220 Cool and Unusual Things to Do in India - Atlas Obscura

Unusual Attractions in India

Abhaneri, India

Chand Baori

Thousands of exquisitely carved stone water storage wells, hundreds of stone steps fill this exquisite medieval stepwell.

Hawa Mahal (Palace of Winds)

The 953 windows undoubtedly make this the world's most beautiful screened porch.

Cherrapunjee, India

The Root Bridges of Cherrapunji

Centuries-old bridges grown from tangled roots.

Skeleton Lake of Roopkund, India

A lake with hundreds of ancient skeletons surrounding it. The surprise is what killed them.

Jal Mahal

More than half of this Indian palace is drowned but it looks all the more spectacular for it.

Ellora Caves

This complex of vertically-excavated Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu monolithic temples in India's Maharashtra providence illustrates a spirit of tolerance characteristic of ancient India.

The Blue City of Jodhpur

Once an indicator of social class, the color blue has come to define this city on the edge of the Thar Desert.

Shatrunjaya Hill

A mecca for India's Jains.

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Cool Places to Eat & Drink in India

Amritsar Cantt., India

Golden Temple

This peaceful Sikh gurudwara serves around 50,000 free meals every day within its gilded walls.

New Delhi, India

Cafe Lota

Nestled among the artifacts of the National Crafts Museum, this hidden gem offers hard-to-find regional foods from all over India.

Nahoum and Sons

This Jewish bakery, among the last in the region, sells legendary sweets from a century-old storefront.

Guru Sweet Mart

At this sweet shop, the descendants of a royal chef serve up the fudge-like dessert his ancestor invented for a king.

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Stories About India

Buland Darwaza (Door of Victory) at Fatehpur Sikri, the one-time capital of the Mughal Empire.

Clues in Caves Suggest Drought May Have Brought Down India's Mughal Empire

Patterns in 1,000-year-old stalagmite formation connect the fall of empires, kingdoms, and industries to long and deadly dry periods.

by Gayatri Kathayat

September 26, 2022

The Mughal Women Who Wouldn’t Stay in the Harem

From musket-wielding empress Nur Jahan to writer Gulbadan Begum, meet the influential women of the early-modern Muslim empire.

August 31, 2022

A community mango event in Kannapuram.

One Indian Village, More Than 100 Varieties of Mangoes

Kannapuram locals are documenting and conserving the many kinds of their favorite fruit.

by Rashmi Gopal Rao

India is home to 70 percent of the world's tigers—and deadly human-animal encounters are on the rise.

What Should Be Done With India’s ‘Man-Eating’ Tigers?

As deadly encounters increase, farmers, urbanites, and authorities disagree on how to handle big cats gone bad.

by Niranjana Rajalakshmi

Sange Norbu milks a yak in Northeast India.

The Last Cheesemakers of the Eastern Himalayas

India and Bhutan's yak herders face steep challenges.

by Jitaditya Narzary

A British twist on a longtime South Asian tradition.

Strawberry Curry Is a Modern Twist on an Old Tradition

Fruit curries have a sweet and savory history.

by Sejal Sukhadwala

The Curious Case of Colonial India's Breakfast Curries

Even as the British Empire appropriated curry, authentic versions conquered local officials' tables.

by Lily Kelting

February 16, 2022

A honeycomb moray eel, stranded by the receding tide at Mahalaxmi, was later released into a nearby intertidal pool. The rocky shoreline has since been developed into part of a coastal road.

Discovering the Unexpected Wonder of Mumbai's Coastal Wildlife

Photographer Sarang Naik is reintroducing his hometown to its rich biodiversity, from glowing corals to dazzling sea slugs.

by Gemma Tarlach

January 10, 2022

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