The moon rover of India's Chandrayaan-3 has exited the spacecraft to explore the lunar surface and conduct experiments to help future probes as the historic landing is hailed as the country's biggest scientific feat.
The spacecraft landed on the unexplored south pole of the moon on Wednesday evening, days after Russia's Luna-25 failed, making India the first country to achieve this feat.
The soft, textbook touchdown by the lander after a failed attempt in 2019 sparked widespread jubilation and celebration in the world's most populous country.
"The Ch-3 Rover ramped down from the Lander and India took a walk on the moon!" the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
ISRO chief S Somanath said the "Pragyan" rover had two instruments to conduct element and chemical composition experiments.
"More than that it will do the roving on the surface," Somanath told Indian news agency ANI.
"We will also do a robotic path planning exercise which is very important for us for future exploration."
Accomplished with a budget of about 6.15 billion rupees ($A116 million), this was India's second attempt to touch down on the moon.
A previous mission in 2019, Chandrayaan-2, successfully deployed an orbiter but its lander crashed.
Chandrayaan means "moon vehicle" in Hindi and Sanskrit.
Chandrayaan-3 is expected to remain functional for two weeks which equals one lunar day when its solar-powered equipment is built to last.
The moon's rugged south pole is coveted because of its water ice, which is believed to be capable of providing fuel, oxygen, and drinking water for future missions, but its rough terrain makes landing challenging.
People across the country tuned in to watch the landing on Wednesday, with almost seven million people viewing the YouTube livestream alone.
Prayers were also held at places of worship, and schools organised live screenings of the spectacle for students.
Besides boosting India's standing as a space power and its reputation for cost-competitive space engineering, the landing is a major moment of national pride.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was being congratulated by everyone since Wednesday evening and the world regarded the successful landing not as one country's achievement but that of all of humanity.
"It is a matter of pride and a pat on the back for Indian scientists," Modi said at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Indian newspapers had banner headlines screaming "The moon is Indian", "India goes where no nation's gone before", and "India lights up the dark side of the moon".
"Lunar landing is the most significant Indian scientific achievement," the Times of India said in an editorial.
"If India is now in a position to harvest the benefit of a spurt in interest in basic sciences there's one reason: ISRO," it said.
Chandrayaan-3 took more than 40 days to reach the moon, looping through widening orbits to use the earth's gravitational force as a slingshot.
By contrast, Russia's Luna-25 mission, which crashed before its own attempted landing on the moon's south pole, had been on a more direct course to the moon.
Russia has not disclosed what it spent on the failed mission.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated India in a message to Modi published on the Kremlin website.
"This is a big step forward in space exploration and of course a testament to the impressive progress made by India in the field of science and technology," he said.
