Colours of a Desert Land: Rajasthan

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Enchanting Rajasthan, land of the proud Rajput warriors and extravagantly colourful lively people has been a favourite destination for travellers to India. The stories of honour, valour and chivalry, the magnificent pageantry of Maharajas, splendidly chiselled temples and the grandeur and opulence of the palaces has attracted visitors from all over the world. Its fairs and festivals are a riot of colour and its scintillating music and dance dazzle the onlooker. This book with over 150 stunning photographs from more than twenty of Indiaâ€™s best photographers, discovers and presents all this and much more. From the introduction: "The present book is not a history of Rajasthan. It is only a modest attempt at introducing the reader to the glorious cultural and architectural heritage of this splendid state of India. Rajasthan is a large state divided by the Aravalli Ranges, believed to be geologically the worldâ€™s oldest fold mountains. On the west lies the Thar Desert guarded on the borders by the forts at Jaisalmer and Bikaner. Rajasthan has undergone tremendous cataclysmic geological shifts. The Thar is a reminder of a time, millions and millions years ago, when the land lay covered by the sea. The Rajputs, legendary warriors appeared on the scene in the medieval period and, though small in number, carved out small but strong kingdoms for themselves on the sandy and hilly regions. They created a distinctive romantic aura about their class by their unflinching adherence to a code of honour, valour and chivalry. Their fiercest battles were fought with the Delhi Sultans and the Mughal Emperors.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Surendra Sahai

Dr. Surendra Sahai is a distinguished author specialising in medieval Indian art and architecture. He has traveled widely to study and photograph the monuments for this book. His fascination for the subjects has transformed the story of cold, grey stones into a significant chronicle recounting the creation of various architectural styles over the centuries. This book combines immense scholarship and a commendable felicity of language. Dr. Sahai is an eminent photographer. His work has featured in collections of the World’s Best Photographs London Magazine, Amateur Photographer, Practical Photography etc. He regularly contributes articles on art and architecture to Indian and foreign journals. Dr. Sahai studied English literature at the Universities of Lucknow and London. As a British Council scholar, he worked on the plays of Harold Pinter. The University of Salzburg, Austria has published his book. Dr. Surendra Sahai is a reader in English at Motilal Nehru College of Delhi University.