Last year, a road-widening project for access to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple upended the lives of many residents and traders in Varanasi’s historic Dalmandi area. On Eid al-Fitr, Karan Madhok visited the alleyways among the rubble of demolition.  

Photography by Aditya Sharma and Sumit Singh: The message at this year’s Beating Retreat ceremony felt sharper than ever, telling us that a nation’s power can be shown through ordered silence as much as through force.   

Photo Essay: From the historic lanes of Chandni Chowk to the healing sarovar of Bangla Sahib, devotees reaffirmed the timeless message of equality, service, and oneness of humanity on Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary. By Aditya Sharma and Sana Kauser

Photos: Speakers and artists from the hillside and beyond attended the first edition of the LLAF in Landour to shine a light upon literature, history, art, music, poetry, film, and more. By Karan Madhok

Photo Story by Quamar Equbal and Sumit Singh: Rohtang is a vibrant artery of travel, adventure, and survival, pulsing with stories of resilient people who call this rugged pass their lifeline. But unchecked tourism, pollution, and rising environmental concerns have left it under siege.

Photo Essay by Karan Madhok: ‘I’m still feeling the nasha of this place the next morning; it’s a glow of inner joy, a celebration of each scintilla of being alive. I feel the feathery wafts of mountain breeze, see the clear horizon appearing after the night’s downpour, and watch farm animals grazing on grass, soaking in the morning sun.’

Photo Story by Anamika Tamuli: ‘In the rural rhythms of Assam, care reveals itself in invisible labors—the hands that keep a home running, the feet that move through flooded fields, the time lost between one obligation and another.’

Photo Essay by Abin Chakraborty: ‘Kolkata is a kaleidoscope: turn your gaze and a new pattern will emerge. What you wish to see is therefore a combination of what you want to see and what your gaze is capable of perceiving.’

‘I board a bus to Biswabangla, wearing a grey shade, mask, olive hibiscus t-shirt, lemon green hair band, loose crimson brown hair, mild sweat, and the will of forgetting.’ By Sufia Khatoon

Photo Story by Zerneela Mohammed Wakil: Every year, the spring festival of Basant Panchami is celebrated with fervour at the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya in New Delhi, with deep-rooted Sufi connections stretching back to the 13th-century.

Photography by Sk Suhana Mohammad: The topsy-turvy lives of fishing communities by the Rupnarayan River in West Bengal, who have drawn strength from kinship and tradition for generations.

Photo Essay: In a visit to the Serendipity Arts Festival in Panjim, Goa, Deekshith Pai explored the political complexities of contemporary art while rediscovering his own ancestral lands.