Collections · Stone and chisel
Ancient temples and rock-cut sites
Gupta-era shrines, temples carved from a single ridge, cave chapels, wooden Kath-Kuni towers and hillsides of Jain colossi — some of the oldest and least-visited built things in north and central India.
11 routes in this collection · the full library
Delhi to Deogarh & the Betwa Gorge
Deogarh, in the Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh, holds the Dashavatara temple — a small 6th-century Gupta shrine, one of the earliest surviving…
Best Oct–Mar
See the route → WeekendDelhi to Masrur & Pong Dam
Masrur (Masroor), in the Kangra valley, is a group of 8th-century temples carved from a single sandstone ridge — a monolithic complex, weathered and…
Best Oct–Mar
See the route → OutstationDelhi to the Morena Temple Cluster
In the Chambal country of Morena district, a handful of extraordinary and near-empty sites sit within an hour of each other: the circular Chausath Yogini temple…
Best Oct–Mar
See the route → WeekendDelhi to Jageshwar & Abbott Mount
Jageshwar, near Almora at about 1,870 m, is a cluster of more than a hundred stone temples from the 7th to 12th centuries, packed along a stream in a dark grove…
Best Mar–Jun, Sep–Nov
See the route → WeekendDelhi to Lakhamandal & the Kalsi Edict
Lakhamandal, on the Yamuna in the Jaunsar country below Chakrata, is a group of stone temples from around the 6th–8th centuries, the main one a fine Nagara…
Best Mar–Jun, Sep–Nov
See the route → OutstationDelhi to Khajuraho, Panna & Raneh Falls
Khajuraho's Chandela temples — the Western, Eastern and Southern groups, carved in the 10th–11th centuries — are the famous draw, but the…
Best Oct–Mar (Apr–Jun for sightings)
See the route → OutstationDelhi to Datia Palace & Sonagiri
Datia, in northern Madhya Pradesh, holds the Bir Singh Deo palace (Purana Mahal / Satkhanda) — a seven-storey stone-and-brick palace from about 1620,…
Best Oct–Mar
See the route → WeekendDelhi to Hanol & the Mahasu Devta Temple
Hanol, on the Tons river where Uttarakhand meets Himachal, is the seat of the Mahasu Devta — four brother-deities of the Jaunsar-Bawar and Trans-Giri highlands.
Best Mar–Jun, Sep–Nov
See the route → WeekendDelhi to Chamba Town & the Churah Valley
Chamba town, on the Ravi at about 1,000 m, was the seat of one of the oldest hill states in India — it has the painted Rang Mahal, the Bhuri Singh museum…
Best Mar–Jun, Sep–Nov
See the route → OutstationDelhi to Jhalawar
Jhalawar, in the far south-east of Rajasthan, is the heart of Hadoti country and full of things nobody rides to.
Best Oct–Mar
See the route → OutstationDelhi to Chanderi
Chanderi, on the Malwa–Bundelkhand border in Madhya Pradesh, is a walled town under the hilltop Kirti Durg fort — a place of carved gates (the Khooni…
Best Oct–Mar
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