An Indian tableau

Holy temples, finest pashminas, hair-raising road trips and one-horned rhinos: India provides a bright and exhilarating welcome to all visitors

The Bara Imambara Palace in Lucknow
The sacred Ganges in Varanasi is popular with pilgrims and tourists alike

‘There are no traffic rules here and if you try keeping any you’re in trouble; what you need is a loud horn, good brakes and good luck,” shouts Kamal Kapur, now merrily swerving to avoid the dodgems of rickshaws, wandering cows, Kamikaze buses and darting pedestrians in India’s oldest and holiest city.

A gleaming white sedan car is parked outside his homestay villa ...