Indian maps, myths & travel legends
In conversation with professional geographer Dr Manosi Lahiri about the ways in which travellers have helped to draw the map of India
Open Roads
Mughal Sarais, where caravans & cultures mingled
Along the ancient Silk Road and the historic Grand Trunk Road lay a series of rest-stops and inns called sarais where caravans of travellers, pilgrims and traders could break their journey
Souvenir series: Notes from a solo woman traveller in India
Fanny Parkes’s richly illustrated journals give us a sense of the freedom that the author experienced as a woman traveller in 19th-century India
Destination India, a reading list
Five books that showcase how the world once saw India
Open Roads
For our 36th edition of Sarmaya Spotlight, we bring you the most picturesque destinations, thrilling travel stories and colourful souvenirs from across the Subcontinent
Souvenir series: Pilgrims to Nathdwara take these paintings home
Pichwai paintings were born in the temple town of Nathdwara in Rajasthan and centre the 8-year-old deity, Shrinathji
Souvenir series: A rare photo of Dal Lake in the 1800s
On the banks of the Dal Lake with a physician-turned-photographer-turned-mountaineer
Summer Holidays: The origin of India’s hill-stations
From the Himalayas to the Nilgiris, the mountain slopes of India are home to hill-stations. Built by the British, these were sanctuaries designed to get them through sickness and long summers
Mughal Sarais, where caravans & cultures mingled
Along the ancient Silk Road and the historic Grand Trunk Road lay a series of rest-stops and inns called sarais where caravans of travellers, pilgrims and traders could break their journey