Indian civilization begins with the Indus civilization that dates back about 4000 years. Aryans from the west settled in India and developed "Vedic" literature as part of the Brahman religion. These became the Holy Books of the religion, which later came to be known as Hinduism. During the 5th-6th centuries BC, Gautama Siddharta became Buddha and started Buddhism and Vardhamana became Mahavira and started Jainism. Buddhism had the support of the royal class and was adopted by the masses. As Buddhism spread across the country, so did its monasteries and temples. As Hinduism re-established itself strongly, the Buddhist presence disappeared from India in the 13th century. Cave temples typically represent the architecture of Ancient Times. Naturally there must have been castles, palaces and houses during that time, but none of those remain, because buildings constructed of wood, rotted or burned easily. Temples were built of bricks, but when Buddhism died out, these were destroyed or pulled down due to a lack of protectors. However, cave temples and monasteries still exist today because they were carved out of rock - a much stronger material. There are around 1,200 such cave temples and monasteries left and 75 per cent of them belong to Buddhism. 

As they were not satisfied with cave temples, entire sculpted rock temples were built during the Middle Ages. A few still exist unto the present day. In contrast to the rock temples that imitated wooden temples of ancient times, the stone temples, built by laying cut stones one on top of another, came to be the model of sculpted stone construction. But since these developed together, there is no line dividing the ages in terms of centuries. Construction of stone temples commenced in the 5th century, during the Gupta dynasty, but was standardized only during the 8th century. Many stone temples were built between the 7th and 9th centuries, but the temples carved out of rocks were constructed up till the 12th century. Hence according to the history of architecture, the transition from ancient times to the Middle Ages took many centuries. Buddhism took the lead in construction during ancient times and in contrast, Hinduism took the lead during the Middle Ages followed by Jainism. The method of stone construction improved by leaps and bounds in north and south India. The style caught on and very soon the whole of India was filled with stone structures. 

The Chandella dynasty in the north and the Chola dynasty in the south showed remarkable developments in architecture, by building magnificent temples, using stone. Islam entered India during the 11th century and established power in Delhi during the 13th century. Till the 16th century, the Turkish and Afghan dynasties continued to rule Delhi during a period referred to as the "Delhi Sultanate". Western styles of architecture, including techniques like domes were brought to India during this age and had a strong influence on building styles. This period called the Middle Ages, and the advent of the Mughals who conquered most of India, signalled the beginning of the Modern Age. 

The 600-odd buildings in the book, are grouped together according to their similarities. To enable the traveller to decide which place to visit, the buildings are given a star rating, from 0 to 3. This is done as a subjective measure to help the traveller use this as a yardstick while planning his journey.