Rajasthan The Land of Kings

Rajasthan is home to the Thar or the Great Indian Desert, the largest Desert in India and the 18th largest subtropical desert in the world.

- Gayathri Krishnan

As the largest state of India, Rajasthan is bounded by Pakistan in the west and northwest, the Indian states of Gujarat in the southwest, Madhya Pradesh to the southeast, Punjab in the north and Uttar Pradesh and Haryana in the northeast.

The state was formed on 30th March 1949, after the princely states of Rajputana were merged into the Dominion of India.

Rajasthan is a land of vibrant colours. Its capital and largest city of Jaipur is known as the ‘Pink city’ after Maharaja Ram Singh of Jaipur ordered the city walls to be painted pink to welcome the Prince of Wales and Queen Victoria in 1876. Jodhpur is known as the ‘Blue city’ because most of the houses and buildings are blue in colour. Jaisalmer is called ’Golden City’ because of the yellow sand and the yellow sandstone buildings!

The dry and sandy Thar Desert lies in the Northwestern part of Rajasthan. The cities of Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Nagour and Balmer are situated along the Thar Desert. The Aravalli Hills stretch from Southwest to Northeast for about 850km.