india 2

• Taj Mahal


  • Located on the right bank of the Yamuna River in a vast Mughal garden that encompasses nearly 17 hectares, in the Agra District in Uttar Pradesh
  • Built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal
  • Construction started in 1632 AD and completed in 1648 AD, with the mosque, the guest house and the main gateway on the south, the outer courtyard and its cloisters were added subsequently and completed in 1653 AD
• Udaipur


  A lovely city where gracefully detailed palaces line a lake
• Ajanta and Ellora Caves


  • Famous stone carvings lie about 200 miles to the northeast of Mumbai
  • At Ellora, 34 impressive shrines are cut out of the rock
  • One cave, filled with carvings, covers twice the area of Athen's Parthenon and took 100 years to complete
• Mumbai (Bombay)


  • The country's business center
  • Impressive sixth-century cave temples carved into rock can be found on Elephanta Island, reached by ferry
• Jaipur


  • Called the "Pink City" for the color of stone used here
  • Forts and hills circle the city
  • Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds) is in fact no more than a façade with nearly 1,000 windows
• Varanasi


  • Also known as Benares
  • Pilgrims walk down steps (called ghats) to cleanse themselves in the holy waters of the Ganges
  • Varanasi is the center of the Hindu religion in India
• Kolkata (Calcutta)


  • The nation's second largest city
  • It's not a prime tourist destination, but there are some fine museums, gardens, mansions, markets and memorials