Jagged, pale blue hills hide the calm waters of Ana Sagar and the bustling, friendly Muslim pilgrimage city of Ajmer. Due largely to the pull of Pushkar, the fascinating shrine of Khwaja Muin-ud-din Chishti, is sadly, overlooked by most foreign visitors to Rajasthan.
A World Heritage site, the Buddhist caves of Ajanta (244226; Indian/foreigner Rs 10/US$5; 9am-5.30pm Tue-Sun) – 105km northeast of Aurangabad, and about 60km south of Jalgaon – are the Louvre of central India. The caves date from around 200 BC to AD 650 and, as Ellora developed and Buddhism gradually waned, the glorious Ajanta caves were abandoned and forgotten until 1819, when a British hunting party stumbled upon them. Their isolation contributed to the fine state of preservation in which some of their paintings remain to this day.
Balanced precariously on a razor-sharp ridge, Aizawl (pronounced eye-zole) could well be the world’s steepest capital. Homes at road level might be held there with rear stilts three times higher than their roofs. In comparison, San Francisco seems as flat as Florida.
Ahmedabad (also called Amdavad) is Gujarat’s major city, and a startling mini-metropolis. Straddling the Sabarmati River, it’s one half old-world charm, and the other half new-world noise. Yet it’s also remarkably cosmopolitan, with a rich Muslim history, a tangled, beautifully restored old city, stunning museums, fine restaurants and fabulous night markets. Many travellers stop off briefly on route to Rajasthan or Mumbai, sneaking in a visit to Sabarmati Ashram (Gandhi’s former headquarters). However, those able to swallow the smog will discover a pulsating Indian city, with a media that preaches tolerance. Ahmedabad is a sky-scraping step-off point to the rest of Gujarat.
Agra’s magnificent white marble Taj Mahal stands like a bulbous beacon, drawing tourists like moths to a wondrous flame. Despite the hype, it’s every bit as good as you’ve heard. While Agra itself is a sprawling, bloated and polluted industrial city that few travellers seem to have a good word for, the Taj is not a stand-alone attraction. The legacy of the Mughal empire has left a magnificent fort and a sprinkling of fascinating tombs and mausoleums, while the Yamuna River provides a suitably sacred backdrop. The Mughal emperor Babur established his capital here in 1526, and for the next century Agra witnessed a remarkable spate of architectural activity as each emperor tried to outdo the grandiose monuments built by his predecessors.
Tripura’s low-key capital is centred on the imposing Ujjayanta Palace. The town feels refreshingly organised and manageable if you’re arriving from Bangladesh, whose border is just 3km east of the centre.