Indian vultures, (Gyps indicus), in a nest on the tower of the Chaturbhuj Temple, Orchha, Madhya Pradesh. The vulture became nearly extinct in India in the 1990s from having ingested the carrion of diclofenac-laced cattle.

The bank myna is indigenous to the Indian subcontinent.

The vulnerable Malabar frog is endemic to the Western Ghats.

The endangered Nilgiri tahr is endemic to the Western Ghats. Shown here is a female in a national park in Kerala.

The brahminy kite (Haliastur indus) hunts for fish and other prey near the coasts and around inland wetlands.

The lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) is the Indian national flower. Hindus and Buddhists regard it as a sacred symbol of enlightenment.

The Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) is the Indian national bird. It roosts in moist and dry-deciduous forests, cultivated areas, and village precincts.

The Pahalgam valley in Jammu and Kashmir is covered with a temperate coniferous forest.

A Toda tribal hut exemplifies Indian vernacular architecture.

Bangles on display in Bangalore India

A Sadhu and a picture of Siva in Kayasth Tola, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh in Northern India

The pushkarani, or tank, located on the eastern side of Krishna temple in Hampi, Karnataka, the seat of the Vijayanagara Empire

Large Gautama Buddha statue in Buddha Park of Ravangla, Sikkim

A Jain woman washes the feet of Bahubali Gomateswara at Shravanabelagola, Karnataka. The Bahubali idol is 58 feet (18 m) high and is carved out of a single rock on top of a hill.

A Chola bronze depicting Nataraja, who is seen as a cosmic "Lord of the Dance" and representative of Shiva

A sixteenth century rendering of a scene from the Ramayana, an ancient Sanskrit epic.

Paintings at the Ajanta Caves in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, 6th century

The Agasthiyamalai range, constituting the southern end of the Western Ghats, as seen from the rainshadow region of the southwest monsoon in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu.

A beach off the Arabian Sea in Puvar, Kerala. The Arabian Sea is the northwestern region of the Indian Ocean, bounded by the Arabian and Indian peninsulas.

Flowing through its rocky terrain near Hampi is the Tungabhadra river, the major right bank tributary of the Krishna river, a peninsular river, which empties into the Bay of Bengal. The coracles, made of wicker, are traditionally covered with hide, their circular shape preventing them from overturning in rivers with rocky outcrops.

The recycling industry in India, a Varanasi paper bag seller

An example of the Chinese fishing nets of Cochin. Fisheries in India is a major industry in its coastal states, employing over 14 million people. The annual catch doubled between 1990 and 2010.

A tea garden in Sikkim. India, the world's second largest-producer of tea, is a nation of one billion tea drinkers, who consume 70% of India's tea output.

A daily wage worker in a salt field. The average minimum wage of daily labourers is around Rs.100 per day

A bharatnatyam concert in 2014

A Bondo woman walks to a weekly market in Chhattisgarh.

A woman in Bundi, Rajasthan

An ascetic in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

The tomb of Itmad Ud Daulah, Agra,

A Hindu bride

The interior of San Thome Basilica, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Christianity is believed to have been introduced to India by the late 2nd century by Syriac-speaking Christians.

A Sikh pilgrim at the Harmandir Sahib, or Golden Temple, in Amritsar, Punjab

Asfi Masjid at the Bara Imambara complex, Lukcnow, India

Chhota Imambara, Lucknow, India

Taj Mahal mosque, Agra, India

Bangalore panorama

Red Weaver ant, Oecophylla smaragdina in Bangalore, India

Female Telamonia dimidiata in the Lalbagh Botanical gardens, Bangalore, India

Mysore Palace in the morning

Indian Olympic athlete, Irfan Kolothum Thodi

Grammodes geometrica, Bangalore, India

Mumtaz Ahmed Khan founder of Al-Ameen Educational Society

Al-Ameen College of Pharmacy, Bangalore, India

Kumar Anish, Indian yoga specialist

Taj Mahal at the golden hour

Bara Imambara, Lucknow, India

Salman Khurshid, Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress

Indian palm squirrel, Bangalore, India

Odissi

Mohiniyattam

Kuchipudi

Arundhati Roy

Chandiroor Divakaran

Karnataka High Court, Bangalore

Dharmaraya Swamy Temple a Hindu temple in Bangalore

Bangalore Town Hall

Leopards in India, 2016

Krishna and Radha, Opaque watercolor and gold on cotton ca. 1750 (2014)

Rajpoots (modern spelling: Rajputs), from a series in the Illustrated London News celebrating the Royal Visit to India in early 1876. (2009)

Round Ribbontail Ray in Lakshadweep, 2015

A farmer in Rajasthan milks his cow. Milk is India's largest crop by economic value. Worldwide, as of 2011, India had the largest herds of buffalo and cattle, and was the largest producer of milk.

Indian agriculture dates from the period 7,000–6,000 BCE, employs two thirds of the national workforce, and is second in farm output worldwide. Above, a farmer works an ox-drawn plow in Kadmati, West Bengal.

Schoolchildren in Chambal, Madhya Pradesh eating a mid-day meal. The Mid-Day Meal Scheme attempts to lower rates of childhood malnutrition in India.

Cricket is the most popular game among India's masses. Shown here is an instance of street cricket.