The gallery

Thirty-six journeys, in photographs

Photographs from the states and Union Territories in the book — the author’s own from the road, and the credited images printed in its pages. Choose a state, or let the page shuffle India for you.

Part One · The Southern Arc

Part Two · The Western Roads

Part Three · The Heartland

Part Four · The Himalayan Crown

Part Five · The Eastern Light

A random mix from all 36 journeys

Every shade, shuffled

Tap a state above to travel there.

KeralaVarkala beach from above: three umbrellas and the Arabian Sea coming in.
KeralaA still backwater canal beneath leaning coconut palms.
KeralaThe copper-clad roof and carved brackets of an old Kerala temple.
KeralaSunset from the Varkala cliffs, palms silhouetted over the surf.
KeralaSree Padmanabhaswamy Temple at golden hour, mirrored in the Padma Theertham tank.
KeralaThe carved gopuram of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Thiruvananthapuram.
KeralaDried ginger, chillies, nutmeg and more in jute sacks — the spice coast’s old trade.
KeralaMorning light on an old Kerala temple, its stone lamp tower in the courtyard.
KeralaA lone coconut palm leans over a long, quiet Kerala beach.
KeralaA coast road lined with coconut palms, the sea just beyond.
KeralaA peacock in full display beside a forest path.
KeralaHouseboats file down the Alappuzha backwaters under a monsoon sky.
KeralaA stone shrine with saffron doors, standing against a hilltop sky.
KeralaThe giant Jatayu sculpture at Jatayu Earth’s Center, Chadayamangalam.
KeralaTea rows wrap a hilltop in the high ranges of the Western Ghats.
KeralaA dugout canoe slips into a tunnel of mangroves in the backwaters.
TripuraUnakoti — the great Bhairava face in the hillside: one less than a crore, and the waterfall.
TripuraNeermahal at dusk — the water palace afloat on Rudrasagar, lights doubling in the lake.
MizoramCheraw — the bamboo dance: the hills' oldest rhythm, still opening every festival.
MizoramAizawl at dusk — a capital balanced along its ridgelines, lights coming on in tiers.
ManipurSagol Kangjei in Manipur — polo as the world first played it, still in session.
ManipurLoktak at dawn — the phumdis drifting like a country still deciding its shape.
NagalandHornbill Festival at Kisama — the morungs in session, ten loud days a year.
NagalandKhonoma's terraces at dusk — the warrior village that laid down its guns for its forest.
Arunachal PradeshZiro's paddies — rice above, fish below, millet on the bunds: three harvests, one field.
Arunachal PradeshTawang monastery at dawn — the largest in India, holding the valley like a hand.
MeghalayaThe Umngot at Dawki — boats on water so clear the shadows do the floating.
MeghalayaThe double-decker root bridge at Nongriat — architecture, growing.
AssamThe Rang Ghar at Sivasagar — the Ahoms' royal pavilion, six centuries on duty.
AssamThe Brahmaputra at Guwahati — a river the width of a weather system.
SikkimYumthang in rhododendron season — the state flower, by the hillside.
SikkimKanchenjunga at dawn from Pelling — the guardian, attending office.
OdishaPuri's Grand Road at evening — the temple tower, the daily flag, the sea wind.
OdishaKonark at first light — the sun temple's wheel, part sundial, part scripture.
West BengalKumartuli — the goddess in progress, eyes always last.
West BengalHowrah Bridge at dusk — 700,000 crossings a day, no nuts, no bolts, all rivets and nerve.
LadakhThiksey monastery at first light — the dungchen horns waking the valley.
LadakhPangong Tso in the afternoon — the lake running through its wardrobe of blues.
Jammu & KashmirA Srinagar handicrafts workshop — Kashmiri handwork, measured in centimetres a day.
Jammu & KashmirDal Lake at first light — shikaras, mist, and the mountains keeping watch.
UttarakhandThe ghats at Rishikesh — the young river, the old rituals, the swaying bridge.
UttarakhandDevprayag — the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda meeting in two colours to become, from this exact point, the Ganga.
Himachal PradeshKey monastery — a thousand years stacked on a hill, prayer flags doing the maintenance.
Himachal PradeshThe Spiti valley from above Dhankar — a river of glacial silver in a land the colour of the moon.
ChandigarhSukhna Lake at morning — the planned city's unplanned calm.
ChandigarhThe Open Hand at the Capitol Complex — 'open to give, open to receive', turning with the wind.
HaryanaThe handloom — the craft Panipat industrialised, still worked by hand elsewhere.
HaryanaDawn at Brahma Sarovar, Kurukshetra — the tank where the Mahabharata's geography still takes bookings.
PunjabThe langar hall — a hundred thousand meals a day, everyone on the same floor.
PunjabHarmandir Sahib on its pool of nectar — gold holding the last light, and the first.
DelhiThe Jama Masjid courtyard at dusk — Shah Jahan's city still keeping the hour.
DelhiHumayun's Tomb at first light — the rehearsal, a century early, for the Taj.
JharkhandA sarna sthal at a village edge — the grove that is the temple.
JharkhandHundru Falls on the Subarnarekha — the plateau letting the river go, ninety metres at once.
BiharThe brick cells of Nalanda — eight hundred years of teaching, one long doorstep.
BiharThe Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya — the tower above the tree above the seat of awakening.
Uttar PradeshA Banarasi handloom at work — zari and silk, weeks per sari.
Uttar PradeshDawn on the ghats of Varanasi — the city facing east, as it has for three thousand years.
ChhattisgarhThe Lakshmana temple at Sirpur — sixth-century brickwork, sharp as yesterday.
ChhattisgarhChitrakote in monsoon spate — the Indravati falling in a mile-wide horseshoe.
Madhya PradeshOrchha's cenotaphs on the Betwa at dusk — kings' memorials, vultures on sentry.
Madhya PradeshFirst light in Kanha's sal forest — the meadows where the jungle book was born.
RajasthanThe blue city of Jodhpur from the ramparts of Mehrangarh Fort.
RajasthanJaisalmer Fort at golden hour — a sandstone citadel that seems lit from within.
Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & DiuDiu Fort at dusk — Portuguese ramparts holding the Arabian Sea's last light.
GujaratAjrakh block printing in Ajrakhpur — sixteen stages of indigo, madder and patience.
GujaratThe White Rann under a full moon — salt to the horizon, sky doing the rest.
MaharashtraRajgad's ramparts riding the ridgeline — the Sahyadris shaped into a capital.
MaharashtraMarine Drive at night — the Queen's Necklace curving into the Arabian Sea haze.
GoaThe Divar ferry crossing the Mandovi — Goa's slowest and best public transport.
GoaFontainhas, Panjim — the Latin quarter waking up in ochre and oyster-shell light.
Andaman & Nicobar IslandsRoss Island — ficus roots reclaiming the old British quarters.
Andaman & Nicobar IslandsRadhanagar Beach, Swaraj Dweep — rainforest walking straight down to the sea.
LakshadweepPole-and-line tuna boats returning to the jetty at dusk.
LakshadweepThe lagoon at Agatti from the air — a ring of coral holding a bowl of light.
PuducherryThe evening promenade on Goubert Avenue — the town walks, the sea speaks.
PuducherryRue Romain Rolland, White Town — bougainvillea against colonial yellow and grey.
Tamil NaduA sthapathi at work in Swamimalai — lost-wax bronze casting, unchanged since the Cholas.
Tamil NaduThe Brihadeeswarar temple, Thanjavur — a thousand years old and still on duty.
KeralaVillage canals near Kumarakom — the school boat makes its morning rounds.
KeralaA kettuvallam drifts through the Alleppey backwaters at first light.
KarnatakaShade-grown coffee and pepper vines on a Kodagu estate after morning rain.
KarnatakaSunrise from Matanga Hill, Hampi — the ruins of Vijayanagara scattered gold among the boulders.
TelanganaThe Charminar at dusk — four minarets over four centuries of commerce.
Andhra PradeshInside the Borra Caves — limestone formations lit against the dark.
Andhra PradeshDawn over the Araku Valley, Eastern Ghats — mist lifting from coffee terraces.

Photographs credited “Rushendra Pydi” are the author’s own. Others are published under Creative Commons licences and credited to their photographers — see the full photo credits.