IN PHOTOS! The unusual glimpses from India

India, the land of vibrant versatilities, has always been one of the foremost choices of photographers from across the globe. Its deep-rooted cultural foundation, blended with its often curious ways of adapting to the various facets of modernisation, reveals a bizarre imagery, tells a strange story.

And that's what attracts the shutterbugs!

Rediff.com presents a collection of such unusual images, which illuminates the beauty, oddity and uniqueness of India. Here's the first part of a two part series.

In this image, an elephant damages a vehicle after going on a rampage in Kochi in this February 27, 2009 file photo

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A file photo shows toy soldiers on sale in front of the Taj Mahal Hotel, ahead of the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people.

Photograph: Arko Datta/Reuters

Burqa-clad women arrive to see off their relatives who are leaving Ahmedabad for Mecca in Saudi Arabia to attend the annual religious Haj pilgrimage on October 26, 2010.

Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters

A vendor carries plastic balls for sale as he walks down the streets of Noida, Uttar Pradesh on October 23, 2010.

Photograph: Parivartan Sharma/Reuters

Mahant Kailash Giri, a sadhu, lies buried in soil as part of a ritual during the nine-day long Navratri festival in Jammu on October 15, 2010.

Photograph: Mukesh Gupta/Reuters

An artist depicting the southern Indian folk theatre called 'Yakshagana' from the Karnataka, performs during a cultural programme in Chandigarh on October 10, 2010.

Photograph: Ajay Verma/Reuters

A monkey sits on the motorbike of his handler as they leave the Talkatora stadium, one of the venues for the Commonwealth Games, in New Delhi, on September 29, 2010.

Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters

A boy performs Mallakhamb (gymnast's pole) during a practice session at a playground in Mumbai on September 13, 2010.

Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

A schoolboy uses a laptop provided to him under 'one laptop per child' project as a calf stands nearby in a primary state-run school on the eve of International Literacy Day at Khairat village, about 90 km of Mumbai,  on September 7, 2010.

Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

A worker pulls a publicity cut-out of a Bollywood movie in Mumbai in this December 16, 2009 file photo.

Photograph: Arko Datta/Reuters

School girls hold onto a wall as they try to make their way through a flooded street outside their school, after heavy rains in Allahabad in this July 1, 2008 file photo.

Photograph: Jitendra Prakash/Reuters

A Hindu devotee hangs from a rope during the 'Chadak' ritual in Kolkata in this April 14, 2009 file photo.

Photograph: Jayanta Shaw/Reuters

A student performs Jal Neti, or nasal wash, an ancient yogic technique, in Chandigarh in this May 21, 2009 file photo.

Photograph: Ajay Verma/Reuters

An artisan gives finishing touches to the face of a sculpture of Maa Durga at a workshop in Siliguri in this July 29, 2009 file photo.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

Seven-year-old Fathima Lubna (l) and her twin sister Fathima Lubaba (r) carry their five-month-old sisters, who are also twins, at their residence in Kodinji village in Kerala in this July 28, 2009 file photo.

Photograph: Arko Datta/Reuters

Six-year-old Gudia performs inside a circus at a fair in the outskirts of Jammu in this November 3, 2009 file photo.

Photograph: Reuters

Dhanna Ram, dressed in traditional Rajasthani attire, displays his 4.5 feet-long moustache in Rajasthan in this November 29, 2009 file photo.

Photograph: Pawan Kumar/Reuters

Manoharan, alias Snake Manu, passes two tree snakes through his nostrils in Chennai in this December 20, 2006 file photo.

Photograph: Babu/Reuters

A masseur gives a massage to a foreign tourist on the banks of river Ganga in Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, in this April 15, 2009 file photo.

Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Dancers from French hip-hop dance troupe Compagnie Kafig perform 'Wasteland' (also known as Terrain Vague) during the 'Bonjour India' festival in Chennai in this December 9, 2009 file photo.

Photograph: Babu/Reuters

An artist paints an idol of the Maa Kali at a workshop in Kolkata on October 30, 2010.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

Gaurav Sharma, a martial arts instructor, climbs the 45 storey 'Shreepati Arcade' in Mumbai in this January 26, 2009 file photo.

Photograph: Arko Datta/Reuters

A Hindu devotee with lemons attached to needles on his back, takes part in an annual religious procession called 'Shitla Mata' in Chandigarh in this August 16, 2009 file photo.

Photograph: Ajay Verma/Reuters

A man cleans a huge pan during celebrations of 'Hola Mohalla' at Anandpur Sahib in Punjab in this March 11, 2009 file photo.

Photograph: Ajay Verma/Reuters

A dancer in body paint waits for his performance beside a spectator during festivities marking the end of the annual harvest festival of Onam in Thrissur in this September 5, 2009 file photo.

Photograph: Sivaram V/Reuters