  General Relativity (GR) was proven via the direct detection of gravitational
waves from the mergers of the binary black holes and binary neutron stars by
the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. These detections confirmed the
prediction of GR and provided the first direct evidence of the existence of
stellar-mass black holes (BHs). However, the occurrence of singularities at the
centers of BHs suggests that GR is inapplicable because of the breakdown of the
equivalence principle at the singularities. The fact that these singularities
exist indicates that GR cannot be a universal theory of space-time. In the
low-energy limit, the theoretical and observational challenges faced by the
$\Lambda$CDM model also indicate that we might have to look beyond GR as the
underlying theory of gravity. Unlike GR, whose field equations contain only up
to second-order derivatives, the modified theories with higher derivative
Ricci/Riemann tensor gravity models include higher derivatives. Therefore, one
expects significant differences between GR and modified theories. Since there
are many ways of modifying GR in the strong-gravity and cosmological distances,
each model has unique features. This leads to the following crucial question:
Are there a set of unique signatures that distinguish GR from modified gravity
(MG) theories? This review discusses three aspects of MG theories: (1) Why do
we need to consider MG theories? (2) How to modify GR? and (3) What are the
observational consequences? The review is written in a pedagogical style with
the expectation that it will serve as a useful reference for theorists and
observers and those interested in bridging the divide between theory and
observations.
