IN PICTURES: These 28 Rare Photos of India from the 1900s Will Make Your Day

India has always been a country of contrasts — and of incredible beauty. These 28 photos — taken between 1900—1908 — are not only interesting because they bring to life a past that doesn't exist any more, but also because the people and places in these photos prove that India has always been a country that is gloriously, exhilaratingly alive. The heart of India beats on.

1. Man dives from the top of a 50 ft tower into a tank below — Fatehpur Sikri

2. State barge of the Maharaja of Kashmir — Srinagar

3. A man and his ox-cart — Kolkata

4. Rock-hewn temple — Elephanta

5. Parsi headmaster and his students — Uran, Navi Mumbai

6. Golden Temple — Amritsar

7. Mahapalika Marg — Mumbai

8. Colonnade at Dilwara Jain Temple — Mount Abu

9. Naldehra — Shimla

10. Inflating bullock-skin boats to cross the river — Banks of the Sutlej

11. Akbar's Tomb, Sikandara — Agra

12. Temple pillars — Madurai

13. On the banks of the Ganga — Varanasi

14. Funeral procession — Agra

15. Lush country surrounding the Dilwara Temples — Mount Abu

16. Shepherds tend their flock — Mount Abu

17. Schoolboys at the Golden Temple — Amritsar

18. Bride and bridegroom — Mumbai

19. The Taj Mahal reflected in the Yamuna — Agra

20. Crowd watches a performing bear — Jaipur

21. Jama Masjid — Delhi

22. Worshippers at Dilwara Temple — Mount Abu

23. Entrance to Akbar's Tomb at Sikandara — Agra

24. Temple pond — Varanasi

25. Palace of Man Singh — Gwalior

26. Crossing the Jhelum — en route to Kashmir

27. Meditating under the hot sun — Mount Abu

28. Shops on a busy street — Delhi

All images from Imgur.

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