Obama and wife Michelle at Humayun's Tomb, Nov. 7, 2010.Reuters file 
Muslims offer Eid al-Fitr prayers in front of the historic Taj Mahal in Agra, India, July 18, 2015.Reuters file 
Tourists walk along a wall of erotic Hindu sculptures in the Indian town of Khajuraho in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh November 18, 2003.Reuters file 
Traffic moves in front of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station in Mumbai, India, August 18, 2016Reuters file
India offers a range of options for tourists, from temples, mountains, forests and beaches to historical places, monuments and forts. The country's ministry of culture has a dedicated portal for tourists and adventure seekers to visit 100 monuments that are "must see".
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Some of the monuments that can be browsed for information include Taj Mahal (Uttar Pradesh); Mahabalipuram (outskirts of Chennai); Ajanta and Ellora Caves (Maharashtra); Red Fort, Qutub Minar and Humayun's Tomb (Delhi); Khajuraho Temple (Madhya Pradesh); Leh Palace (Jammu & Kashmir); Ranthambore Fort (Rajasthan); Sun Temple (Odisha) and Hoysaleswara Temple, and Bidar Fort (Karnataka).
The portal is http://asimustsee.nic.in/.
An update by the ministry says there are 116 ticketed monuments and 32 museums under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The government, as part of its digital push, is enabling cashless transactions.
"Process is underway to procure hardware to have computerized facility for the sale of e-tickets at the Point of Sale. Also process has been initiated to set up card swipe/PoS machines at the ticketed monument sites."
Tourism is a thriving sector in India; while there are no estimates of domestic tourism, foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) have been increasing over the years, from 6.97 million in calendar year 2013 to 7.68 million in 2014 and 8.03 million last year.
In calendar year 2016, FTAs stood at 7.85 million between January and November, according to an update by the tourism ministry. India earns about $20 billion annually in foreign exchange earnings.
