About
A travel platform that tells you where its history came from
Bharat Darshan combines destination discovery, historical reference and trip planning for India’s heritage sites. The part that distinguishes it from a travel blog is that every historical claim is attached to a source, and the parts of the dating that scholars still argue about are labelled as such.
What this is
The collection currently holds 3 destinations across 1 states and union territories, with 18 cited sources between them. Each record carries an overview, a longer historical narrative, a dated timeline, notes on architecture and culture, location and coordinates, visitor information, and its sources.
Every destination is discoverable four ways: browse and filter, fuzzy search across names and dynasties and rulers, an interactive map, and the trip planner. Saved places, itineraries and routes are tied to an account.
Where the history comes from
Historical content is written against the sources below. The point of listing them is that you can check the claim yourself, and see who is responsible for the record.
- Archaeological Survey of India
The body responsible for centrally protected monuments. The authoritative source for whether a site is protected, which circle administers it, and the site reports and excavation records.
- UNESCO World Heritage List
The inscription record for any site on the World Heritage List, including the year, the criteria used, and the nomination dossier.
- Ministry of Culture, Government of India
Cultural institutions, centrally protected monuments, and national heritage programmes.
- Official state tourism departments
Visitor information: opening hours, entry rules, permits and access. These change, so they are never cached as fact here.
- Museums and academic collections
Object records and catalogues, and the published scholarship on sculpture, painting and architecture.
How the accuracy labels work
Draft record
The text has not yet been checked line by line against its cited sources. A banner appears at the top of the page saying so, and timeline entries that are estimates or contested are individually marked approximate. 0 of 3 records currently carry this label.
This is the honest default for a record nobody has reviewed yet, rather than a claim of authority the project cannot support.
Sources checked
An editor has verified the record against the sources it cites. The banner is removed. This is a claim about the sourcing, not a guarantee that every published account of the site is correct — historians disagree.
Three rules the content follows
- Nothing is presented as settled that is not. Where scholarship is divided — the date of a monument, the identity of a patron, the interpretation of a sculpture programme — the record says so and names the disagreement.
- Period boundaries are labelled as conventions. “Mughal period” and “Gupta period” are scholarly periodisations, not exact edges, and different regions were in different phases simultaneously. The timeline shows them on a scale and states the caveat.
- Logistics are never stated as permanent fact. Opening hours, entry fees and festival dates change, and festival dates follow lunar calendars. Every visitor-information panel names the body that sets it and tells you to confirm before travelling.
Maps, and what is actually connected
Interactive map — live, no key required
The map is Leaflet with OpenStreetMap tiles. It needs no API key, no billing account and no domain registration, which is why it is the default rather than a fallback. Tiles are served by the OpenStreetMap Foundation; heavy production use should use a dedicated tile provider.
Directions and navigation — live via Google Maps
Directions, route and turn-by-turn navigation use Google Maps’ documented URL schemes, which carry no key at all. They are real and work now. The “Navigate” button hands off to the device’s navigation app on Android, and falls back to the Google Maps route everywhere else.
Accounts and database — Supabase, optional
With NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL and NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY set, accounts, saved places, trips and activity are stored in Postgres with Row Level Security, and Google sign-in becomes available. Without them the site runs in demo mode with everything in your browser, and says so in a banner on every page.
Data and privacy
In demo mode, this site stores your account, saved destinations, trips and activity in your browser’s local storage. Nothing is transmitted to a server. Clearing site data removes it permanently, and it will not follow you to another browser or device.
With Supabase configured, your data lives in that project’s Postgres database under Row Level Security, which restricts every table to its owner. The only third-party data ever sent anywhere is when you click through to Google Maps for directions — that request goes from your browser straight to Google, and this site is not involved in it.
Corrections and contributions
If a record here is wrong, the sources are miscited, or a monument you know well is missing, that is a bug worth reporting. Include the destination and what the correct detail is, with a source if you have one. The reporting form in the admin panel is the path this is designed around; without Supabase configured the reports table is not writable, so use the project repository instead.