This collection includes digitized negatives created by field experts and professional photographers during research surveys between 1966 and 1990. The images document heritage buildings in various Indian states (Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, etc) that are decayed, damaged, or inaccessible. Also included are images of rare terracotta sculptures unearthed in excavations conducted at archaeological sites in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Bihar, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Karnataka, and a collection of miniature paintings commissioned by Mughal and Rajput patrons during the 16th to the 19th centuries in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.
The illustration shows a portrait of Raja Balwant Singh of Jammu. Balwant Singh is dressed in yellow chinese mandarin robe covered with a design of dragons. The Takri inscription in gold on the top reads "Taswir Raja Balwant Singh urandhat dai baratha. Haran agalana" which means "Portrait of Raja Balwant Singh when he was seated on the verandah. The attendant Haran is standing in front."
The illustration shows Raja Sansar Chand of the erstwhile state of Kangra (r. 1775 to 1823) enjoying music and dance. In the foreground are five soldiers dressed in hats and tunics who belong to the brigade soldiered and uniformed by the renegade O'Brien who was in Sansar Chand's employ after deserting a British regiment stationed at Lucknow.