Browse By Location Drop Down and Click to Select Abaneri Abhapur Achhabal Adalaj Agra Ahmadabad Ahobilam Aihole Ajanta Ajmer Alampur Alchi Allahabad Alwar Amber Amritsar Aralaguppe Atpur Aurangabad Auroville Avantipur Badami Badoh Patari Baijnath Bajaura Balag Banaras Bangalore Bansberia Barabar Hills Barakar Baranagar Barddhaman Baroli Bedsa Belavadi Belur Bhairavakonda Bhaja Bharmaur Bhatkal Bhubaneshwar Bhuj Bidar Bijapur Bijolia Bikaner Bishnupur Bodhgaya Bombay/Mumbai Brindavan Bundi Buniyar Calcutta Calicut Chamba Champaner Chanderi Chandigarh Chandragiri Chandrehi Chaurasi Chemre Chezarla Chidambaram Chitorgarh Cochin Comilla Dambal Darasuram Datiya Daulatabad Deeg Degamve Delhi Deogarh Dhaka Dhamnar Dhar Dhauli Diu Diyar Dodda Gaddavalli Dungarpur Dwarka Elephanta Ellora Ettumanur Fatehpur Sikri Gandhinagar Gangaikondacholapuram Gaur Ghumli Ghursia Gingee Girnar Golkonda Gop Gulbarga Guptipala Gwalior Gyaraspur Hadal-Narayanpur Halebid Hampi Hanamkonda Haripur Harnahalli Hatkoti Haveri Hemis Hyderabad Ikkeri Ittagi jagat Jaipur Jaisalmer Jammu Jaunpur Jodhpur Junagadh Junnar Kalna Kalugumalai Kambadahalli Kamru Kanchipuram Kanheri Kantanagar Karkala Karli Kaviyur Kazakuttam Keladi Khadaran Khajuraho Khandagiri and Udayagiri Khokhan Khuldabad Kiradu Kodumbalur Kolhapur Konark Kuknur Kumbakonam Kumbalgarh Kumbharia Kuruvatti Kusumba Kutch Labrang Lakkundi Lamayuru Leh Lepakshi Likir Lothal Lucknow Madras Madurai Mahabalipuram Mahakuta Mahuli Manali Manan Mandor Mandu Maner Mangalore Martand Masrur Mehmedabad Menal Modhera Morvi Mount Abu Mudabidri Mukhalingam Murshidabad Mysore Nachna Nagar Nagarjunakonda Nagda Nalanda Nandi Naresar Narttamalai Nasik Old Goa Orchha Osian Pabna Padmanabhapuram Paharpur Palampet Panaji Panamalai Pandua Patan Patna Pattadakal Payar Payyannur Pemayangtse Penukonda Peruvanam Phyang Pinjore Pitalkhora Ponda Pondicherry Pune Puri Pushkar Puthia Raigarh Rajasmand Rajim Rameshwaram Ranakpur Ranpur Ratnagiri Ridzong Roda Rumtek Sainj Sanchi Sanganer Sarahan - Northern Sarahan - Southern Sarkej Sarnath Sasaram Saspol Satara Satrunjaya Satyavolu Sejakpur Sevasi Shey Shravanabelagola Sikandra Simhachalam Simla Sinnar Sirpur Somnath Somnathpur Sonagiri Sonargaon Srinagar Sringeri Srinivasanallur Srirangam Srirangapatnam Srisailam Stok Sungra Tadpatri Taranga Tashiding Temisgan Ter Thanjavur Thiruvalla Tigawa Tikse Tirukkalikundram Tiruttani Tiruvannamalai Tiruvarur Tribuvanam Trichur Trivandrum Udaipur Udayagiri Udaygiri Udaypur Ujjain Vadnagar Vadodara Vaikom Vaishali Varkana Vaso Vellore Verinag Wadhwan Wankaner Warangal

Like Hieun Tsang during the Golden Age of the Guptas, Takeo Kamiya travelled through India and wrote about his discoveries. The first time he came to India, was by bus on the Asia highway from London to Kathmandu. He remembers it was a comparatively peaceful time with the Vietnam War just ending, and the strife in Afghanistan and the Iranian revolution, just beginning. Looking at the Herculean effort it must have taken for one man to put together such a book; one can only imagine the kind of motivation and consistency it took. The exchange rate at that time was 35 yen to the rupee and it was very hard on the young Kamiya who was poor.

The initial three-month tour was not a pleasant one and sufficient information was difficult to come by. Yet Kamiya says, when he finally reached the monument he was looking for, it was an intense emotional experience for him. He decided to write a book about this form of architecture that was completely alien to him. He divided India into small areas and spent six weeks exploring each small area, seeking out all the architectural structures it held. It took him 30 years to cover the subcontinent. His book The Guide to the Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent was published in Japan on 20 September 1996. It went into a first reprint on 28 March 1997, just six months later.

Takeo Kamiya was born in Tokyo in 1946. He graduated from Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku (Fine Arts faculty, in Architecture. In 1971 he worked as Design in-charge in Kazumasa Yamashita Building Research Institute. He established the Takeo Kamiya design office in 1980 and was a member of Japan Architects Association. He was also a member of Japan Architects Academy. Among his works is the town house in Yokohama, where he won the highest award in the Kanagawa construction contest in 1983. This was the first of many other prizes and awards like the SD review contest for his cloister; the GID competition prize of 1991 for his Paradise Garden and many more. He turned his hand to writing and wrote Architectural Culture of Islam in 1978, Architecture of Hinduism 1993 and The Guide to the Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent in 1996.