Untold Monuments of India in Pictures

Trust Amit Pasricha to channel his mastery of an art form into a well-thought-out initiative. &ldquoI am now moving towards using my photography, the most powerful language in existence today, as a tool for change,&rdquo says the award-winning Delhi-based photographer, who&rsquos been published in over two dozen prominent books on India, about his recent India Lost and Found (ILF) web initiative. In a world where news and information is consumed in tiny, oft-embellished capsules and where instant gratification has taken centre stage, he feels people are missing out on a vast, in-depth understanding of the fascinating universe of Indian culture and heritage. The disconnect has had a devastating effect we are losing our lesser-known monuments to bad conservation practices, neglect and the real-estate lobby at an incredible pace.

ILF is the photo story of the untold monuments of India. &ldquoThese sites today represent the most visible aspect of civilisations past, like gates to a hidden world,&rdquo says Pasricha. The project is an attempt to create a virtual museum of thought, so that when people visit these sites, they may be able to imagine the pulse of the place and the past civilisation. The initiative harnesses the power of social media and photography, with an umbrella knowledge network using these images to bring alive the past. Currently accessible through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter posts, the bank will soon be available through a visually rich website. Hundreds of pictures are up already, and 40 are being added every month. &ldquoThis knowledge, thus created by us, will belong to all,&rdquo says Pasricha.

It&rsquos nothing if not ambitious. &ldquoIn the end we can all look upon this as a crowd-creative project and seed the search engines of the web in such a way that for decades to follow, the web mirrors the very idea we seed into it now and not the &lsquocut and paste&rsquo bad informa&shytion we are subjected to today,&rdquo elaborates Pasricha. Backing him is an impressive network of patrons, including the likes of Aman Nath, William Dalrymple and Arvind Singh Mewar. The gorgeous images in this photo essay are just the tip of the iceberg.

For more, visit facebook.com/IndiaLostFound and instagram/IndiaLostAndFound