Tourism   -   Tourism

Why visit Rajasthan?​Rajasthan may not have the ‘snow and the sea’, but this land offers much more. It offers a cultural bonanza that is wrapped up in warm hospitality and a modern outlook. The tales of the past are in perfect sync with the dreams of the future. Here one can escape the humdrum modern life and relive the era of royalty​​ by staying in the palaces-turned hotels and travelling as the royals did in special persona trains and coaches, the royal ‘saloon’. According to the official statistics released by the government of Rajasthan, more than 30 million national and international tourists visited Rajasthan in 2012. The figure has only increased by 8% in 2013.

Rainbow-hued cities with some of the most beautiful forts and palaces

Rajasthan is a perhaps one of the most colourful states of India and a land of unending variety. No other state in India can boost of cities which have their own colour. Whether it is about the ‘pink’ in Jaipur or the ‘blue’ in Jodhpur or the ‘golden hues’ of Jaisalmer, the barren landscape is swathed in colours of the rainbow.

The state has some of the most beautiful palaces and forts in the country, which are well-maintained by the government and the former royal families. Your experience will be further enhanced by audio guides and human guides who can regale you with some interesting stories of a bygone era. Most of these palaces and hotels are equipped with all the modern-day conveniences like wi-fi networks where a tourist can experience the luxury of the past while enjoying the comforts of the modern-day technology. The restaurants in the premises of the forts treat you like royalty and sometimes even have musicians and dancers to entertain you somewhat akin to the opulence that was a characteristic of the maharajas.

National parks and sanctuaries that offer a rendezvous with the wild

Rajasthan’s multi-hued landscape houses a number of well-known wild life sanctuaries and national parks. Here you can meet some of the most beautiful and majestic beings, who would have been extinct by now, had it not been for these sanctuaries and national parks. Your eyes can feast upon the rarely seen tiger or the shy chinkara or the bashful black buck. You can also meet exotic birds like the common crane, ducks, coots, pelicans and the rare Siberian cranes, imperial sand grouse, falcons, buzzards, that flock to the state to escape the bitter cold in their homeland. Rajasthan has two national parks, over a dozen sanctuaries and two closed areas. Most of these are open for tourists around the year except for the monsoon months. Ranthambhore National Park and Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary are both known worldwide for their tiger population and considered by both wilderness lovers and photographers as the best places in India to spot tigers.Prominent among the wildlife sanctuaries are Mount Abu Sanctuary, Bhensrod Garh Sanctuary, Darrah Sanctuary, Jaisamand Sanctuary, Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, Jawahar Sagar sanctuary and Sita Mata Wildlife Sanctuary.

A ‘foodie’s heaven

It is the ultimate destination for a die-hard ‘foodie’ who can treat his taste buds to the exotic cuisines. He can revel in the ‘mirchi pakodas’ or ‘kachoris’ in the streets or go for a more exotic and luxurious experience in palaces and the many luxury hotels that dot the landscape.

Villages where time stands still

If you are tired of the plasticized modernity, then you can take a break and escape to a village in Rajasthan. You will only be able to see thousands of stars in the night, which is a rarity in the modern cities, but also experience the warmth of the land. The life in the villages is simple, without the complexities that plague the twenty-first century. Colourful attires, smiling faces, mud plastered houses with beautiful wall paintings and grazing cattle evoke a serenity that is beyond compare. Rural Rajasthan is brimming with stories that reside in the camel bells jingling along the narrow streets and in the eyes of the women smiling behind their multi-coloured veils. 

Celebrating life with fairs and festivals

Festivals hold an unusual lure for the people of Rajasthan and they need little reason to celebrate, be it the turn of a season, a wedding or simply a dry time of the year, the desert folk are in love with gaiety. The frequent pageantry serves well for trade too as it makes for a thriving market, of which live off its artists and tradesmen. Each region boasts of its own form of folk entertainment, traditions and dialect, adding to the state’s diversity. The festivals make way for fairs. Originally a congregation of cattle breeders and small vendors, these gatherings retain their rustic charm, but today they are far from being merely utilitarian. Of the several hundred fairs that have grown over the years some major ones, like the Pushkar Fair, the Desert Festival, Elephant Festival and Camel Festival. Other fairs, like Kajli Bundi, Kaila Devi Fair, Ramdevra Fair and Banehswar Fair to name just a select few, were purely celebrations of faith and remain so even today.

Rajasthan is not just about reminiscing a bygone era. The state is also about experiencing a new way of life which embraces the new concepts but also nurtures and protects its traditions and customs. It is perhaps one of the few states in the country which proves that the new and old cannot only stay together in peace and harmony but also walk hand-in-hand towards a bright future