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  • Asia
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  • India
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  • Things not to miss
An exuberant festival held in September or October, when every street and village erects a shrine to the goddess Durga. Kolkata (Calcutta) has the most lavish festivities. The Mughal emporer Akbar’s elegant palace complex now lies deserted on a ridge near Agra, but remains one of India’s architectural masterpieces. Lazy boat trips wind through the lush tropical waterways of India’s deep south Extraordinarily beautiful murals, dating from 200 BC to 650 AD, adorn the walls of caves chiselled into basalt cliffs. Simply the world’s greatest building: Shah Jahan’s monument to love fully lives up to all expectations. A splendid introduction to the culture and history of India, featuring outstanding sculpture, Mughal miniature paintings and much more. November sees the largest livestock market on earth, where 200,000 Rajasthani herders in traditional costume converge on the desert oasis of Pushkar to trade and bathe in the sacred lake. Immaculately preserved temples renowned for their uncompromisingly erotic carvings. This semi-ruined former capital of the Bundela Rajas is an architectural gem, rising up through the surrounding forest. Honey-coloured citadel, emerging from the sands of the Thar Desert. India’s epic Himalayan road trip, along the second-highest highway in the world, is the most popular approach to Ladakh, and revered by motorbikers, cyclists and drivers alike. Perched on the edge of the Himalayas, this is the home of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhism in exile. This atmospheric harbourside is strung with elegant Chinese fishing nets. The nation’s favourite sport is played everywhere, from the Oval Maidan in Mumbai to Eden Gardens in Kolkata (Calcutta), the hot cauldron of Indian cricket. The beautiful beaches on the edge of this temple town are popular with budget travellers fleeing the commercialism of nearby Goa. Definitive South Indian city, centred on a spectacular medieval temple. Deep in the eastern tracts of Madhya Pradesh, this park is rich in animal and birdlife, including tigers and leopards. Deserted capital of the last great Hindu empire, scattered over a bizarre landscape of giant golden-brown boulders. The teeming bazaars of the Pink City in Jaipur burst with vibrant cloth, jewellery, Persian-style pottery and semi-precious stones. Simply the best place to shop in the Subcontinent. City of Light, founded by Shiva, where the bathing ghats beside the Ganges teem with pilgrims. Kerala is the place to experience Kathakali and other esoteric ritual theatre forms. The most architecturally impressive of the many dramatic monasteries within striking distance of Leh. The epitome of Rajput power and extravagance, its ramparts towering above a labyrinthine, blue-painted old city. More than one hundred sumptuously caparisoned elephants march in Kerala’s biggest temple festival, accompanied by ear-shattering South Indian drum orchestras. Arguably the most romantic city in India, with ornate Rajput palaces floating in the middle of two shimmering lakes. The largest city in Punjab, and site of the fabled Golden Temple, the Sikhs’ holiest shrine. Exquisite crescent-shaped beach in Goa’s relaxed south, famous for its dolphins and local alcoholic spirit, feni.