Here is India at its high-definition, surround-sound best. Prowling tigers, swaying elephants, hot and spicy bazaars, fabulous festivals, stunning saris and twisted turbans; all a pageant of colour and curiosity set against a backdrop of desert sands, secluded jungles, marble palaces and impenetrable stone forts.

This book also celebrates the Golden Triangle - a traveller’s trigonometric survey of emblematic India. Starting at the daunting megametropolis of Delhi with its majestic Mughal heritage, it then angles towards Agra, where the world’s most famous tomb, the Taj Mahal, defines a city, before heading to Jaipur, the city painted pink with a palace of winds and bustling bazaars, and the gateway to Rajasthan.