🇮🇳 India · Hydraulic works
Kallanai Kollidam North Sluice Extension
Early Historic to Chola Medieval · Chola (Early and Medieval)
95-m north Kollidam offtake with 12 dovetail sluice bays saving delta from avulsion.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Sittanavasal Jain Caves
Pallava–Pandya Early Medieval · Digambara Jain
Pallava–Pandya Jain cave complex (7th–9th c. CE) on Sittanavasal hillock, famed for Arivar Koil — earliest Tamil rock-cut Jain shrine with natural-cavern-pillared mandapa and Brahmi-Tamil inscription.
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Ancient City of Vaishali
Vajji / Licchavi republic to Gupta 600 BCE–600 CE · Vajji confederacy / Licchavi clan / Mauryan / Gupta
Capital of the Vajji (Vriji) confederacy and world's first republican state (c.600 BCE), where Buddha delivered his last sermon and Licchavis enshrined his relics in the earliest known stupa (c.483…
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Rajgir Ancient City
Vedic–Magadhan to Mauryan 1000–185 BCE; Buddhist pilgrimage continuous · Magadhan / Buddhist / Jain
First capital of Magadha (c.1000 BCE–c.400 BCE) nestled in ring of five hills, both Older (Bimbisara's Rajagriha) and New Rajgir enclosed by 40 km cyclopean rubble walls up to 8 m thick — India's…
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Pataliputra — Kumhrar Mauryan Site
Magadhan to Mauryan to Gupta 490 BCE–550 CE · Magadhan / Mauryan / Shunga / Gupta
Capital of Magadha, Maurya and Gupta empires (c.490 BCE–550 CE) sprawling 14 km along Ganga at present Patna; Kumhrar quarter preserves famed 80-pillared Mauryan audience hall (3rd c.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Udayagiri and Khandagiri Jain Caves
Kalinga (Maha-Meghavahana) early historic · Jain (Digambara) / Royal Kalinga
Earliest Jain monastic caves in eastern India (2nd c. BCE–2nd c. CE) on twin sandstone hills near Bhubaneswar — 33 caves on Udayagiri and Khandagiri — excavated under Kalinga king Kharavela (c.40…
🇮🇳 India · Rock art
Edakkal Caves
Neolithic to Iron Age (~6000 BCE – 1000 BCE; inscriptions to 1st century CE) · South Indian Neolithic to Iron Age; Sangam to Tamil-Brahmi
Natural cleft formed by a 4-m boulder bridging a rift in Ambukuthimala hill reveals Old Kannada petroglyphs: over 400 engravings of ibex-like 'Indus-style' jar, stickmen, Sun Plan wheels and a…
🇮🇳 India · Archaeological wonder
Rakhigarhi Indus Mega-City
Pre-Harappan to Mature Harappan to Late (~6500–1900 BCE; urban peak 2600–1900 BCE) · Indus Valley Civilization (Harappan, Hakra–Ghaggar)
Spread across seven mounds over 550 ha, Rakhigarhi surpasses Mohenjo-daro as the largest Harappan settlement, straddling the dried Ghaggar (Saraswati) river.
🇮🇳 India · Rock art
Bhimbetka Rock Shelters
Upper Paleolithic to Medieval (100,000 BCE – 2nd century BCE – 1500 CE) · South Asian hunter-gatherer to early historic
Cluster of about 750 sandstone shelters on the Vindhyan fringe with a layered sequence of paintings spanning Mesolithic hunting scenes to historic horsemen and battle processions.
🇮🇳 India · Ancient village
Ahar-Banas Culture Sites
Ahar-Banas Chalcolithic 3000–1500 BCE (Period I–III) · Ahar-Banas / Mewar Chalcolithic
Chalcolithic Ahar-Banas culture cluster (3000–1500 BCE) along Ahar and Banas rivers around Udaipur, Rajasthan, copper-working villages exploiting Aravalli Khetri copper belt.
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Daimabad
Savalda → Late Harappan → Daimabad → Malwa → Jorwe 2300–1000 BCE · Late Harappan intrusive over Deccan Chalcolithic
Southernmost Harappan outpost (2200–1000 BCE) on Pravara River in Maharashtra, 20 ha mound famous for Daimabad hoard — four Late Harappan bronze sculptures (elephant, rhinoceros, chariot and bull,…
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Surkotada
Mature Harappan 2600–1700 BCE · Indus Valley (Harappan)
Small fortified mature Harappan town (2600–1700 BCE) in Kutch, 1.4 ha with stone-built citadel and residential area sharing fortification like Kalibangan. Excavated 1964–68 by J.P.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Meenakshi Amman Temple
Early Pandya origins 6th c., current Nayak 1623–1655 CE · Hindu (Shavite-Shakti) under Nayak kingdom of Madurai
Sprawling Nayak temple-city with 14 colourful gopurams and musical stone pillars.
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Nagarjunakonda
Satavahana to Ikshvaku Late Andhra 200 BCE–400 CE · Ikshvaku / Mahayana Buddhist
Vast Ikshvaku dynasty capital and Buddhist university city (c.200–400 CE) on Krishna River, 30+ Buddhist monasteries with 9 mahastupas, Brahminical temples and Europe's largest collection of early…
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Kanheri Caves
Satavahana to Rashtrakuta 100 BCE–950 CE · Buddhist Hinayana → Mahayana → Vajrayana
Largest Buddhist cave-university in western India with 109 basalt caves spanning 1st c. BCE–10th c.
🇮🇳 India · Ancient village
Chirand Neolithic Site
Neolithic–Chalcolithic–Iron Age 2500 BCE–600 CE · Neolithic Gangetic / Narhan culture precursor
Lowland Neolithic–Chalcolithic mound (2500 BCE–140 CE) at Ganga–Ghaghara confluence, Saran, Bihar, with 42 ft cultural deposit and continuous sequence Neolithic → Chalcolithic → Iron Age →…
🇮🇳 India · Ancient village
Ojiyana (Ojhiyana)
Chalcolithic Ahar-Banas (c.3000–1500 BCE) · Ahar-Banas
Hill-slope Ahar-Banas terraced village on Aravalli granite above Beawar — unique upland adaptation.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Bhaja Caves
Shunga–Satavahana Early Buddhism · Hinayana (Theravada) Buddhist
One of India's earliest rock-cut Buddhist complexes (220 BCE–300 CE) on Sahyadri scarp above Indrayani River, with 22 caves.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Udayagiri Caves, Vidisha
Gupta Classical Golden Age 320–550 CE · Brahminical Hindu (Vaishnava) with Jain retain
Gupta imperial rock-cut shrine cluster (4th–5th c. CE) on Vidisha sandstone ridge, 20 caves including Cave 5 — colossal 4 m monolithic Varaha (boar) avatar rescuing Bhudevi, symbolising Gupta king…
🇮🇳 India · Ancient village
Inamgaon
Deccan Chalcolithic Malwa–Early Jorwe–Late Jorwe 1600–700 BCE · Deccan Chalcolithic (Jorwe culture)
Deccan Chalcolithic type-site (3600–700 BCE) on Ghod River, Pune district, with 28 ha three-mound settlement spanning Malwa and Early–Late Jorwe phases.
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Rupnagar (Ropar)
Harappan to Medieval (c.3300 BCE–16th century CE) · Harappan → PGW → NBPW → Kushan → Gupta
First post-Independence Harappan excavation (1953) — 5000-year sequence from Harappan to medieval Punjab.
🇮🇳 India · Ancient village
Alamgirpur
Late Harappan (c.3300–1300 BCE, easternmost Harappan) · Harappan–Bara
Easternmost Indus Valley site (Parasaram-ka-Khera) — Harappan frontier on Hindon/Ganga Doab.
🇮🇳 India · Temple complex
Bedsa Caves
Satavahana early historic · Hinayana Buddhist
Twin-cave-cluster Buddhist refuge (100 BCE–100 CE) on forested Sahyadri spur between Bhaja and Karla, celebrated for best-preserved early rock-cut chaitya hall besides Karla — daylight-illuminated…
🇮🇳 India · Ancient village
Sanauli (Sinauli)
Late Harappan / Copper Hoard & Ochre Coloured Pottery (c.2200–1800 BCE) · Late Harappan–OCP / Copper Hoard Culture
Royal Late Harappan cemetery with India's first Bronze Age chariots (2200–1800 BCE) at Sinauli.