Rajasthan Tours Pvt. Ltd

Life in the Desert
People & Customs
Art & Craft
Music & Dance
Cuisine

The Rajputana of the old is the land of Rajputs - brave and chivalrous people with warlike lifestyle - around who grew the most amazing legends of romance and heroism. No more spectacular land exists in the whole world, no more stirring histories are as concentrated in any one region as Rajasthan, where a proud and mysterious people have built forts and palaces, temples, and mansions.

Rajasthan has a total area of 343000 sq. km. The Aravalli range, which runs from north -east to southwest for about 688 km, divides it into two regions with totally different geographical features. Everything here is breathtakingly beautiful, impressive and fascinating.

Life in the desert
Despite the challenges that the arid environment of the Thar Desert throws over a large tract of the state - people have innovated in their own small ways to make the arid sands habitable and created agricultural and pastoral settlements. The most colourful villages in the Thar are to be found on the Shekhawati tract with well-built houses, usually with painted walls and beautiful decorations and wall paintings.

Agriculture
Rajasthan's economy is mainly agriculture-based. About 80 percent of the population lives in rural areas. Cereal crops such as bajra, juar, wheat and barley cover the largest cultivated area. Major irrigation projects Such as the Indira Gndhi canal have helped green the arid regions of Bikaner and Jaisalmer. Other schemes have also developed on the Chambal and Luni rivers, as well as in Ganganagar. The western region grows predominantly kharif (monsoon) crops, while the eastern belt, which has better rains and soil, grows both kharif and rabi (winter) crops. Three important crops grown here are wheat, corn and millets.

Haats (Rural Bazaars)
The delightful and colourful bazaars of Rajasthan still have a distinct easygoing atmosphere. Nothing much seems to have changed - not even the commodities in the market. In the old days, the bazaars were segmented product-wise - an entire lane of lac bangle makers, a market of utensil makers and so on, a tradition very much in place today.

The numerous fairs and festivals are essentially an opportunity for people from far and wide to converge and shop. One can pick up exotic trinkets, beads, bangles, old tribal silver jewellery, a range of handicrafts and of course, animals.