Relive the history of India’s many monuments, heritage sites and even cities with interactive apps

It isn’t unusual to visit New York or London and head to the Statue of Liberty or Buckingham Palace without a tour guide. Yet hordes of tourists visiting these spots leave enriched thanks to travel apps that mix visuals and audio and make the visit informative. Now India specific apps are bringing the same experience to the average desi traveller. These apps are easy on the wallet and cover monuments, heritage sites and even cities.
Agra Fort New age 

Take for instance Audio Compass. The Mumbai-based audio firm offers in-depth tours at the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Khajuraho to anyone with a smartphone (iOS and Android). What’s more, the apps come with the approval of the Archeological Survey of India and Ministry of Culture.
“For example, the trouble with the Taj Mahal on-site tour is that a licensed guide charges the average tourist R895. So others are forced to hire locals who often pass off fiction for fact,” says Gautam Shewakramani, CEO of Audio Compass, adding that there is a high demand for apps that are available in several regional and foreign languages.
Their app tours come with interactive elements like highres pictures, touchscreen maps and, in the case of the Taj tour, a storyline that revolves around the legendary lovers, Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. Their Agra Fort tour allows visitors to get a feel of the palace, battles, and the rise and fall of Shah Jahan, while the tour of Khajuraho lets visitors explore one of the finest monuments of medieval India. They’ve even kept room for fiction to keep conspiracy theorists happy.
“For instance, Shah Jahan chopping off the hands of artisans who worked on the construction of the Taj is a myth told so many times that it has become true. So we mention it in our fiction section,” says Shewakramani.

The company is soon set to release apps that feature Salar Jung Museum, the Mumbai heritage district and even one around Bollywood star homes. “The Mumbai heritage district tour will start at Horniman Circle and end at Gateway of India. Similarly, the Bollywood tour will talk about the stars and relive their life and times,” says Shewakramani.
The other app worth trying out is Monumental Agra.
Upon download, one is first taken to an illustrated map of Agra. It also has sections such as history of the Mughal dynasty, history of Agra, walkthrough history tours of the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, Sikandra and Itimad-ud-Daulah’s Tomb along with cost of entry tickets and timing. “When you travel abroad, most monuments have official audio guides. However, in India, this phenomenon is limited only to popular monuments,” says Vedanta Kumar, creator of Monumental Agra.
Rich resource
There was extensive research done to provide users with accurate information. “We went through various historical sources and consulted guide books. We also took multiple tours of the monuments with various guides to capture the myths associated with a monument,” says Kumar.
Their app is compatible only with iOS, but they are working on launching an Android version of the application soon. Also on the cards are apps for Jaipur and Delhi. “We hope to have these apps launched by Diwali. After these cities, we will expand to other cities within India,” says Kumar.

And tourists too seem happy with the choices. “All we need to do is download the app once. Then they work offline and don’t even use roaming. It is the perfect alternative to guides,” says Ajinkya Kamath, a housewife in Dadar.

Do download

Let’s See—
South India: An interactive ‘travel handbook’, it offers crisp info on tourist places in the states.

A Guide to Goa: Provides info on places to visit, beautiful beaches, Goan dishes, useful contact numbers and Konkani phrases.

Delhi Expert Guide: This app leads you from New to Old Delhi and 400 years into the past with self-guided walking tours.