Culturally rich region of the world, wide ranges of culture and economic strata, and many areas not known to even seasoned travelers.
Exotic, vastly unseen and unexplored land. That’s how I think of India. You’ve heard about it and maybe seen some photos. But you get the idea hardly anybody knows much about it.
India is really like a continent of many different ethnostates. All united under one country called “India” due to British colonization. You could spend 6-12 months here and not feel like you saw everything. Every part is very different from others.
If I had to guess…you’ll need at least 1 month minimum to see a few different things. It’s a massive culture shock and sensory overload that takes some time to get used to. 2 months to really get a broader glance…you’ll still feel like you barely saw 1% of the tip of anything. 6 months to really say “Ok, I’ve been to India”. The big thing to consider is that India is really a love-it-or-hate-it type of place. So you should have an open-ended plan in order to extend or cut short.