172 places on the atlas covering people, history, architecture, language, culture, festivals, folklore and crafts. Highlights include Mahatma Gandhi, Dholavira, Taj Mahal and Hindi.
See India on the map Etiquette guide
| President | Droupadi Murmu |
|---|---|
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
Office-holders as of July 2026. Governments change, so check India’s official government website for the latest. Full list of heads of state and government.
A short, well-known selection rather than a ranking. People pinned on the map appear in the cards below.
Born in the coastal town of Porbandar, he led India's independence movement through nonviolent civil disobedience, an approach that influenced civil rights movements around the world.
A Bengali poet, novelist and composer, he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1913. He also wrote the words of the national anthems of India and Bangladesh.
Born in Erode, he found deep results in number theory and infinite series with almost no formal training, and later worked with G. H. Hardy at Cambridge.
He wrote the Aryabhatiya in 499 CE, covering place value, the value of pi and the idea that the Earth rotates on its axis. Tradition places his work at Kusumapura, near modern Patna.
The queen of Jhansi became a leading figure in the 1857 uprising against British East India Company rule and died in battle in 1858.
Born in Karnal, she became the first woman of Indian origin in space in 1997 and died in the Space Shuttle Columbia accident in 2003.
One of the most recognised faces of Hindi cinema, he became a star in the 1970s as the 'angry young man' and is still acting more than five decades later.
Born in Delhi, he built a worldwide following through romantic films and blockbusters, and is often called the 'King of Bollywood'.
Her voice was heard in thousands of Hindi film songs over some seven decades. She was honoured with India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, in 2001.
A composer who blended electronic sound with Indian classical and folk music. He won two Academy Awards for the score and a song from Slumdog Millionaire.
Made his international debut as a teenager and went on to become the first player to score 100 international centuries. He retired from cricket in 2013.
A wicketkeeper-batter from Ranchi who captained India to the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup.
A Delhi batter known for his aggressive style and consistency in run-chasing. He led India's Test and white-ball teams for several years.
From a farming family in Manipur, she became a six-time world amateur boxing champion and won an Olympic bronze medal in 2012.
His debut Pather Panchali (1955) put Indian art cinema on the world stage. He received an honorary Academy Award in 1992, shortly before his death.
A scholar, lawyer and reformer who campaigned against caste discrimination and chaired the committee that drafted India's Constitution.
Born on Rameswaram island, he worked on India's satellite launch vehicles and missiles, then served as President from 2002 to 2007 and was widely admired by students.
A disciple of Ramakrishna, he became well known after a speech at the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago and helped spread Vedanta internationally.
He ruled most of the Indian subcontinent and, after the bloody Kalinga war, promoted a Buddhist-inspired ethic of compassion and tolerance in pillar and rock edicts.
Born at Shivneri Fort, he built a Maratha state in western India and developed a strong navy and a network of hill forts.
Crowned Miss World in 2000, she became a leading Hindi film actor and later one of the first Indian stars to headline American television and films.
Known for choosing films carefully, he starred in hits such as Lagaan and Dangal, and Dangal became one of the highest-grossing Indian films ever.
One of the biggest box-office draws in Hindi cinema for over three decades, he also hosts the television show Bigg Boss.
A star of the 1950s, she is remembered for Mughal-e-Azam and is often called the Venus of Indian cinema. Her career was cut short by illness.
A playback singer known for his playful, versatile voice, he sang for the leading stars of the 1970s and 1980s, and also acted and composed.
Often counted among the greatest Hindi film singers, he recorded thousands of songs in many languages, from devotional pieces to romantic ballads.
Born in Bengaluru, he rose from a bus conductor to become the best-known star of Tamil cinema, with a huge fan following in India and Japan.
He began as a child actor and has worked in several Indian languages, winning many national film awards for roles that often reshaped his appearance.
A child artist in Tamil and Telugu films who became one of the leading stars of Hindi cinema in the 1980s and 1990s.
Winner of the Miss World title in 1994, she became a leading actress in Hindi and Tamil films and a regular on the Cannes red carpet.
A forward whose stick skills earned him the nickname the Wizard. He won Olympic gold in 1928, 1932 and 1936, and India marks his birthday as National Sports Day.
He captained India to its first Cricket World Cup win in 1983, a surprise victory that changed how the sport was seen in the country.
He was the first batter to reach 10,000 Test runs and is admired for facing fearsome fast bowlers without a helmet in his early career.
The first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals, with silver in 2016 and bronze in 2020, and a world champion in 2019.
He won India's first Olympic gold in athletics at Tokyo in 2020 and followed it with a silver in Paris in 2024.
India's first chess grandmaster and a five-time world champion, he helped inspire a generation of Indian players.
A Harappan city built to a planned layout with advanced water-storage reservoirs. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2021.
A Harappan trading town with a structure that archaeologists identify as a dock, showing how seafaring and trade linked the Indus cities to distant lands.
Rock edicts near Dhauli record Emperor Ashoka's remorse after the Kalinga war and his turn towards a Buddhist-inspired ethic of nonviolence.
A great Buddhist monastic university that drew students from across Asia. Its ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The ruined capital of the Vijayanagara Empire, with temples, markets and royal enclosures spread among boulder-strewn hills.
The 1930 Salt March led by Gandhi ended on this coast, where he picked up salt in defiance of the colonial salt law.
The place where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment beneath a bodhi tree. The Mahabodhi Temple here is one of the holiest Buddhist sites.
Where the Buddha gave his first teaching. The Ashokan lion capital found here became the national emblem of India.
The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan's palace-fort in Old Delhi. India's Prime Minister raises the national flag here each Independence Day.
A colonial prison where many freedom fighters were held in isolation. It is now a national memorial with a nightly light-and-sound show.
A memorial garden marking the 1919 massacre, in which British troops fired on a crowd of unarmed men, women and children. It deepened anger against colonial rule.
A white marble mausoleum commissioned by Emperor Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, famed for its symmetry, central dome and inlaid stonework.
Emperor Akbar built this planned capital in the 1570s and left it within about fifteen years. Its palaces and courtyards survive in red sandstone.
The Great Stupa, a solid dome ringed by four carved gateways, is among the oldest stone structures in India and a centre of Buddhist art.
A temple designed as a colossal chariot of the sun god, with carved stone wheels and richly sculpted walls.
The temple complex is crowned by towering gateway towers called gopurams, covered in thousands of brightly painted sculptures.
A five-storey pink sandstone facade with hundreds of small windows that let breezes through and let royal women watch street life unseen.
The Kailasa temple here was carved top-down from a single rock face. The wider site holds Hindu, Buddhist and Jain monuments side by side.
A 73-metre tower of red sandstone and marble covered in carved calligraphy, begun by Qutb ud-Din Aibak at the start of the Delhi Sultanate.
The central Sikh shrine, set in a pool of water, with gilded upper floors. Its community kitchen serves free meals to many thousands of visitors every day.
Around thirty caves carved into a horseshoe-shaped cliff, decorated with wall paintings that depict Jataka tales and are among the finest ancient Indian art.
Medieval temples famous for the detailed sculptures covering their walls, which depict gods, musicians, dancers and everyday life.
Built by Rajaraja Chola I, with a 66-metre tower topped by a single granite capstone. It is the finest example of Chola architecture.
A Bahá'í house of worship shaped like a half-opened lotus, with 27 white marble petals. It welcomes people of all faiths.
The palace of the Wadiyar rulers, with domes, arches and stained glass. It is lit by about 100,000 bulbs on Sundays and during Dasara.
A square monument with four slender minarets, built by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah and surrounded by one of the city's busiest bazaars.
Hindi, written in Devanagari, is one of India's official languages and is widely spoken across northern India and beyond.
Tamil has a literary history of more than two thousand years and is one of India's classical languages.
Punjabi is written in the Gurmukhi script in India and the Shahmukhi script in Pakistan. It is known for its folk songs and for the Sikh scriptures.
A classical Dravidian language with a rounded script, spoken by tens of millions of people in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The language of Kerala, written in a script whose circular letters suit writing on palm leaves. Its literature goes back to the medieval period.
The language of Maharashtra, with a literary tradition that includes the saint-poets of the Bhakti movement such as Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram.
Gujarati has its own script without the headline stroke of Devanagari. Gujarati communities have carried it around the world.
A classical Dravidian language of Karnataka with a literary history of over a thousand years.
An ancient language of the Vedas, epics and classical grammar. Pāṇini's rules for it, written around the 4th century BCE, are a landmark of linguistics. Varanasi is a long-standing centre of its study.
Roadside tea stalls are social hubs across India. In Kolkata, tea is often served in small disposable clay cups that return to the earth after use.
A single length of cloth, often five to nine metres long, draped in many regional styles. Varanasi is known for its woven silk saris.
A thali brings sweet, salty, sour and spicy dishes together on a single large plate, eaten in a set order. Gujarat is known for its vegetarian thalis.
A dish of fragrant rice layered with marinated meat and sealed in a pot to cook in its own steam, a speciality of Hyderabad's old Nizam kitchens.
The crisp dosa, served with sambar and chutneys, is eaten across South India. Udupi's temple kitchens spread vegetarian restaurants across the country.
Puchka (also called golgappa or panipuri) are crisp shells filled with spiced water and potato. Kolkata's street carts also offer rolls, jhalmuri and more.
Yoga began in ancient India as a set of spiritual and physical disciplines. Rishikesh, on the Ganges, is a world centre for study. International Yoga Day is on 21 June.
On Mumbai's open maidans many games run side by side, with a ball hitting whichever pitch is nearest. Many Indian international cricketers began on grounds like these.
A delicate tea grown on steep Himalayan slopes. It was one of the first Indian products to receive a Geographical Indication tag, which protects the name.
Strong, malty tea from the Brahmaputra valley, where India's commercial tea growing began in the 19th century.
Fragrant tea grown on the Blue Mountains of southern India and often used for iced tea.
Coffee grown in the shade of tall trees in the hills of Kodagu, in estates that also grow pepper and cardamom.
The spice that drew traders from Arabia and Europe to Kerala's Malabar coast for centuries.
Deep-red saffron threads are hand-picked from crocus flowers on the plateau around Pampore each autumn.
A sweet, saffron-coloured mango from the Konkan coast, in season from April to June.
Loose-skinned sweet oranges from the Vidarbha region, which has given Nagpur the nickname Orange City.
The hill station's cool climate makes it the centre of India's strawberry growing, with fruit sold at roadside stalls in the winter season.
A spongy sweet of chhena cheese in sugar syrup. West Bengal received a GI tag for its version in 2017.
Odisha's own version of the sweet, offered at the Jagannath Temple in Puri. The state received its GI tag in 2019, and both states' versions are recognised.
A large sweet made at the Tirumala temple and given to pilgrims as prasadam. It holds a GI tag.
A crisp, spiced snack made from moth bean flour, which began in the desert city of Bikaner.
A caramel-brown milk sweet associated with Dharwad for more than a century.
A slow-cooked stew of wheat, lentils and meat, eaten widely in Ramadan. Hyderabad's version is among the first meat dishes in India to receive a GI tag.
A turmeric from Meghalaya with a very high curcumin content, grown by small farmers in the Jaintia Hills.
Homes are lit with oil lamps and decorated with rangoli. The festival celebrates the triumph of light over darkness and is observed by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists.
People throw coloured powder and water at each other to mark the arrival of spring. The towns around Mathura and Vrindavan celebrate it with special intensity.
Neighbourhoods build elaborate temporary pavilions called pandals and display clay idols for several days. UNESCO has listed it as intangible cultural heritage.
Kerala's harvest festival features flower carpets called pookalam, a grand feast served on banana leaves, and boat races.
A four-day Tamil harvest festival named after a dish of rice boiled in milk until it overflows, a symbol of abundance.
Thousands of camels and horses are traded at this fair beside the sacred Pushkar lake, alongside folk performances and competitions.
Households and neighbourhoods install clay images of Ganesha for several days, then carry them in processions to be immersed in water. Mumbai's public celebrations are the largest.
Huge wooden chariots carrying the deities of the Jagannath Temple are pulled through the streets of Puri by thousands of devotees.
Pilgrims bathe at the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna. The Kumbh Mela, held in rotation at four cities, is among the largest peaceful gatherings of people on Earth and is on UNESCO's intangible heritage list.
Mysuru's palace is lit by lights and a grand procession of decorated elephants and floats ends the festival on Vijayadashami.
For nine nights Gujarat dances the garba and dandiya raas in colourful dress. Garba was added to UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2023.
Punjab marks the spring harvest and the founding of the Khalsa in 1699, with processions, bhangra and visits to the Golden Temple.
Nagaland's tribes gather in a heritage village near Kohima to share dances, songs, crafts, food and games.
People gather around bonfires to sing and dance, and offer sesame, jaggery and popcorn to the flames in thanks for the winter crop.
Assam's spring festival of new beginnings, with Bihu dance, drums, traditional dress and festive foods.
Women stack seasonal flowers into a colourful conical arrangement, sing around it, and then immerse it in water. It is the state festival of Telangana.
Women carry decorated pots of food on their heads to temples as offerings to the goddess, accompanied by drummers and dancers.
Devotees stand in rivers and ponds at sunset and sunrise to offer thanks to the Sun god. It is most widely observed in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.
Women dress in bright clothes and carry clay idols of Gauri in processions through Jaipur and other cities of Rajasthan.
Monks in colourful costumes and masks perform sacred cham dances in the courtyard of Hemis Monastery, and a giant thangka is unveiled.
Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhist communities mark the new year with prayers, cleaning the home, special foods and dances.
A tent-city festival beside the shimmering white salt desert of the Rann of Kutch, with folk music, craft stalls and moonlit nights.
The Garo people thank Misi Saljong, the sun god, for the harvest, with the beat of hundreds of drums, dances and traditional dress.
Held after the jungle clearing for the year's farming, with Mizo dances such as Cheraw, songs and traditional costume.
Caparisoned elephants, percussion ensembles and showers of fireworks fill the area around the Vadakkunnathan Temple.
A three-day Sikh gathering with processions, mock battles, martial arts and horse-riding displays.
Millions of clay lamps are lit along the ghats of the Ganga, with evening aarti ceremonies and boat rides.
One of Asia's biggest traditional fairs, held at the meeting of the Ganga and Gandak rivers around Kartik Purnima.
Classical dancers perform against the floodlit Sun Temple, with Odissi at the heart of the programme.
Folk musicians, puppeteers, turban-tying contests and camel races celebrate desert life near the golden fort.
The Ramayana, an ancient Sanskrit epic, is retold each autumn in Ramlila folk theatre across northern India. Ayodhya is its traditional setting.
The Bauls of Bengal are wandering minstrels whose songs speak of love, freedom and the divine within. Their tradition is on UNESCO's intangible heritage list.
A graceful Rajasthani dance in which women in flowing skirts twirl in circles, traditionally performed at festivals and weddings.
A high-energy dance with dhol drum rhythms that began as a harvest celebration in Punjab and now has a global following.
A dance-drama in which performers in elaborate makeup and costume tell stories from epics through gesture, facial expression and drumming. Cheruthuruthy is home to the Kerala Kalamandalam school.
In northern Kerala, performers in towering headdresses and vivid face paint are believed to embody deities during temple ceremonies.
The Mahabharata, one of the longest poems ever composed, sets its great war on the plain of Kurukshetra. The Bhagavad Gita is presented as a conversation on the battlefield.
A night-long dance-drama of coastal Karnataka with bright costumes, tall headgear, singing and drumming, retelling stories from the epics.
The Kalbelia community of Rajasthan performs a swaying dance in black skirts to the sounds of the pungi and dhol. It is on UNESCO's intangible heritage list.
A lively Assamese dance performed during the Bihu festivals, with fast hand movements, flowing steps and drums such as the dhol and pepa.
A dance tradition of eastern India that mixes martial moves and storytelling. In Purulia, dancers wear large painted masks. It is on UNESCO's intangible heritage list.
A rhythmic folk form of Maharashtra with the beat of the dholki, fast footwork and expressive gestures.
Male dancers wear large drums around their necks and dance in circles, beating complex rhythms in unison.
A Manipuri martial art of sword and spear, performed also as a dance, with roots in the Meitei kingdom.
A Kashmiri folk theatre that mixes satire, music and dance, often performed outdoors with a humorous look at society.
A dance-drama that grew in the Vaishnava monasteries (satras) on the river island of Majuli, and is recognised as one of India's classical dance forms.
A solo singer retells the Mahabharata with a tambura in hand and acts out the characters. Teejan Bai made it famous.
Fine pashmina wool shawls, woven and then embroidered by hand, have been made in the Kashmir valley for centuries.
Jaipur's blue pottery is glazed with cobalt blue and turquoise floral patterns, and is made from quartz rather than clay.
Varanasi's weavers make silk brocades woven with gold and silver thread, traditionally used for bridal saris.
Women in the Mithila region have painted walls and floors with intricate scenes and patterns for generations. Today the art is also made on paper and cloth.
The Warli people paint simple white shapes — circles, triangles and lines — on earthen walls to show dances, harvests and daily life.
Dark metal vessels inlaid with silver patterns are named after the city of Bidar, where the craft developed in the 14th century.
Delicate hand embroidery in fine thread on light cotton and muslin, with floral patterns, a speciality of Lucknow.
Painters in the craft village of Raghurajpur paint mythological scenes in natural colours on treated cloth or palm leaf.
Fabric is painted with a bamboo pen dipped in vegetable dyes, with mythological scenes and flowing floral designs.
An ancient method of casting figures in brass using a wax model and clay mould, still practised by tribal artisans in central and eastern India.
Kanchipuram weavers make durable silk saris with gold-thread borders in temple and floral motifs, and the cloth carries a geographical indication.
Yarn is tied and dyed before weaving so that geometric patterns appear in the finished cloth. It is known as the silk city of India.
Artisans turn wood on a lathe and colour it with natural lacquer to make toys, so the town is known as the toy town of India.
Paintings of deities in rich colours with gold foil and inlaid stones, developed under the Maratha rulers of Thanjavur.
Women of different Kutchi communities stitch bold geometric and floral designs with tiny mirrors onto clothes and hangings.
Handmade leather sandals, hand-stitched and dyed with natural colours, made in and around Kolhapur and nearby districts.
Warm woollen shawls with bold geometric borders woven on handlooms in the Kullu valley.
Sheer, lightweight silk-cotton fabric with woven gold motifs, made in the small town of Chanderi.
A natural golden silk from a silkworm found only in Assam. Its shine grows with every wash.
The 'Silk City' of Bihar is known for tussar silk and for Bhagalpuri fabrics woven on handlooms.
Cotton-silk sarees with a distinctive joined border and a red pallu, woven in the town of Ilkal for over a thousand years.
Soft silk with pure gold zari, woven using mulberry silk from the Mysuru region.
Painters of the Gond community fill animals, trees and spirits with fine dots and lines. The style became widely known through the artist Jangarh Singh Shyam.
Long painted cloth scrolls tell the stories of local heroes such as Pabuji. Bhopas, the singers who perform with them, tell the tale in front of the scroll.
Vivid painted scrolls made by a community of storytellers in Telangana, with narrative panels like a comic strip.
Bold-lined paintings created by artists around the Kalighat temple in the 19th century, with humour about city life.
Women paint the walls of village homes with animals and plants during the harvest festival Sohrai and at weddings (Khovar).
A cloth made for the goddess, hand-painted and block-printed with natural dyes by the Vaghari community.
Mud-and-mirror relief work on the walls of Kutchi round houses, shaped by hand into swirling patterns.
Leather shadow puppets, cut and painted in bright translucent colours, enact scenes from the epics on a lit screen.
This page brings together the people who lead India today, a short selection of well-known people from India, and the 172 places pinned for India on the atlas. Use the buttons at the top to see India on the map, where you can filter by theme, read a short summary of each pin and follow the link to Wikipedia for the full article. To browse the same themes across the whole world, see the people page, history page, architecture page, language page, culture page, festivals page, folklore page and crafts page.
As of July 2026: President: Droupadi Murmu; Prime Minister: Narendra Modi. Office-holders change, so check the official government site for the latest.
Well-known people connected with India include Mahatma Gandhi (leader of the non-violent independence movement), Rabindranath Tagore (Nobel-winning poet), Jawaharlal Nehru (first Prime Minister), B. R. Ambedkar (architect of the Constitution) and Srinivasa Ramanujan (mathematician).
People pinned for India include Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Aryabhata, Rani Lakshmibai and Kalpana Chawla. Open the map to read a short summary of each.
Festivals on the atlas for India include Diwali, Holi, Durga Puja, Onam, Pongal and Pushkar Camel Fair. Open the map for photos and links to read more.
Notable buildings and sites in India on the atlas include Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri, Sanchi Stupa, Konark Sun Temple, Meenakshi Temple and Hawa Mahal. Open the map for photos and links to read more.
Historical places in India on the atlas include Dholavira, Lothal, Dhauli Hills, Nalanda, Hampi and Dandi. Open the map for photos and links to read more.
Language entries for India on the atlas include Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi. Open the map for photos and links to read more.
Traditional crafts from India on the atlas include Kashmir shawls, Blue Pottery, Banarasi silk, Madhubani painting, Warli art and Bidriware. Open the map for photos and links to read more.
Food and customs from India on the atlas include Chai culture, The sari, Gujarati thali, Hyderabadi biryani, Dosa and the Udupi kitchen and Puchka and Kolkata street food. Open the map for photos and links to read more.
Folklore and music from India on the atlas include Ramlila and the Ramayana, Baul songs, Ghoomar, Bhangra, Kathakali and Theyyam. Open the map for photos and links to read more.
Choose See India on the map above, or search for India on the atlas. You can filter by theme, drag the Time travel slider to see who was alive and what was standing in different centuries, and open any pin for a short summary and a link to the full Wikipedia article.
Greeting: Namaste with joined palms is widely understood. A handshake is common in business; wait for women to offer a hand first. Dining: Eat and pass food with your right hand. Many people are vegetarian, so ask before ordering for a group. These are general customs, not legal advice.