India Coloring Book - a Surprise Castle exclusive

24 hand-illustrated scenes from a country of palaces, spice markets, and sacred rivers, from the Taj Mahal to a sitar in a temple.

Smell the cardamom. Pick up the pencil.

A hand-drawn adult coloring book, 24 scenes that run from royal elephants and lotus temples to mountain monasteries and pottery workshops. The pace is set by the slow ring of a temple bell and the steady weave of a sari loom, not the next notification.

Step into the front courtyard of the Taj Mahal with symmetrical pathways and lamp posts. Walk into a Lotus Temple's white petal-shaped dome and polished floor. Pull up to an Indian palace facade with twin domed turrets and lattice windows. Then to a riverside temple complex with stone steps to a domed pavilion.

The pages keep moving. A spice market of conical pyramids of color and arched openings. A tropical garden with palm trees and a wooden houseboat. A mountain monastery with tiered pagoda roof and pennant flags. A desert temple complex with monumental staircase and crenellated walls.

Wander through the country. An arched palace doorway with carved floral panels. A royal elephant in ceremonial dress under a pavilion. A festival display of hand-painted oil lamps and a lotus mandala centerpiece. An ornate column hall with carved capitals and arches.

Keep going. A mango orchard pathway through a rural landscape. An intricate mandala with peacock feather and lotus motifs. A mountain valley with a decorative pavilion gateway. A fortress fortification with arched gateway and crenellations. A modern train crossing a river bridge with arched stone supports. An ensemble of sitar, tabla drums, and lotus flowers in a temple. A sacred lotus pond with blooming flowers and a pagoda lantern. A courtyard with a great gnarled tree and clay water vessel. A rooftop instrument display with sitar, drums, and flower garland. A mountain campsite with a prayer flag banner. A pottery workshop with varied vessels and floral patterns. And to close, a fortress gate tower with crenellated crown and winding sand path.

There's a reason coloring sticks around. It gives a busy mind somewhere to land, and in this case that somewhere is the lattice of a palace window or the petal of a lotus pond. Some pages are bold and forgiving. Others will eat a whole afternoon. Works fine with colored pencils, fine-tip markers, or gel pens.

If you know someone planning their first trip to Rajasthan, a friend who's read every Rohinton Mistry novel, or a yoga teacher who quotes the Upanishads, this is for them. It's also for the person who'd quietly rather shade a Taj Mahal on a Saturday than scroll.

Cross the threshold.

Inside you'll find 24 scenes: the Taj Mahal front courtyard, a Lotus Temple interior, an Indian palace facade with lattice windows, a riverside temple complex, a spice market with cone-shaped pyramids, a tropical garden with houseboat, a mountain monastery with pennant flags, a desert temple complex, an arched palace doorway with carved panels, a ceremonial royal elephant, a festival of oil lamps and lotus mandala, an ornate column hall, a mango orchard pathway, an intricate peacock-and-lotus mandala, a mountain valley pavilion gateway, a fortress fortification with arched gateway, a modern train on a river bridge, a temple ensemble with sitar and tabla, a sacred lotus pond with pagoda lantern, an ancient tree courtyard, a rooftop sitar and drum display, a mountain campsite with prayer flags, a pottery workshop, and a fortress gate tower in the desert.