Is India the most photogenic country on Earth? I am not sure. What I do know is that during my 2-month trip through the great country, I took over 5000 photos and almost all of them were full of vibrant, colorful people, awesome ancient places, verdant countryside, and mass chaos.
I decided to make a top 10 photos post, but quickly realized I could never narrow down my choices to a mere ten. Instead, here are my top 18 photos of places, buildings, cityscapes and landscapes from India and later I will post my favorite photos of people. I hope you enjoy.
India’s largest mosque, the Jama Masjid in old Delhi. It can hold 20,000 worshippers at one time.
Does the Taj really need a caption? It is every bit as impressive as you can imagine.
The Amber Fort near Jaipur.
One of the 500 temples in and around Pushkar, our favorite place in Rajasthan.
Pushkar from the Saraswati Temple at Sunrise. We had to wake up at 4 AM and hike an hour to get the view, but it was worth it.
The CIty Palace in Udaipur was the most impressive of all the palaces and forts we saw in Rajasthan.
One of 29 caves carved into the cliff face at Ajanta. The caves served as either Buddhist monasteries or temples and date back to 200 B.C.
The largest monolithic carving in the world at the Ellora Caves. I don’t know what is more impressive, the fact that they took 200 years to carve this or that I was able to get a photo with only Kristi in it and no other tourists.
Mehrangarh Fort and Jodhpur at sunset. I like the local boy in the bottom of the frame pondering life.
The cubist cityscape of Jodhpur.
The Ranakpur temple in Rajasthan. The Jain temple is made up of over 1444 unique pillars carved out of white marble. Amazing.
The Victoria Terminus in bustling Mumbai.
Sunrise at Hampi, one of the great archeological sites of India. At its height, over 500 years ago, the area was home to 1/2 million people. Now the area consists of scattered ruins and banana plantations. The vibe in present day Hampi is very mellow – a great place for chilling out and doing some hiking.
The cathedral at Goa again. The Portuguese old city of Panjim was laid-back and filled with excellent places to eat.
The stunning Taj Hotel in Mumbai
The tea plantations of Munnar in the state of Kerala. The state’s motto, God’s own country, is apt.
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Nice! My favorites – the bottom photo of the Goa cathedral, Ranakpur temple, and the Ellora caves (which still might be enough to get me to India!)
I think you’d like India. It may be crazy at times, but it is a photographer’s dream. The Ranakpur Temple was almost impossible to photograph, but amazing.
Maybe someday. I still have the rest of the world to explore. I’ll just experience it vicariously through you for now!
Loved the pictures! and the fact that you managed to photograph a few things without the usual tourist hassle. I see you’ve been to my town Mumbai. hope you liked it. thumbs up for the pictures!
Thank you. I loved Mumbai. It was an exciting and interesting city to visit and I plan to go back someday.
oh cool! happy exploring 🙂
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Stunning pics!
Thank you Ree.
Oh wow! I would love to go to Hampi. Looks dreamlike
Hampi is dreamlike. There are countless scattered ruins among the boulders and rocky hills in the area. The “town” area is just a few guesthouses and restaurants and the entire area is easily explored on foot or bike. It is one of the most relaxed places a person can go in India and is worth at least three days in my opinion.
great photos! 🙂
Thank you.
Very nice and dreamy photos!!!
Thank you very much. India is a dreamy place.
Wonderful! Thank you!
Beautiful photos – thank you for sharing them 🙂
It had to figure out which pictures to make the top 10 wasn’t it?
It was a challenge to narrow it down to my favorites. India is so colorful and varied that it is hard to take a bad photo.
I can’t wait to see Part 2! I bet it will be awesome! http://www.segmation.com
Oh wow, but India is beautiful. The culture, the people, the place… One of a kind
Yes it is. Have you been to India before or are you planning to go? It is an incredible place.
awesome pictures. Though here, I have not explored half of them myself. thank you for sharing.
Where are you in India?
I live in Delhi. Earlier I was in Mumbai
(born an Indian, I have lived here all my life and am yet to step out of my land. Sad!)
After I took on to blogging a little while ago, I feel craving for travelling out. Yes, I am envy of you;)
Wonderful pics. 🙂 Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Thank you.
AMAZING PHOTOS!!!!!!!!!!! I would LOVE to go to india!!!!!! Looks like such an exciting yet spiritual place
India is a very spiritual place, maybe more outwardly spiritual and religious than any other country. If you enjoy photography, then India is a must!
Nice, refreshing photos you’ve got. Especially since you managed to leave out the mandatory monkeys, dogs, snake charmer, and skinny poor people collage that most westerners post 😛
However, I don’t understand why you call India a spiritual place. People here may be louder in practicing their religion than an average Japanese or American but spiritual?! 😀
Good question on the spirituality. Religion and spirituality are definitely more visible in India than anywhere else I’ve been.
This really makes me want to go and do some travelling, thanks for the great pics.
Hopefully you get to go to India soon then. It is a great country for photography and travel.
Wow, you really have a great eye. I love your point of view, and the fact that you take a few steps (or yards!) back and get a great vantage point. I’m leaving for India on Jan 6, and I’ve been debating between Pushkar and Jaisalmer. It sounds like you might recommend the first?
I never made it out to Jaisalmer. We had planned to go there directly from Delhi but the trains were booked. We went south to Agra then out to Rajasthan in the reverse order of how we planned.
I only heard great things about Jaisalmer, BUT there is so much to do in Rajasthan that I think it is skip-able. After all, how many forts, palaces and ruins can a person see?
As for Pushkar, it is a MUST DO. Off the main bazaar the backstreets are quiet and the people are so friendly. There are couple of great hikes in the area and it is one of the most photogenic places in India. Also, I’d highly recommend the Everest Hotel there. They have a great staff and rooftop restaurant.
Enjoy your trip!
I’ll definitely make a note of this. Thanks for the advice!
Wow wow these photos are truly beautiful. India is definitely very high on my life list of places to travel. Jodhpur especially looks so cool 🙂
Jodhpur is great. The imposing fort sits atop a steep hill in the middle of town and is one of the most impressive in Rajasthan. It is a big city nowadays and can be hectic away from the old city, but it is a fun, exciting place to visit.
Wow your photos are amazing
Thank you very much!
Stunning photos! India looks beautiful.
Thank you. India IS beautiful.
Lovely set of photos…love them all! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you!
Nice photos. You should also visit Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu is on the list for next time. What places would you recommend there?
Kodaikanal – the best place on earth 🙂 Then you could visit Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram for the beaches!!
Simply stunning. This brought back many memories for me – I was there last month!
Thank you. I miss it already. How about you? Where did you visit when you were there?
Yep I miss it and I miss being on the road! Last month we were there – Nepal and India. In India we went to Varanasi, Agra, Tordi Garh, Jaipur, Nimaj Bagh, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Mamallapuram, Pondicherry, Madurai, Varkala, Alleppey and Kochi 🙂
Thank you,it was very nice to see a beautiful pictures.Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Thank you and Merry Christmas to you too!
I think you missed Kerala ….my home state. Loved the photos. Great work. Thank you.
We ended up spending about two weeks in Kerala and absolutely loved it. Although I had some great photos from there, for some reason they didn’t quite get on this list. Where are you from in Kerala?
I live in a small town varapuzha, on the suburbs of kochi. http://varapuzha.wordpress.com
These made me homesick. Great shots!
Love the pics! I have been to most of these places, but I still love looking at pics of them—brings back so many memories! 😀
Your photographs are impressive, but it is like an India without India in it–they have a sanitized quality, as if all that is real and alive there has been removed. Only the monuments remain. It made me sad to look at them.
Reblogged this on Voices and Visions.
Just spent a month there myself! A place as preserved as any other.. Your photographs belong in frames, though I’m surprised you declined to include any of Varanasi..
I have several of Varanasi in my photos of people post I did as a follow-up.
Argh! I tried to resist clicking on this post because I knew it would be awesome and I would drool a little. But I did click, and I did drool. Very nice pics. Can’t wait to get myself over there one day.
Thank you. Go to India this year – it is safe, relatively easy to travel through and cheap!
Your photos are beautiful !!! Congrats on being Freshly Pressed !!
Very nice pictures , Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Great, great, great pics! Awesome 🙂
Gorgeous pictures! Thank you for posting.
Amazing photos! I hope to go there someday. Thank you for sharing.
I am an Indian and i’ve not been to any of these places. Thank you for the beautiful pictures. I am from the hilly regions, i think you missed all those places near the Himalayas, like Kashmir,Himanchal or my place Uttarakhand.
I am an American and I’ve probably seen more of India than my own country now. It is funny how that works.
I plan to come back to India soon and visit the Kashmir and the north. I can’t wait!
Truly, i myself wish to see these places some day. Well, do try to visit my place, you won’t be disappointed. Here are few pics…
http://pseudomonaz.wordpress.com/2012/12/09/home/
Jeff, this is simply incredible!! I am glad that you made it to the South India as well and Kerala in particular.
the pics of Ellora caves are amazing! Happy Trippin’, mate! 🙂
Got to make it to India one of these days….. Thanks for the visual tour.
Fantastic photographs. I love your photograph of The Taj. One day I’d love to see it in person.
Reblogged this on Gealachs Blogg and commented:
Riktigt fina bilder från Indien!
I’m Indian and some of the shots you have of places in Rajasthan show it in new light! Amazing pics.
Rajasthan is a photographers dream. There is so much color and ancient sights there. I loved Rajasthan. Where are you from?
I’m from further south, Mangalore. But I stay in Mumbai, its good for street photography; but carrying a camera around makes you the center of attraction for the general populace 🙂
I’ve been to Rajasthan a couple of times, but that was before I was hooked to photography. Gotta visit it sometime again.
I like this…
I want to go India and take photos as beautiful as yours. It’s seems like an amazing destination though I hear many tourists get harassed by aggressive locals selling their wares. Did you experience this?
The touts in India can be relentless at times. Overall, they are manageable and should absolutely not deter anyone from going to India. The local people are so friendly and nice and it is easy to meet them.
excellent pics. did you visit the northeastern states too? i posted some pics of the hornbill fest there.. its incredible http://itchyneurons.wordpress.com/2012/09/12/where-the-colors-sing/
You have a stunning sense of composition. I love these these photographs, especially the Victoria Terminus and the tea plantation … and the Jama Masjid (which for some reason makes me think of Rome and Florence!).
Thank you. The Victoria Terminus is European Gothic, the others are influenced more from the Middle East, but then those were probably influenced by Europe.
I like how even your ‘part 1’ is well distributed throughout the country. Mehranjgad is one of my absolute favourite places in the country.And the church in Goa too.Did you visit more of Maharashtra than Mumbai?IIm from Pune,you should def visit.You should also visit the states of Tamil Nadu and Orrisa,they have a lot of temples there.
We stayed three nights in Aurangabad in Maharashtra but didn’t make it to Pune. We plan to return in the next year or two, and I’d like to do Sikkim, Darjeeling, Calcutta, Tamil Nadu and revisit a few places like Varanasi, Mumbai and Kerala. India is a huge country with so much to see!
Love the pictures! Amazing places! Thank you for sharing them with us 🙂
Stunning photos! Even after being an Indian, I haven’t got time to visit all of these places. Someday, I will. Someday.
Where do you live in India?
In Dehradun near Mussoorie and Haridwar. It lies in the foothills of the Himalayas.
amazing pics!