Varanasi is one of the towns in the world that has been continuously inhabited for the longest time. The best time to start exploring it is just before dawn.
Ganga Aarti is a religious event in the Ganges at Assi Ghat. People will sing rhythmic chants and prayers while sitting on steps that lead down to the holy river. People will be interested in this.
Next, get into a small boat and head out onto the water to watch the sunrise while listening to the sounds of the river coming to life.
As soon as saffron-clad sadhus (holy men), vendors, worshippers, and tourists start doing routines, there will be a rush of activity. Some of these practices could be yoga or singing.
On the way to the Manikarnika Ghat, where funeral pyres are burned as the dead are burned, people on a boat that travels the Ganges for two hours will pass the important Dashashwamedh Ghat. In Varanasi, people are used to seeing death every day.
The Taj Mahal in Agra will undoubtedly be the most memorable part of any trip to this part of India. The Taj Mahal is a famous and romantic symbol of India.
Shah Jahan, the Mughal ruler, built this tomb for his wife Mumtaz out of marble. Even though there are always people there, it always amazes those who see it.
Even though it's almost impossible to take a bad picture of the Taj Mahal, photos taken at sunrise and sunset from Mehtab Bagh, a Mughal park on the other side of the Yamuna River, tend to be the most colourful.
In a single day, the sun gives the marble different colours. For example, at sunrise, the dome is a soft pink colour, but at sunset, it is orange.
If you get there just before dawn, you can watch the colours change on this beautiful monument to love that will last forever. Optical illusions can happen based on how the weather is in the area.
When you stand in front of sensual sculptures of people stuck in positions that are hard to reach, you can almost feel the passion.
Some of the temples in Khajuraho date back almost a thousand years, and they may be the only historical places that make people feel the same way.
Even so, tour guides will carefully tell you that the Kama Sutra is only represented by a small number of the master statues found in the 22 temples that have been excavated here.
The Chandela were an ancient Rajput tribe. As you read the stories, you can decide for yourself why they decided to show sexuality on the walls of temples that were dedicated to both Hindu and Jain gods.
One of the oldest Tantric temples still standing is dedicated to the Chausath Yogini, who is 64 Tantric goddesses.
The statues are gone from the cells, but the building, now in ruins, is still interesting.
The wild and remote Sundarbans National Park can be found where the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, and the Meghna rivers meet the Bay of Bengal. This is a great place to see all the different kinds of life in the park.
The Sundarbans may be best known for the Bengal tigers that live in the salty waterways that run through it.
The Sundarbans are a maze of mangrove forests, marshes, mudflats, riverine islands, and many canals that can be visited by boat.
Crocodiles, snakes, and other dangerous animals can hide in the dark, overgrown plants because their roots are complicated and wind through them.
Keep an eye out for the many kinds of kingfishers, raptors, and water birds if you can get a good view of the area from one of the viewing towers.
On a small number of the islands, you can take village walks while the hardy people tell you scary stories about how they lived through storms and dangerous animals while living on their islands. This is a sensitive and memorable ecosystem.
Spending the night among the wavy, rolling sand dunes of the Thar Desert in Rajasthan is an experience you will remember for the rest of your life. There's a whole galaxy of things to do to keep you busy all night.
Near Jaisalmer, in the wild Sam Sand Dunes, you can find a number of camps in the desert. These dunes rise to more than 50 meters (164 feet) high and look like magical mirages right before you.
Go on a camel tour with a caravan if you want to see the sunset in a way you've never seen before.
Early morning is the best time to see Amritsar's beautiful Golden Temple. This is when the Guru Granth Sahib, the most important book in Sikhism, is brought into the temple for the day. This happens at 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. in the winter.
The whole complex is lit up by the gold dome's reflection in the pond, called Amrit Sarovar, which means "the reservoir of nectar." This happens when you can still see the moon in the sky.
This gurdwara ("place of worship" in Sikh) is open to people of all faiths because the Sikh religion puts a lot of value on kindness and hospitality.
Up to 100,000 followers can take advantage of the Guru-Ka-Langar, a beautiful community kitchen where simple vegetarian meals are free all day.
Kerala's backwaters are a maze of small canals, salty lakes, silent rivers, and slow-moving rivulets connecting to the Arabian Sea.
The backwaters of Kerala show guests a completely different side of India, while for the people who live there; they are a way to farm and fish.
As you move through the waterways and lakes system, you can make your own unique trip.
During an overnight trip on a kettuvallam, which is also known as a houseboat, you can go fishing, explore quaint towns, watch birds, or just sit back, relax, and watch the world go by.
When people go to Ladakh, they feel like they have lost their breath, literally and metaphorically.
You might need some time to get used to the state of Bhutan, which used to be a Buddhist country and has both stark and colourful landscapes.
The state is between 3000 and 6000 meters above sea level. This is between 10,000 and 20,000 feet.
Because there are so many snow-capped mountains, frozen glaciers, wild meadows, and valleys in the lowlands, as well as rivers and high-altitude lakes whose colours change depending on how bright the light is, this area is a popular place for hikers, bikers, and people who like other types of outdoor adventure.
During the winter, many people come to this area to walk across the frozen Zanskar River and go on trips to look for snow leopards.
There are chortens, Tibetan Buddhist stupas, and gompas, Tibetan Buddhist temples, all over this cold desert. By going to these religious places, you can find out more about Buddhism.
Even though the Thiksey, Stok, and Hemis gompas are closer to the region's main city, Leh, the oldest monastery in the area is in Alchi. Most people also go to these three gompas.
Raghurajpur Arts & Crafts Village is a lively living gallery in Odisha, near Puri, known for its temples.
Folk artists, or chitrakaars, live in the area, and traditional pata chitra drawings can be seen there. The Puri Jagannath Temple is home to three gods, and these works honour them.
Each canvas in this room has been through a multi-step process, including putting layers of cotton fabric. The artworks in this room feature traditional motifs, folk tales, myths, and folklore.
You can expect the local artists to invite you to their homes so you can look at the drawings on the walls.
Besides the Pata Chitra, there are drawings made of tussar silk, toys, and engravings made of palm leaves. You can also make your art or watch other artists at work.
Also, don't miss the traditional Gotipua dance, done by young men and seen in action at the local Gurukul, also called a dance school.
If the ruins of Hampi could talk, they would tell a wonderful story about a powerful and wealthy country whose kings built great temples, palaces, and monuments, traded valuable stones in huge bazaars, and made huge contributions to India's art, architecture, culture, and literature. If the remains of Hampi could talk, they would tell this story as a story.
About 600 years ago, two brothers started the city that would become known as Hampi. They did this with the help of their spiritual leader, Sri Vidyaranya. Hampi was the centre of the Vijayanagar Empire, which ruled South India's Deccan Plateau for hundreds of years.
There are a lot of landmarks in a small area that is made up of several different areas. The Royal Enclosure and the Temple Trail are both in these areas. The Temple Trail is focused on the still-working Virupaksha Temple.
The Vittala Temple in Hampi is a work of art in terms of architecture. It is home to a stone chariot that has been carefully carved and is shown on the fifty rupee note in India. It is the best thing about going to Hampi.
Goa is a place and a way of thinking and living. Goa's name makes you think of the sun, the sand, and the sea. The beaches are the main reason people go there, but the state offers much more.
This small state's riverine islands, mangrove swamps, deep woods, spice and cashew farms, and other natural features are all memorable and erotic in and of themselves.
At dawn, you can take a trip down the Zuari River and the narrow canals surrounded by mangroves to see various water birds, including six different kinds of kingfishers.
Hikers who go into the woods in the middle of the country may find hidden temples. If you want to see more of nature, you should go to Mollem National Park and Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary, home to the beautiful Dudhsagar Falls, after the rainy season.
Make sure to bring your sunglasses because the sodium chloride crystals that cover the White Rann, one of the biggest salt deserts in the world, are very bright.
Greater Rann and Lesser Rann are both parts of the Rann of Kachchh (Kutch), which is in the Indian state of Gujarat and includes both Greater and Lesser Rann.
The Greater Rann has its environment, and the White Rann is a part of it. During the monsoons, shallow mudflats in the Greater Rann get flooded.
When the marshes dry up, a salty ocean forms, a yearly event that can only be seen in the winter.
Visit the Great Living Chola Temples in Tamil Nadu, which dates back 1,200 years, and report feeling both enchanted and humbled by their experience.
One of these great buildings is the Brihadishwara Temple, located in the city of Thanjavur in southern India. It was constructed in the 10th century by King Raja Raja Chola I.
The soaring vimana (tower above the shrine) at this Hindu temple is one of the largest of any Hindu temple anywhere (thus its moniker, the Big Temple). It measures 63.4 meters high (208 feet).
The son of Raja Raja Chola, Rajendra Chola, had the glorious goal of building a temple at Gangaikondacholapuram that was even more impressive than the one his father had built.
However, he could never finish building the complex for unexplained reasons. After another century, Raja Raja Chola II constructed the third temple. It was located in a little village known as Darasuram.
Suppose the first two Brihadeshwara temples are larger-than-life marvels. In that case, the Airavateswarar Temple is a monument to the era's craftsmanship and an ode to skill on a smaller scale.
Even though each temple is primarily devoted to Shiva, a pantheon of Hindu deities has been carved onto each structure.
Chettinadu is a group of 75 towns in Tamil Nadu. The Nagarathar Chettiars, a wealthy group of merchants, used to live there.
These villages' arts, crafts, architecture, food, and customs make up a rich and colourful mosaic.
Most traders moved abroad to find better jobs; when they did, they took their homes.
They left behind a cultural artefact that reminds us of their diverse community and the money they made. Those who sold jewels and food did well for themselves.
Each house is a fortified palace bigger than life and can sometimes cover up to 3700 square meters (39,826 square feet). They are called "nattukottais," which roughly means "regional forts."
The colourful exterior has arches, pillars, figures, and friezes. However, the interiors impress with their Belgian mirrors and chandeliers, Italian marble, Japanese artworks, Spanish tiles, Burmese teak, and other rich pieces from all over the world.
In towns like Karaikudi, Kanadukathan, Devakottai, Kothamangalam, Pallathur, and Kottaiyur, you can find homes up to 200 years old.
Even though most of them have been left to fall apart, a few have been fixed up and turned into luxurious hotels.
It's interesting to look at these houses during a walk because they combine art deco, Dravidian, and colonial styles uniquely. Some of them will cost you a small amount of money to join.
During exciting 4WD safaris through the dense woods of wildlife sanctuaries, you can look out for India's "Big Five" animals: the tiger, the elephant, the leopard, the sloth bear, and the gaur (Indian bison).
More than 100 national parks and tiger areas are spread out across the country. Some of these are the world-famous Jim Corbett National Park, Kanha, Bandhavgarh, and Panna in Madhya Pradesh, Pench and Tadoba-Adhari in Maharashtra, Ranthambore in Rajasthan, Nagarhole and Bandipur in Karnataka, Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu, and many, many more.
In Hemis National Park in Ladakh, you can find snow leopards. Gir National Park in Gujarat is where you'll find the most lions. Kaziranga National Park in Assam is where you can see the highly endangered one-horned rhinoceros.
Large groups of elephants often visit the Kabini Reservoir in Karnataka, especially during summer. Over 1300 different kinds of birds live in the area, making it a paradise for bird watchers.