, the unassuming Laxminath Temple comes alive at around 22:30 each night.
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Spice Market
Khari Baoli, the street that runs from the Fatehpuri Mosque to the western edge of the old city, is Delhi's bustling wholesale spice market. It's well worth a wander simply to take in the sights and smells because things have changed little here for centuries. Huge sacks of herbs and spices are still brought to the wholesalers on long, narrow barrows pushed by labourers, and there are eye-catching displays of everything from lentils and rice to giant jars of chutneys, pickles, nuts and tea.
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Temple of the Sun God
The seductive Temple of the Sun God at Galta - also known as the Monkey Temple (monkeys converge here at dusk) - is 2.5km to the east of Jaipur, just beyond Surajpol Bazaar. On arrival, it's a steady 200m climb through a rocky, barren gorge, but there are spectacular views over the surrounding plains, and it's often packed with bathing pilgrims. Donations are sometimes insisted upon, and women travellers have reported feeling uncomfortable walking up here alone, particularly in the evening.
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Bahmani Tombs
The huge domed tombs of the Bahmani kings, in Ashtur, 3km east of Bidar, have a desolate, moody beauty that strikes a strange harmony with the sunny hills around them. These impressive mausoleums were built to house the remains of the sultans – their graves are still regularly draped with fresh satin and flowers – and are arranged in a long line along the edge of the road. The painted interior of Ahmad Shah Bahman’s tomb is the most impressive, and is regularly prayed in.
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Chandragiri Fort
Only a couple of buildings remain from this 15th-century fort, 14km west of Tirupathi. Both the Rani Mahal and the Raja Mahal, which houses a small museum, were constructed under Vijayanagar rule and resemble structures in Hampi’s Royal Centre. There’s a nightly sound-and-light show, narrated by Bollywood great Amitabh Bachchan. Buses for Chandragiri (Rs. 6) leave Tirupathi train station every half-hour. A prepaid taxi is Rs. 400 return.
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Eastern Gateway
The breathtakingly carved figure of a yakshi, hanging from an architrave, is one of Sanchi's best-known images. One of the pillars, supported by elephants, features scenes from Buddha's entry to nirvana. Another shows Buddha's mother Maya's dream of an elephant standing on the moon, which she had when he was conceived. Across the front of the middle architrave is the Great Departure, when Buddha (a riderless horse) renounced the sensual life and set out to find enlightenment.
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Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, known affectionately as the Toy Train, made its first journey along its precipice-topping, 2ft-wide tracks in September 1881 and is one of the few hill railways still operating in India. It's even listed as a World Heritage site. Besides its regular diesel service to/from New Jalpaiguri and steam service to/from Kurseong, there are joy rides during high season that leave Darjeeling at 10:00 and 12:50 for a two-hour steam-powered return trip to Ghoom.
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Krishna Temple
Udupi is home to the atmospheric, 13th century Krishna Temple, which draws thousands of Hindu pilgrims through the year. Surrounded by eight maths (monasteries), it’s a hive of activity, with musicians playing at the entrance, elephants on hand for puja, and pilgrims constantly coming and going. Non-Hindus are welcome inside the temple; men must enter bare-chested. Elaborate rituals are also performed in the temple during the Udupi Paryaya festival.
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Tagore's House
Within Rabindra Bharati University, Rabindranath Tagore's comfortable 1784 family mansion (Tagore's House) has become a shrine-like museum to India's greatest modern poet. Even if his personal effects don't inspire you, some of the well-chosen quotations might spark an interest in Tagore's deeply universalist philosophy.
There's also a decent gallery of paintings by his family and contemporaries. The photo of Tagore with Einstein could win a 'World's Wildest Hair' competition.
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Chhoti Dargah
Worth visiting 30km west of Patna is Chhoti Dargah, an architecturally elegant three-storey mausoleum fronted by a large tank. The venerable Muslim saint Makhdum Shah Daulat was buried here in 1619 under a canopied tomb. As it is auspicious to be buried close to a saint, several cloth-covered graves in front of the mausoleum keep the saint company. The large body of water is a favourite swimming playground for local children and its steps provide a good laundry site.
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Jama Masjid
The Jama Masjid, built by Ahmed Shah in 1423, is to the east of the Teen Darwaja. Demolished Hindu and Jain temples provided the building materials. The 260 columns support 15 domes at different elevations. There were once two 'shaking' minarets, but they lost half their height in the great earthquake of 1819 and collapsed after another tremor in 1957. The 2001 earthquake then took its toll, leaving cracks in the masonry and destroying several jalis (carved marble lattice screens).
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Firoz Shah Kotla
Firozabad (the fifth city of Delhi) was built by Firoz Shah in 1354. Its ruins can be found at Firoz Shah Kotla, off Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg. Visit on a Thursday afternoon when crowds come to pray, light candles and leave bowls of milk to appease Delhi’s djinns (invisible spirits or genies) that are reputed to inhabit the kotla. In the fortress/palace is a 13m-high sandstone Ashoka Pillar inscribed with Ashoka’s edicts (and a later inscription).
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Victoria Memorial
Set in an attractive, well-tended park, the incredible Victoria Memorial is a vast, beautifully proportioned confection of white marble domes: think US Capitol meets Taj Mahal. Built to commemorate Queen Victoria’s 1901 diamond jubilee, the structure was finally finished nearly 20 years after her death. Had it been built for a beautiful Indian princess rather than a dead colonial queen, it would surely rate as one of India’s greatest buildings.
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Singalila National Park
The popular Singalila Ridge Trek from Sandakphu to Phalut passes through the scenic Singalila National Park and offers fantastic views of the Himalaya. Guides (about Rs350 per day) are mandatory within the park (the park entrance is near Tumling) and can be hired privately through the DGHC, travel agencies or at the trek’s starting point in Mana Bhanjang, 26km from Darjeeling; you’re more likely to get a good guide if you line it up beforehand.
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Valluvar Kottam
This memorial honours the Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar and his classic work, the Thirukural. A weaver by trade, Thiruvalluvar lived around the 1st century BC in what is present-day Chennai and wrote this famed poem, providing a moral code for millions of followers. The three-level memorial replicates ancient Tamil architecture and boasts an immense 35m chariot, as well as an enormous auditorium and inscriptions of the Thirukural ’s 1330 couplets.
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