UPDAT ED EDI T ION

AW E S O M E INDI A R OBIN AGE : I NDIA’ S F AVOURITE NEWSP APE R FOR CHILD REN

A GU I DE TO S TAT E S A ND UNION T ER R I TOR IES

UPDAT ED EDI T ION

AW E S O M E INDI A RobinAge: India’s Favourite Newspaper for Children

A GU I DE TO S TAT E S A ND UNION T ER R I TOR IES I M PORTA N T CI T I E S | MUS T V ISI T S G E O G R A P H I C A L A T T R A C T I O N S | F E S T I VA L S MUSIC | DA NC E | H A N DIC R A F T S | FO OD

Text © 2020 RobinAge: India’s Favourite Newspaper for Children All images licensed from Thinkstock. Maps are not to scale. Every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of all facts. All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic India Pvt. Ltd. A subsidiary of Scholastic Inc., New York, 10012 (USA). Publishers since 1920, with international operations in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, India, and Hong Kong. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to: Scholastic India Pvt. Ltd. A-27, Ground Floor, Sigma Centre Infocity-1, Sector 34, Gurgaon-122001 (India) First edition: December 2012 This edition: May 2020 ISBN-13: 978-81-8477-971-4

Contents States Andhra Pradesh and Telangana ...................................................................................... 2 Arunachal Pradesh ........................................................................................................... 6 Assam ................................................................................................................................. 8 Bihar and Jharkhand ...................................................................................................... 10 Goa .................................................................................................................................... 12 Gujarat .............................................................................................................................. 18 Himachal Pradhesh ........................................................................................................ 20 Karnataka ........................................................................................................................ 26 Kerala ............................................................................................................................... 30 Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh ................................................................................ 34 Maharashtra .................................................................................................................... 38 Manipur ............................................................................................................................ 42 Meghalaya ....................................................................................................................... 44 Mizoram .......................................................................................................................... 46 Nagaland ......................................................................................................................... 48 Odisha .............................................................................................................................. 50 Punjab and Haryana ...................................................................................................... 54 Rajasthan ......................................................................................................................... 58 Sikkim .............................................................................................................................. 62 Tamil Nadu ..................................................................................................................... 64 Tripura ............................................................................................................................. 68 Uttar Pradesh ................................................................................................................... 70 Uttarakhand .................................................................................................................... 74 West Bengal ..................................................................................................................... 78

Union Territories Andaman and Nicobar Islands ..................................................................................... 84 Chandigarh ...................................................................................................................... 86 Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu .............................................................. 88 Delhi ................................................................................................................................. 90 Jammu and Kashmir ...................................................................................................... 92 Ladakh .............................................................................................................................. 94 Lakshadweep ................................................................................................................... 96 Puducherry ...................................................................................................................... 98

STATES

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana LADAKH

LEH

CHINA

PAKISTAN

NEPAL

Char Minar, Hyderabad

K

nown as the Kohinoor of India, Andhra Pradesh is famous for its rivers, natural resources and monuments. It is also home to one of the largest freshwater lakes in India, the Kolleru Lake that lies between the Krishna and Godavari deltas. On 2 June 2014, the state of Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh. The Telangana region was once ruled by powerful dynasties including the Cholas and Mughals. It is rich in natural resources and has emerged as a major hub for information technology.

Important Cities

BAY OF BENGAL

ARABIAN SEA

PUDUCHERRY

Adilabad in Telangana is known for its rich cotton cultivations and is therefore also referred to as the White Gold City.

Basar in Telangana is known for the ancient temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati. Historians date it back to the Chalukya Period.

u

u

Amaravati is the proposed capital city of u Hyderabad, the current joint capital of Andhra Pradesh. It lies on the southern banks of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and its twin the Krishna River in Guntur district. city Secunderabad have a history that dates back u

INDIAN OCEAN

2

AW E S O M E I N D I A

over 400 years. Today, they are centres for the north, south, east and west. At each corner of information technology industry. the structure is a 24-metre-high minaret. It is these four (char) minarets (minar) that give the u Srikalahasti in Andhra Pradesh is most famous building its name. for its Shiva temple and a form of textile painting u The Salarjung Museum in Hyderabad houses called Kalamkari. one of the biggest one-man collections of antiques u Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh is a revered including daggers belonging to Mughal Emperors pilgrimage site that is the abode of the Kaliyuga Jehangir and Shahjahan, Aurangzeb’s sword and deity Lord Venkateswara, popularly known as many other fabulous items. Balaji. It is also home to a zoological park. u The Golconda Fort in Hyderabad is famous for u Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh is the political its acoustics, ingenious water supply system and and publishing capital of the state. It is also known the Fateh Rahben gun, used in the last siege of as The City that Never Sleeps as it has the largest Golconda by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. It once railway station in the South Central Railway. housed the Kohinoor and Hope diamonds. Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh is a port city with a natural harbour that serves as one of India’s busiest ports. u

Warangal in Telangana is a city that was once the heartland of Telugu culture. Today, it is known for its temples and architecture. u

Must Visits

Golconda Fort, Hyderabad

The Birla Mandir in Hyderabad is a blend of south Indian, Rajasthani and Utkala temple architecture. It is made of 2,000 tons of pure Rajasthani white marble and houses an 11-foottall idol of Lord Venkateswara. It stands atop the Kala Pahad near the Hussain Sagar Lake.

Pochampally is a village in Andhra Pradesh that is known for Ikat, a dyeing technique used to pattern textiles. It has also been declared as a model village due to its cleanliness and modern civic amenities.

u

u

Geographical Attractions: National Parks Sri Venkateswara National Park in Andhra Pradesh houses many spectacular waterfalls including Talakona, Gundalakona and Gunjana. u

Hussain Sagar Lake, Hyderabad

Kawal Wildlife Sanctuary, located in the Charminar in Hyderabad is a square granite Adilabad district of Telangana, was established structure that has four majestic arches facing in the 1960s. It houses various animals including u

u

3

A NDHR A PR A DESH A ND TEL A NGA NA

played the violin, U. Srinivas who played the mandolin and Chitti Babu and Emani Sankara Sastry who played the veena. The mridangam, a percussion instrument, reached new heights of fame and popularity thanks to Andhra native Yella Venkatesara Rao.

the sambar, chital, nilgai, barking deer, Indian bison, sloth bear, panther and tiger as well as reptiles including the python, crocodile, star tortoise, monitor lizard and cobra.

Dance Tappeta Gullu is a rain dance that is popular in the districts of Srikakulam and Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh. In this dance form, fifteen Blackbucks to twenty dancers perform with drums around u Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park in their necks. Telangana was once the hunting grounds of the Nizams. The park was later developed into a full- u Burrakatha is a theatrical dance form that fledged sanctuary by the Indian government. The is practised by Jangams, who are wandering endangered blackbuck deer is found here along worshippers of Lord Shiva. ‘Burra’ refers to the tambura, a musical instrument played by the with eighty species of migratory birds. main storyteller, who also narrates a story and u Shivaram Wildlife Sanctuary, situated on the dances to it. The other performers play drums. banks of the Godavari River in Telangana, is known for its population of freshwater crocodiles. u Kuchipudi is the region’s best known In fact, the sanctuary was established with the classical dance form. It includes certain unique performances such as Tarangam, in which the main purpose of safeguarding them. artiste dances with a plate carrying two diyas u Nehru Zoological Park in Telangana is the on each hand while balancing a small vessel largest zoo in India and is located 16 kilometres containing water on the head. from Hyderabad. Here one can see lions, tigers, rhinoceroses and rare reptiles. The park also houses a natural history museum and a train. u

Important Festivals and Fairs u

Pongal (January) Festival (February) u Lumbini Festival (December) u Deccan

Kuchipudi

Music

Lambadi is performed by the Banjaras, a seminomadic tribe. The dance steps are associated with daily tasks such as harvesting, planting and sowing. The dancers’ costumes are embroidered u

This region has been home to some of the most amazing Carnatic-style instrumentalists including Dwaram Venkatasamy Naidu who 4 3

AW E S O M E I N D I A

with glass beads and mirrors and include ornate jewellery, bone bangles and brass anklets.

Hyderabadi cuisine is influenced by the Muslims who arrived in the region in the fourteenth century. In fact, Hyderabad is so famous for its biryanis, kebabs, haleem and nihari that it has been honoured with the UNESCO title of ‘Creative City of Gastronomy’.

Handicrafts

Kalamkari is an art form in which the artists use a ‘kalam’ or pen to draw beautiful designs on coloured pieces of cloth, which are then Food You Might Eat in Andhra Pradesh and filled with natural vegetable dyes. The districts Telangana of Machilipatnam and Srikalahasti in Andhra u Pappu, made with toor dal or moong dal cooked Pradesh specialize in this exquisite art form. with a vegetable or greens. u Pulusu, a sour curry-like stew. u Leather puppetry in Andhra Pradesh is u Paan, a mixture of betel leaves and areca nut. known as Tholu Bommalata, where ‘tholu’ means ‘leather’ and ‘bommalata’ means ‘puppet dance’. The leather puppets are known for their transparent quality and jewel-like glow. Two other kinds of puppetry are also practised here— Sutram Bommalata or string puppetry and Koyya Bommalata or wooden puppetry. u

Nirmal toys from Telangana are toys that are made from an exclusive herbal material, which gives them their characteristic glow. These toys are always created from soft wood and are shaped into beautiful dolls, birds and animal figurines. u

Hyderabadi Biryani

Did You Know?

In a traditional thali lunch in Andhra Pradesh, items are served on a single plate in a specific arrangement. Dal and curries are placed to the right of the diner, while pickles and podi (powder chutney) are placed to the left. Special items such as pulihora (tamarind rice or lemon rice) and garelu (vada) are placed at the top right. A large scoop of rice is placed in the middle. Small amounts of pulusu, sambhar, rasam, ghee and buttermilk are typically sprinkled onto the plate. The ghee is mixed with every item except perugu (yoghurt) and majjiga (buttermilk).

Bidri is a unique handicraft that uses an equal mixture of zinc and copper as well as silver to embellish products crafted out of black metals. u

Mirror work is one of the traditional crafts of the region. This work reflects the rich artistic skills of the Banjara people and supports a large population of this semi-nomadic tribe. u

Food

The food of this region is among the spiciest of all Indian cuisines. Pickles and chutneys, called thokku or pachadi, are particularly popular. Rice is a staple food here and is either boiled and eaten with curries or made into a batter for use in a crepe-like dish called attu or dosa.

For more information visit www.aptourism.gov.in & www.telanganatourism.gov.in

5 4

SEA

Arunachal Pradesh LADAKH

LEH

Waterfalls at Kameng River, Tawang

K

nown as the Orchid State of India and the Paradise of Botanists, Arunachal Pradesh NEPAL has been mentioned in the Kalika Purana, Mahabharata and Ramayana. It is inhabited by the world’s largest variety of ethnic tribal groups, numbering over a hundred. Arunachal Pradesh shares borders with China, Myanmar and Bhutan.

CHINA

BHUTAN

Important Cities

BANGLADESH MYANMAR

Itanagar is the capital of Arunachal Pradesh. It was once known as Mayapur and the magnificent Ita Fort was built here in the fifteenth century. The Itanagar Wildlife Sanctuary here is known for its tigers, elephants and barking deer. u

Tawang is best known for the Tawang Monastery, the largest Buddhist monastery in India and the second largest in the world. It was constructed in the seventeenth century and is famous for its library of holy books, some of which are written in gold lettering. u

Ziro is a quaint town 4.5 hours from Itanagar that is home to the Apatani tribe. It is famous for its pine hills and rice fields. u

BAY OF BENGAL

Tawang Monastery, Tawang

6 5

AW E S O M E I N D I A

Geographical Attractions: Namdapha National Park

Food

The staple food here is bamboo shoots and boiled Spread over an area of 1,985 square kilometres greens. People do not eat fried foods; they prefer in Arunachal Pradesh, this is the largest national boiled foods and smoked meats. park of northeast India. The park has more than 150 species of timber trees including some Food You Might Eat in Arunachal Pradesh rare varieties. The park is also home to the u Pika pila, a pickle made by the  Apatani tribe northernmost lowland evergreen rainforests using bamboo shoots and pork fat. in the world. The area was declared as a tiger u Lukter, a combination of cooked dry meat and reserve in 1983 and is home to the Bengal tiger, bhut jolokia chilli. clouded leopard, snow leopard and lesser cats. u Pehak, a spicy chutney made using fermented It also houses the Assamese macaque, pig-tailed soya bean and chilli. macaque, stump-tailed macaque, hoolock gibbon u Chura bhaji, a fermented cheese curry made and some common mammals and reptiles. The from yak’s milk. white-bellied heron, a critically endangered bird, u Rice cooked in hollow bamboo over hot coals. has been recorded here. The critically endangered Namdapha flying squirrel is endemic to the park.

Rice Cooked in Bamboo

Namdapha Flying Squirrel

Important Festivals and Fairs

Did You Know?

u Boori

Boot Festival (February) u Losar (February) u Dree Festival (July)

Parshuram Kund is a famous Hindu pilgrimage centre located in the Brahmaputra river valley along the Lohit River in Arunachal Pradesh. It is dedicated to Sage Parshuram and attracts devotees from Nepal and across India, especially on the occasion of Makar Sankranti in the month of January.

Handicrafts

Arunachal Pradesh is known for its carpets, masks, painted wooden vessels and other crafts such as handmade pottery, brass cutting and silver works. The tribes from this area also make numerous articles from goat hair, ivory, boars’ tusks and agate.

For more information visit www.arunachaltourism.com

7 6

SEA

Assam LADAKH

LEH

CHINA

Tea Gardens in Assam

K

nown as Pragjyotisha or the ‘place of eastern astronomy’, Assam NEPALis home to five national parks and eleven wildlife sanctuaries. It is known for its cane and bamboo articles, handloom, carpentry, bell metal crafts, tea plantations and sericulture or silk farming industry. In fact, it produces many varieties of silk of which Muga silk is endemic to the state.

CHINA

BHUTAN

BANGLADESH

Important Cities

MYANMAR

u

Dibrugarh boasts of the highest tea production in India. There are several tea gardens here that date back to the British era. Club here has the third oldest golf course in the world. Jorhat is also where the annual Assam Tea u Guwahati, the capital of Assam, was said to be Festival is held. the capital of many mythological kings including Narakasura and Bhagadatta. An ancient Must Visits astrological temple called Navagraha is located u Namphake village is located 37 kilometres on the Chitrachal Hill here. from Dibrugarh. The beautiful Buddhist u Jorhat was the last capital of the Ahom monastery here is a well regarded meditation BAY OF BENGAL Kingdom and is home to Raja Maidam, the last centre because of its unique natural setting. The burial mounds of the Ahom kings. The Gymkhana village is also worth visiting for its Ashoka Pillar. 7 8

AW E S O M E I N D I A u Majuli

is the largest river island in the world. u Orang National Park is known as Mini It is located in the Jorhat district, nestled in the Kaziranga and is an important habitat of the mighty Brahmaputra River. This site is also Bengal florican, also called the Bengal bustard. well known for its satras, which are centres of This threatened species is now almost extinct. ethics, socio-cultural ideals and traditional local performing arts. Food Authentic Assamese cuisine can be bland yet u Jokai Botanical Garden is located close to very delicious. Mustard oil is used for cooking Dibrugarh and is a storehouse of the germplasm and occasionally, clarified butter or ghee is used. of some of the most valuable and endangered The staples in this region are rice and fish. People species of local flora. Germplasm is the genetic also eat a variety of meats including chicken, resources of an organism. The centre includes duck, snails and even silkworms! the Orchid House, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Plot and Rainforest Specimen Plot. Food You Might Eat in Assam u Duck meat curry cooked with ash gourd. u Aloo pitika or potatoes mashed with mustard Important Festivals and Fairs oil, onion, coriander and salt. u Maasor tenga, a tangy fish curry made with u Bhogali Bihu (January) u Rongali Bihu (April) tomatoes, lemon and taro leaf or outenga. u Kongali Bihu (October)

Geographical Attractions: National Parks u Kaziranga

National Park, on the banks of the Brahmaputra River, is home to the world’s largest population of the great Indian one-horned rhinoceros, the largest of the three Asian rhinoceroses. Kaziranga also boasts of the world’s highest density of tigers and is home to the hoolock gibbon and Gangetic dolphin.

Maasor Tenga

Did You Know?

Assam is rich in vegetation and green leafy vegetables, called xaak, are an important part of the diet. Some of these vegetables are cultivated while others such as dhekia (fern) grow in the wild. In fact, the variety of vegetables is bewildering and according to local customs, one has to have 100 different xaaks during Rongali Bihu.

u Manas

National Park is a wildlife sanctuary and a UNESCO World Heritage Site that spreads into the foothills of Bhutan. It is home to approximately fifty-five mammal, fifty reptile, 380 bird and three rare amphibian species. The park is known for the Assam roofed turtle, hispid hare, golden langur, brahminy duck, Indian grey hornbill, pygmy hog and wild water buffalo. It is also an elephant reserve and biosphere reserve.

For more information visit tourism.assam.gov.in

9 8

Bihar and Jharkhand LADAKH

LEH

CHINA

PAKISTAN

Nalanda University, Rajgir

K

nown for its rich lineage of kings such as Ashoka, Samudragupta and Vikramaditya, ancient Bihar was the site of India’s greatest empire, the Mauryan Empire. The Nalanda University and Vikramshila were established here in the fifth and eighth century, respectively. Bihar also gave the world its first democracy by the Lichchivis at Vaishali of today. Bihar is famous for its Buddhist monasteries and the name Bihar is derived from the word ‘vihara’, which means ‘monastery’. In 2000, Bihar was divided into two parts and the southern part was named Jharkhand.

Important Cities u Bodhgaya,

NEPAL BHUTAN

BANGLADESH

u

Hazaribagh in Jharkhand, known as the land of a thousand gardens, is a popular resort town.

near the holy city of Gaya, Bihar, u Jamshedpur in Jharkhand is home to the first is where the Buddha attained enlightenment. private iron and steel company of India and is BAY OF BENGAL The tree that sheltered him, known as the Bodhi known as the Steel City. Tree, is located here. Today, Bodhgaya is a place of pilgrimage and is home to many monasteries. u Patna is the capital of Bihar and is among the ARABIAN SEA world’s oldest capital cities. It has an unbroken u Deogarh in Jharkhand is home to what is history of many centuries as an imperial capital of PUDUCHERRY believed to be the only kamanalingam—a Shivling the Mauryas and Guptas. The Buddhist Kesariya that has the power to fulfil all dreams. Stupa is located 110 kilometres from Patna. 10 9

AW E S O M E I N D I A u Ranchi

is the capital of Jharkhand. It is surrounded by an area that is rich in mineral resources and is thus home to many public sector coal, steel and metal enterprises.

fire. When she came out of the fire unscathed, she bathed in this pool. u Isko

village in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, has rock paintings dating back to the Middle Stone u Vaishali in Bihar is one of the earliest republics Age. The rock paintings here are around 10,000 in the world, formed in the sixth century bc. It was years old and the cave paintings in the hills here that the Buddha preached his last sermon. of Isko village are even older. These paintings It is also the birthplace of Lord Mahavira and depict gods and goddesses, men and women, domestic animals and some wild animals, houses a pillar of Ashoka. particularly deer. u Sangi

Dalan or Hall of Stones in Jharkhand is the largest surviving fragment of Raj Mahal, a marble palace built by Raja Maan Singh, the famous sixteenth-century Rajput general in Akbar’s army.

Geographical Attractions: National Parks

Pillar of Ashoka, Vaishali

Must Visits

u Valmiki

Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in the Motihari in Bihar is said to be the first place West Champaran district of Bihar. Tigers are the where Mahatma Gandhi started his Satyagraha main attraction of the park. From here one can campaign. One of the oldest structures here is also see the majestic Annapurna, Dhaulagiri and the Briksha Sthan Math, a temple dedicated to Machhapuchhare mountains. the guardian deity Motihari, dating back to 1805. u Bhimbandh Wildlife Sanctuary in Bihar is u Maner Sharif in Patna, Bihar, was once a centre known for its birdlife, hot springs and diverse of learning. It has many carved walls, a great flora. There are over 100 varieties of resident dome and ceilings covered with inscriptions from birds here. These numbers rise significantly the Quran. Built by Mughal Emperor Jehangir, it during the migration season when birds from Central Asia visit the area. is one of the finest monuments in the region. u

Khankah Mujibia or Phulwari Sharif in Patna, u Rajgir or Pant Wildlife Sanctuary in Bihar is Bihar, is an important pilgrimage place. It is small in size but its animal population equals closely related to the birth and development of that of larger sanctuaries in India. Leopards, nilgai, barking deer and hyenas are the most Sufi culture in India. commonly seen species here. Animals are also u Sita Kund is a group of hot springs near often seen moving between here and smaller Munger, Bihar. This site is well known for the adjacent sanctuaries including the Gautam incident from the Indian epic Ramayana where Buddha Sanctuary in Gaya and Koderma Wildlife Lord Rama asked his wife Sita to walk through Sanctuary in Jharkhand. u

11 10

Important Cities | Must Visits Geogr aphical Attr actions | Festivals Music | Dance | Handicr afts | Food

Get ready for an awesome Indian adventure! Explore the wonders of India as you travel through each of its states and union territories. Learn about the unique attractions of each region and what makes them special. From must visits to must eats, dance forms to music, national parks to tourist attractions, this comprehensive book is chock-full of interesting information and fun facts about our incredible country.

Reference

`399

TRY PAGE 30

CULTURE • TRAVEL • FACTS

6252

Scholastic India

Follow us on: Scholastic scholasticindia India scholasticindia @IndiaScholastic Scholastic India @IndiaScholastic scholasticindia

@IndiaScholastic

Cover design | RobinAge