Rajasthanराजस्थान

Four courtyards of amber sandstone and white marble rising above Maota Lake. The Hall of Mirrors — Sheesh Mahal — was designed so that a single candle reflects to fill the room with stars. Akbar's Rajput alliance made physical.

Arguably the most dramatic fort in India. Built on a sheer 125-metre rock outcrop above the blue city, its walls are 36 metres high and 21 metres wide. The handprints of queens immolated at the gate are still visible in the stone.

One of the world's last living forts — 3,000 people still live within its honey-gold sandstone walls rising from the Thar Desert. At dusk the entire citadel turns the colour of the desert around it. It disappears into the landscape it was built from.

Built over 400 years by successive Maharanas, the palace complex is a layered autobiography of a dynasty that never surrendered to the Mughals. It cascades down to Lake Pichola in a sequence of courtyards, towers, and terraced gardens.

953 windows in a five-storey sandstone façade — built so royal women could observe street festivals unseen. The latticed screens catch and channel the desert breeze even on the hottest days. It has no interior rooms: it is entirely window.