It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert ( Thar Desert ), which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej - Indus river valley along its border with Pakistan . The state is bordered by Pakistan to the west, Gujarat to the southwest, Madhya Pradesh to the southeast, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to the northeast and Punjab to the n
orth. Rajasthan covers 10.4% of India, an area of 342,269 square kilometres (132,151 sq mi). Jaipur is the capital and the largest city of the state. Geographical features include the Thar Desert along north-western Rajasthan and the termination of the Ghaggar River near the archaeological ruins at Kalibanga of the Indus Valley Civilization , which are the oldest in the Indian subcontinent discovered so far. One of the world's oldest mountain ranges , the Aravalli Range , cradles the only hill station of Rajasthan, Mount Abu , famous for Dilwara Temples , a sacred pilgrimage for Jains . Eastern Rajasthan has the world famous Keoladeo National Park near Bharatpur , a World Heritage Site [1] known for its bird life. It also has two national tiger reserves, Ranthambore and Sariska Tiger Reserve , and a famous temple in Khatu, Sikar district , dedicated to Khatu Shyam Ji. Rajasthan was formed on 30 March 1949, when the region known until then as Rajputana , consisting of erstwhile princely states ruled mainly by Rajputs .)
