Where to go first is the wrong question
Almost every first plan for India starts with a list of places and then argues about how many of them will fit. That argument is unwinnable, because the country is the size of Europe and the list is always too long by three.
The better question is how many hours in a car you are willing to spend, and what you want to be doing at six in the morning.
Answer those two and the map draws itself. Someone who wants to be awake at dawn in front of a monument belongs on a northern route. Someone who wants to be awake at dawn on water belongs in Kerala. Someone who wants to be awake at dawn in an open vehicle with a radio crackling belongs in the parks of Madhya Pradesh, and nowhere near a fort.
Six rooms sit under this one, by part of the country. None of them is a ranking. They exist so you can read about one region properly rather than skim six.
