Delhi | Gurudwara Bangla Sahib Step inside Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, where devotional music carries through the marble complex and the holy pool reflects its golden dome. Its community kitchen serves free meals around the clock, with thousands sitting side by side regardless of wealth, faith or background. Visit the kitchens to see this extraordinary undertaking at close quarters.

Bandhavgarh | Bandhavgarh Fort The reserve takes its name from a fort few visitors reach. A one-hour climb ends at ruins set on cliffs 800 metres high, their rock still marked with ancient paintings. From the top the whole park unrolls beneath you – forest, grassland and, somewhere in the trees, the tigers.

Khajuraho | Kandariya Mahadev Kandariya Mahadev is the greatest temple the Chandela kings raised here: the largest, and the most finely made. Its 31-metre spire climbs in a cascade of smaller peaks, the sandstone beneath worked in three unbroken tiers. Built between 1025 and 1050, it marks the summit of their art.

Agra | Inside Agra Fort Beyond the red ramparts, Agra Fort opens into a city of marble. The Pearl Mosque glows white against the sandstone; the Hall of Private Audiences once held the jewelled Peacock Throne; and Jehangir Palace, built by Akbar for his son, still stands beside the Khas Mahal's cool marble pavilions.

Jaipur | Four Seasons Look beyond City Palace’s grand façades to Pritam Niwas Chowk, where four elaborate doorways turn the seasons into colour and pattern. The Peacock Gate flares into autumn, the Lotus Gate opens on summer, the Green Gate ushers in spring, and the Rose Gate blooms for winter. Each frames an entrance to the inner palace, but together they form one of Jaipur’s most intricate compositions.