India's Taj Mahal Among Top Google Street View Destinations in Asia

"Taj Mahal has emerged as one of the most popular Asian places for global virtual travellers. The fascination with this grand, symmetrical white marble mausoleum also holds within Asia, with the Taj Mahal ranking as one of the most globally viewed destinations by people in Singapore, Australia, Korea, Philippines, Malaysia and of course, India," a Google blog post said last week.

"Last year, global virtual tourists had favoured Japan for its trails weaving up Mount Fuji, its colourful canal at Dotonbori and its secluded ruins at Hashima Island, as the most popular Google Street View destinations in Asia," it said.

This year, the top 10 Street View destinations in Asia that get the most views from around the world are - Japan's Hashima Island, Japan's Mount Fuji, India's Taj Mahal, Japan's Biel Furano, Japan's Dotonbori Canal, Cambodia's Angkor Wat, Cambodia's Bayon Temple, Japan's Sendai area, Japan's Yufuin, and Japan's Tokyo Station Hotel.

Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides panoramic views from positions along many streets in the world.

Though Japan still attracts many of virtual tourists, cultural monuments and temples across the region are also taking centre stage, it said.

The top 10 Google Street View destinations in India are Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Qutab Minar, Agra Fort, Lavasa, Lovely Professional University, Humayun's Tomb, Shaniwar Wada, Jantar Mantar and IIT Bombay, an emailed Google statement said.

Written with inputs from PTI