COLOURFUL RAJASTHAN

Rajasthan has long been regarded as the real home of the traditional Maharajas. Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer have become some of India's most popular tourist destinations. However, as castles, forts and country estates are steadily being converted into hotels even Rajasthan's most remotely inaccessible outposts are opening up. From the richly painted havelis of Shekawati in the north to the magnificent Jain temples of Mount Abu or Ranakpur in the south, the state's wealth of history and art provides a unique opportunity to see something of a disappearing world.

Yet as camel and cattle fairs such as that at Pushkar demonstrate, traditional ways of life die hard, and have flourished through all the external changes.

Running like a spine through Rajasthan the Aravalli Hills are one of the oldest Population mountain systems in the world. They form a series of jagged, heavily folded ranges, stretching from Mount Abu in the southwest (1,720 metres) to Kota and Bundi in the east. Mount Abu is granite but the range has a mixture of rocks, but Kishangarh & Makrana, are the source of the glittering white marble used in the Taj Mahal.

Before Partition from Pakistan Jaisalmer and Bikaner dominated the overland routes to the west. Jodhpur lies on the edge of this arid tract, the link between the true desert and the semi arid but cultivable regions to the east.

Around Jaipur and Bharatpur, cultivated land is interspersed with rocky out crops. In the south the average elevation is higher (330-1,150) metres). Mewar is hilly, but around Bharatpur the landscape forms part of the nearly flat Yamuna drainage basin. The Kota and Bundi plateau has good, black deep and well-drained soils, intensively cultivated.

Rajasthan is one of the driest regions of India. Its locations on the margins of pure desert has made of it particularly susceptible to climatic change, and fossil over the last 5,000 years. Except in the hills the summer temperatures are very high with a maximum of 46^o C and an average from May to August of 38^oC. In winter the daily maximum in most low lying areas is 22^oC to 28^oC and the minimum 8^oC-14^oC.

The rainfall mostly in Rajasthan is experienced in July and September. The Aravalli range tends to experience a higher rainfall and lower temperatures through out the year. The desert area has very little rain.

Wild Life The natural jungle is deal territory for tigers, leopards, sloth bear, sambhar (large brown deer) and chital (smaller spotted deer) now normally restricted to game reserve. Nilgai (blue bulls), black buck and ravine deer are fairly numerous on the plains. Sawai Madhopur is very famous for its Ranthambor Sanctuary. There is a great variety of birds. Bikaner is famous for its sand grouse, whilst Bharatpur and other low-lying swampy places in the southeast are popular winter grounds for migratory birds from Siberia and Northern Europe. Sariska is also famous for its wild life and birds.