Lost Cities of India    Click on thumbnails below for larger pictures. Links indicate photo sets.


"What does it mean for a world to vanish? As a kid, when I first came across the term 'lost cities', I was mesmerized. A whole city lost? Lost? How can that happen?

We live with the illusion that our physical and cultural worlds have a certain solidity and stability, that despite inevitable change, they will endure long after us, bearing our legacy and progeny. We maintain this illusion even when we're aware of the many lost worlds that archaeologists have dug out—astonishing places like Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat, Memphis, Mohenjo-Daro and Persepolis. Since such lost worlds first captivated my imagination as a boy, I've visited dozens of them but I've lost none of my fascination for them."

—From the Introduction of Namit Arora's Indians: A Brief History of a Civilization.


Dholavira

Khajuraho

Lothal

Shravasti

Nagarjunakonda

Sarnath

Sanchi

Rabdentse

Rajgir

Nalanda

Patna

Mamallapuram

Konark

Udaygiri Mahavihara

Ratnagiri Mahavihara

Lalitagiri Mahavihara

Badami

Ellora

Ajanta

Cave 2, The Nativity of the Buddha

Vijayanagar

Bhojpur

Almora

In the Kumaon region of Uttaranchal

Udaigiri Caves

 

Bavikonda &
Thotlakonda

Bojjannakonda &
Lingalakonda

Eluru /
Guntupalli Caves

 

Purana Qila

Tughlaqabad

The ramparts of the fort built by Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq c.1325

Hauz Khas

 

 



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