The Great Indian Thar Desert is a subtropical desert land located in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent. Indian Desert extends from the Sutlej River and surrounded by the salt marsh known as the Great Rann of Kutch, the Aravalli Ranges and by the Indus River.
The diversified habitat and Beautiful ecosystem of the Thar desert offers many tourist attractions in the region and home to some endangered species of wild animals, which are vanishing in other parts of the country.
The colorful culture of Thar desert can be seen in the folk music and dance of tribes along with the traditional dresses and jewellery. Incredible cultures of Desert is the heritage of state, the Desert Food,desert people,Language and sand dunes are the attraction of the region.
The Desert cities of Rajasthan includes the golden city-Jaisalmer ,pink city-jaipur, blue city-Jodhpur, Bikaner and city of lakes Udaipur. Among these desert cities, Jaisalmer is known as the jewel of desert and famous for its amazing fort,camel safari,golden sand dunes and colorful culture. The Jaisalmer Fort is one of the oldest living fort in India and display the true image of the Royalty of the city.
The Thar region is mainly inhabited by Gypsy,Bishnoi Tribe, Bhils,Minas, Lohars, Garasians, Sahariyas and Rabaris. They live in the desert village of Khuri,kanoi,Sattasar village and the nearby sand dunes of cities.
Bishnoi Village is the most popular among all other desert tribes and villages and also known as the protector of wildlife and nature.One can always spot wild animals like black bucks, Chinkara, blue bulls, desert foxes etc around Bishnoi Village.
The Rajasthan desert festival organized every year in winter and celebrated by the people of the desert with dance and singing. During the desert festival and fairs, colorful folk culture of royal Rajasthan can be seen, the snake charmers,folk performers,puppeteers, art and crafts are the major attraction of the festival.
The best way to explore the Thar region of India is using the Camel Safari and jeep safari,Though the jeep safari in not as much as popular as the camel safari.Camel Safari around the desert city of Jaisalmer is one of the most visited and major attraction of the city along with its amazing fort. The adventures Camel Safari is the best and unique way to explore the desert region, its color and culture.
The Herbaceous Plants (Sewan and Dhaman Grass) along with Khejri (Prosopis cineraria ), Acacia nilotica,Prosopis juliflora,Cactus and Neem are the major flora found in Thar desert. These Plants have very well adapt themselves to high temperatures or to low temperatures of desert, also the unique desert Eco-system of Thar Desert represent nutrition and availability of medicinal plants.
The Avi fauna of Thar desert includes a wide variety of birds, most of the beautiful birds of Thar desert are mainly bird of prey such as Eagles, harriers, falcons, buzzards, kestrel and vultures along with The Short toed Eagles, Tawny Eagles, Greater Spotted Eagles, Laggar Falcons and kestrels.
Apart from the above Great Indian Bustard, Desert Warble and the Short-eared Owl are among the bird attractions of Thar desert.
The diversified habitat of Thar desert is home to rare species of animals and several of them are endemic to the region. The animals of the Thar desert include numerous species of reptile, desert scorpions, mongoose, red fox, chinkara, Blackbuck, Indian Wild Ass, wolf and caracal.
There are eleven national parks and wildlife sanctuary located in the Thar desert area, the largest among them are Nara Desert Wildlife Sanctuary and the Rann of Kutch. Others wildlife park includes the most famous Desert National Park, Tal Chhapar Sanctuary and the Wild Ass Wildlife Sanctuary or Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary located in the Little Rann of Kutch in Gujarat.
The Thar Desert is the 18th largest subtropical desert in the world with an total area of 200,000 km2.
Great Indian Desert is one of the most heavily populated desert areas in the world.
About 40% of the total population of Rajasthan state live in the Thar desert region.