The Chandrayaan-3, which means “mooncraft” in Sanskrit, put down its Vikram lander shortly after 6pm (1230 GMT) near the little-explored lunar south pole in a world first for any space programme.
People across the country were glued to television screens and said prayers as the spacecraft approached the surface.
The country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, watched the landing from South Africa, where he is attending the Brics summit.
Instead, the probe orbited Earth several times to gain speed before embarking on its month-long lunar trajectory.
A six-wheeled rover is scheduled to roam the lunar surface gathering images and data.
The Chandrayaan-3 is expected to remain functional for two weeks, running a series of experiments including a spectrometer analysis of the mineral composition of the lunar surface.
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