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Monuments & UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India

What a World Heritage Site is and the three categories; India's best-known cultural, natural and mixed sites with their states and what each is famous for; temple architecture styles — Nagara, Dravida and Vesara — and their defining features; Buddhist, Sultanate, Mughal and colonial monuments; forts, stepwells and caves; who protects monuments in India and under which law.

Monuments & UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India
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📑 Contents (7 sections)

Last reviewed 22 Sept 2026 · Facts as of 22 Sept 2026 · 4 min read

NoteAbout the list

UNESCO adds sites every year, so a list of "how many India has" dates quickly. The sites named below have been inscribed for years and are the ones papers ask about; treat any total as needing a check against the current UNESCO list.

The three categories

  • Cultural — monuments, groups of buildings, archaeological sites.
  • Natural — landscapes, habitats, geological formations.
  • Mixed — both, of which India's example is Khangchendzonga National Park (Sikkim).

Well-known cultural sites

Site State Known for
Taj Mahal Uttar Pradesh Shah Jahan's marble mausoleum; pietra dura
Agra Fort Uttar Pradesh red sandstone Mughal fort
Fatehpur Sikri Uttar Pradesh Akbar's capital; Buland Darwaza
Qutb Minar complex Delhi tallest brick minaret; the iron pillar
Humayun's Tomb Delhi first great Mughal garden tomb
Red Fort complex Delhi Shah Jahan's Shahjahanabad
Ajanta caves Maharashtra Buddhist murals
Ellora caves Maharashtra Kailasa temple cut from one rock
Elephanta caves Maharashtra Trimurti sculpture
Khajuraho Madhya Pradesh Nagara temples with sculpture
Sanchi Madhya Pradesh Great Stupa, Ashokan pillar
Konark Sun Temple Odisha chariot of stone
Mahabalipuram Tamil Nadu Pallava rathas and shore temple
Great Living Chola Temples Tamil Nadu Brihadeshwara, Thanjavur
Hampi Karnataka Vijayanagara capital
Pattadakal Karnataka Chalukyan temples, Nagara and Dravida together
Group of Monuments, Champaner-Pavagadh Gujarat pre-Mughal Islamic and Hindu city
Rani ki Vav Gujarat stepwell at Patan
Jantar Mantar Rajasthan Jai Singh's masonry observatory
Hill Forts of Rajasthan Rajasthan Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh and others
Churches and Convents of Goa Goa Basilica of Bom Jesus
Mountain Railways of India multiple Darjeeling, Nilgiri, Kalka-Shimla
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Maharashtra Victorian Gothic railway station
Bodh Gaya, Mahabodhi Temple Bihar site of the Buddha's enlightenment
Nalanda Mahavihara Bihar ruins of the monastic university
Jaipur city Rajasthan planned 18th-century walled city
Dholavira Gujarat Harappan city with water reservoirs

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