Rajasthan General Knowledge, Culture, and Geography
Rajasthan geography and culture questions mix map facts, physical features, fairs and crafts with tribal and folk traditions. Expect matching-type stems: a dance with its region, a craft with its town, a sanctuary with its district.
Physical geography
- The Aravalli is one of the oldest fold mountain systems; its highest point is Guru Shikhar on Mount Abu at about 1,722 m.
- The Thar Desert covers the western districts. The Luni is the state's main inland river and turns saline downstream; the Chambal is the notable perennial river, with the Banas, Mahi and Sabarmati as other important rivers.
- Sambhar is the largest inland saline lake. Keoladeo Ghana at Bharatpur is a Ramsar wetland and bird sanctuary; Ranthambore, Sariska, Mukundra and Desert National Park (Jaisalmer) are the tiger and desert reserves.
Culture
- Kalbelia dance of the Kalbeliya community was inscribed on the UNESCO intangible heritage list in 2010; Ghoomar, Terah Taali and Chari belong to different regions.
- Fairs: Pushkar on Kartik Purnima, Teej and Gangaur at Jaipur, Camel Festival at Bikaner, and the Nagaur cattle fair.
- Crafts: blue pottery of Jaipur, Sanganeri and Bagru block prints, Thewa jewellery of Pratapgarh, Molela clay plaques and Kathputli puppetry.
- Saharia is the state's only Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group.
Worked example
A stem asks which dance is linked to the Kalbeliya community concentrated around Jaisalmer and Ajmer. Reason it out: the community is a snake-charmer group, so the answer is Kalbelia, performed in swirling black skirts with Been music, not Ghoomar, which is a Rajput women's dance associated with Mewar.
Traps
Confusing Sambhar with Didwana; calling the Aravalli the world's highest range; assigning the Pushkar fair to Bikaner; mixing Ghoomar and Kalbelia.