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The history of India dates back almost five thousand years, and Rajasthan plays a crucial and unique role, especially with regard to the development of Indian culture. Its impressive story reaches through a heroic past. Its extravagant splashes of bright hues against the desert landscape and the purity of its dry and sandy reaches, the miniature elegance of its small villages and impeccably maintained forts brings alive the story of the yore. The appearance of its grand forts perched on rocky hills still tell the story of the bravery of its men and the stoic sacrifice of its women, and the chivalrous old world manners of all.
The Rajputs rose to prominence in the 9th and 10th centuries, and were a major force to reckon with medieval India. Passionately attached to their land, family and honor, the Rajputs treated war as a sport, and followed a strong chivalric code of conduct. Myths and legends of their velour, gallantry, sacrifice and courage are legion. There are many heroes among the Rajputs, such as Prithviraj Chauhan, who fought successfully against the invader Muhammad Ghori in the battle of Terrain (1191), although he died on the same battlefield in the following year. Or the great Rana Pratap of Mewar, who defiantly withstood the might of the Mughal, and continued to raid on them even after his defeat. He died in 1597, and his son, Amber Singh, took over the mantle of opposition to Mughal rule. Rana Pratap was the lone exception, as most of the leading Rajput clans finally married into Mughal royalty and nobility, and went into direct State service of the Mughal Empire. This was chiefly at the behest of the wise and farsighted Mughal emperor, Akbar, who was able to consolidate and expand his empire because of his close ties with the proud Rajputs, the men who made formidable enemies and also steadfast and loyal friends.
Rajasthan, situated in the north-western part of the Indian Union, is now the largest State of India. Largely an arid state for most of its part, Rajasthan emerged after Partition from a mosaic of eighteen feudal kingdoms, known in the British era as Rajputana."Land of Kings". Running northeast from Mount Abu, near the border with Gujarat, to within a stone’s throw of the ruins of ancient Delhi, its backbone is formed by the bare brown hills of the Aravalli Range, which divide the fertile Dhundar basin from the shifting sands dunes of the mighty Thar Desert, one of the driest places on earth. As the site of India’s recent nuclear tests, this western flank of the country, forming the sensitive border with Pakistan, has become one of the world’s most notorious geopolitical hotspots. However, the flat terrain, combined with the lure of the lucrative trans-Thar trade routes, rendered it vulnerable to invasion long before Partition. The State is girdled by Punjab and Haryana states in the north, Uttar Pradesh in the east, Madhya Pradesh in the southeast and Gujarat in the southwest. By taxing the movement of silk, spices and precious stones across their territories, successive rulers - from the Hindu Rajputs to their medieval Muslim overlords, the Mughals - amassed vast fortunes, which they poured into ever more ambitious building projects.
For visitors, however, Rajasthan’s strong adherence to the traditions of the past is precisely what makes it a compelling place to travel. Swaggering moustaches, heavy silver anklets, bulky red, yellow or orange turbans, pleated veils and mirror-inlaid saris may be part of the complex language of caste, but to most outsiders they epitomize India at its most exotic. Rajasthan s extravagant palaces, forts and finely carved temples today comprise one of the country’s richest crop of historic monuments, visited in greater numbers than any other apart from Agra. As an extension to the “Golden Triangle” of Delhi-Agra-Jaipur, the route stringing together these three cities has become the most trodden tourist trail in India. But these exotic Forts are far from the only legacy of the region’s prosperous and militaristic past. Nowhere is this traditional flamboyance more vividly expressed than at the annual camel fair at Pushkar, when hundreds of thousands of villagers converge on a sacred lake in the Aravalli Hills to buy and sell livestock, their almost luminous costumes striking against the muted hues of the desert.
Other incentives to venture into less frequented corners of the state are Rajasthan’s wonderful wildlife sanctuaries. Of these, Ranthambore, where you can watch tigers prowling around Rajput rums and lakeside jungles, is deservedly the most famous, but Sariska, between Jaipur and Agra, boasts almost as many big cats and equally serene landscapes. For sheer profusion, however, the Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur, on the eastern border of Rajasthan near Agra, is unmatched in South Asia. Literally hundreds of species of birds, from giant Sara’s cranes to tiny scarlet finches and incandescent kingfishers, feed here in the winter months, creating an unforgettable spectacle and a welcome respite from the frenetic cities that inevitably dominate most visitors’ itineraries in this state.
Internation Airlines with thier office addresses:
Aeroflot, Tolstoy House, 15-17 Tolstoy Marg;
Air Canada, 1st floor, ALPs Building, 56 Janpath 0014;
Air France, 7 Atma Ram Mansion, Scindia House, Connaught Place;
Air India, Jeevan Bharati Building, opposite Palika Bazaar, Connaught Place;
Air Lanka, Room 1, Hotel Janpath, Janpath
Air Ukraine, C-37, Hauz Khas;
Alitalia, 2H, DCM Bldg, 16 Barakhamba Rd;
American Airlines, 105 Indra Prakash Building, Barakhamba Road;
Bangladesh Biman, World Trade Centre, Babar Road, Connaught Place;
British Airways, 1A DLF Centre, Sansad Marg; Cathay Pacific, Ashoka Estate;
Egypt Air, GF-I, Ansal Bhawan, Kasturba Gandhi Marg; (more…)
Embassies & consulates in New Delhi
Afghanistan 5/50 F, Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi-21
Algeria B-3/61, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi-29
Angola C-17, Malcha Marg, New Delhi-21
Argentine B-8/9, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi-57
Armenia B, 8/2, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi-57
Austria EP-13,Chandragupta Marg,Chanakyapuri, New Delhi-21
Belgium 50-N, Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi-21
Belize B-8/14, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi-57
Benin 43-A, Okhla Industrial Estate, New Delhi-20
Bhutan Chandergupta Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi-21
Brazil 8, Aurangzeb Road, New Delhi-11
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Following is the list of major Hospitals in Delhi with their Phone Numbers
AIIMS 91 - 11 - 2686 4851
Bansal Hospital & Res. Ctr. (P) Ltd. 91 - 11 - 2326 1072
Bara Hindu Rao Hospital 91 - 11 - 2291 9706
91 - 11 - 2291 9562
Batra Hospital & Medical Res. Ctr. 91 - 11 - 2698 0422
Bhagat Hospital 91 - 11 - 2555 1898
Brahm Shakti Hospital And Research Centre 91 - 11 - 2727 1683
91 - 11 - 2716 7967
91 - 11 - 2716 7894
Central Hospital, Railways 91 - 11 - 2373 4009
(more…)
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