Bharat Mata Mandir

A temple with no deity in it. In place of images the sanctum holds a relief map of undivided India, 9.5 by 9.5 metres, carved to scale from 762 pieces of Makrana marble, with mountains, rivers and places of pilgrimage picked out in the stone. The nationalist philanthropist Shiv Prasad Gupta built it between 1918 and 1924, and Mahatma Gandhi inaugurated it in 1936 as a shrine open to every community and creed. It stands on the Kashi Vidyapith campus near the Cantt, with a small ticket at the door. Ten quiet minutes here explain a century of Indian history.

A temple to the idea of India: Gandhi opened it, and the marble map still holds you