Monumental India

by Aman Nath, Amit Pasricha (Photographs), William Dalrymple (Foreword)

Monumental India presents breathtaking panoramic views of North India's famed monuments and sites as well as little-known architectural gems. Produced in a landscape format and including stunning multipage gatefolds, it covers many fascinating varieties of styles and periods and features sprawling Hindu and Jain temple complexes, imposing Islamic tombs and mosques, serene Buddhist monasteries and stupas, colonial and royal palaces, and majestic forts. The camera enters magnificent darbar halls where maharajas once held formal audience, and the opulent interiors of their private apartments, with mirrored decorations, chandeliers, and luxurious brocades.   Beginning high in the Zanskar Mountains, Amit Pasricha photographs the 13th-century Thiksey Monastery that clings to a hillside in Ladakh. In Chandigarh, he captures Le Corbusier's revolutionary design that altered the course of modern Indian architecture, and in Agra and Delhi, the iconic Taj Mahal and the colonial North and South Blocks. He travels across the deserts of Rajasthan to the massive 15th-century Rajput fort of Kumbalgarh, and crosses the plains to Madhya Pradesh for the sparkling Jai Vilas Palace and the 2nd-century BCE Sanchi stupa, ending this incredible journey at the prehistoric Bhimbetka Caves   Amit Pasricha enlists the elements - sun, snow, mist, and cloud - to give the photographs cosmic drama, and his mastery of the panoramic format underscores the majesty of nature and the glory of manmade structures. His images capture the broad sweep of an edifice along with its finest, most intricate details. Aman Nath's insightful text completes this beautiful collection of photographs, making Monumental India a limited edition to be preserved and treasured.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2008