Iconic India: Tigers and the Taj Mahal

This vast metropolis surrounding the capital, New Delhi, is a frenetic web at the heart of the nation, sending winding roads and railways in all directions – though Delhi has much to keep travelers within its grand, historic grip: the crimson towers of the Red Fort, former home of Mughal emperors; the grand palms of the Lodi Gardens, and the bustling bazaars of Chandni Chowk, where everything, from heaps of spices to ornate rugs, is sold side by side. 

Though Agra bustles with bazaars and is littered with grand forts and mausoleums, many visitors find themselves powerless to the charms of one modern-day wonder of the world: the Taj Mahal. The ivory-white crown jewel of Muslim architecture was built in the mid-17th century by Shah Jahan for his late wife on the banks of the Yamuna river. It remains an edifice of elegance shimmering against the rise of the morning heat as bare feet step quietly across its marble floors.

Enveloping a 10th-century fort of the same name, the lush forests of Ranthambore National Park sprawl through eastern Rajasthan, a former hunting ground where encounters with wildlife include macaques, crocodiles and India’s most regal residents, Bengal tigers. The warning call of a chital deer announces the arrival of India’s king of the jungle, as these graceful big cats pick their way through the scrub.

Forts, palaces, cenotaphs, domed towers: Jaipur is regal to its blushing-pink core. Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II commissioned this majestic city beneath the Aravalli in 1727, endowing it with grand sights from the intricate facades of the Hawa Mahal, a pink sandstone palace, to the ornate courtyard havelis that crowd the Old City. Indeed, the romantic soul of the Rajasthani capital reveals itself in that rose-pink tangle of streets, where the intoxicating scent of laal maas drifts through bazaars heaving with wood carvings, pottery and gleaming lacquer bangles. 

As if plucked from the pages of a picture book, the Golden Temple gleams like bullion at the heart of the Harmandir Sahib gurdwara. The holiest shrine in the Sikh faith stands in sacred waters, its lavish masterpiece of gold, filigree and precious stones mirrored in the surface. Beyond the hallowed grounds is a fast-paced city of bazaars and historic gardens, where locals cool down with ice-cold lassi and refuel with traditional fried fish and kulchas, soft leavened bread dripping with butter.