Mount Abu and Ranakpur are included in which tourist circuit ?
- (1)Dhundhar
- (2)Shekhawati
- (3)Godwar
- (4)Mewar
Answer
Why
Correct — option (3), Godwar.
Start from the districts. Mount Abu is in Sirohi district. The Ranakpur Jain temple stands near Sadri in Pali district. Both places lie in the south-west of Rajasthan, towards the Gujarat border.
Godwar is the regional name for that corner of the state: Sirohi, Jalore and the southern part of Pali district. A tourist circuit bundles destinations that sit close together, and RPSC's key places Mount Abu and Ranakpur in the Godwar circuit.
The other three options are also regional names used for circuits, but each covers a different part of the state. Dhundhar is the Jaipur region, Shekhawati is the Sikar–Jhunjhunu region in the north-east, and Mewar is the Udaipur–Chittorgarh region.
Tie each place to its district, then the district to its region. Sirohi and Pali lead to Godwar. Ranakpur's link with a Mewar ruler is history; it does not move the temple out of Pali district.
Why the others are wrong
- (1)Dhundhar — Dhundhar is the historic name of the Jaipur region, the old domain of the Kachhwaha rulers of Amer and later Jaipur. A Dhundhar circuit is built around places such as Amer and the monuments of Jaipur city.
It lies in east-central Rajasthan. Mount Abu and Ranakpur are in Sirohi and Pali, far to the south-west, so neither falls in this circuit.
- (2)Shekhawati — Shekhawati is the north-eastern region centred on Sikar and Jhunjhunu and extending into Churu. It is known for the painted walls of its havelis in towns such as Mandawa, Nawalgarh and Fatehpur.
That is the opposite end of the state from Sirohi and Pali. The name also appears as a physical tract of the Thar in RPSC's 2021 paper, but it holds neither Mount Abu nor Ranakpur.
- (4)Mewar — Mewar is the Udaipur–Chittorgarh region once ruled by the Sisodias, with destinations such as Udaipur, Chittorgarh and Kumbhalgarh.
It is the tempting option. The Ranakpur temple was built in the 15th century by the Jain merchant Dharna Shah with the support of Rana Kumbha of Mewar, and the place is named after him. But Ranakpur is in Pali district and Mount Abu in Sirohi, which is Godwar.
Concept
Rajasthan's regions carry historical names older than its districts — Mewar, Marwar, Dhundhar, Hadoti, Shekhawati, Vagad and Godwar among them. They come from old kingdoms, ruling clans or tracts of land, and they stayed in everyday use after the princely states merged into Rajasthan.
A tourist circuit borrows these names. It groups destinations that are close on the map, so that one itinerary can cover them.
Godwar is the south-western region: Sirohi, Jalore and the southern part of Pali district. Its best-known destinations are Mount Abu in Sirohi, with the Dilwara Jain temples, and the Ranakpur Jain temple in Pali.
RPSC's 2024 Prelims syllabus lists "Tourist Centres & Circuits" under the Geography of Rajasthan. A question under that head can test the map more than the brochure: it can name places and ask for the region, district or circuit that holds them.
Three layers can answer such a question — the place, its district, and the historical region the district belongs to. A regional name that you cannot place on a map is the weak link.
The same names cross into other parts of the syllabus. Mewar and Dhundhar belong to dynasties in Rajasthan history, Shekhawati and Godwar appear as tracts in physical geography, and several regions give their names to schools of painting.
Key facts
- Mount Abu is in Sirohi district of Rajasthan.
- The Ranakpur Jain temple, dedicated to Adinath (Rishabhanatha), stands near Sadri in Pali district.
- The Ranakpur temple was built in the 15th century by the Jain merchant Dharna Shah, with the support of Rana Kumbha of Mewar.
- The Dilwara Jain temples at Mount Abu, built in white marble, include Vimal Vasahi (11th century) and Luna Vasahi (13th century).
- Godwar refers to south-west Rajasthan: Sirohi, Jalore and the southern part of Pali district.
Mount Abu (Sirohi) and Ranakpur (Pali) both fall in the south-western region, Godwar.
Study next
Common traps
- A patron's kingdom is not the place's region. Ranakpur was built with Rana Kumbha of Mewar's support, but the temple stands in Pali district, which is Godwar.
- Every option here is a real circuit or region name, so recognising a name proves nothing. The test is whether that region's districts contain both places.
- Godwar and Shekhawati are used both as tourism names and as physical tracts. Read whether the stem asks for a tourist circuit or a physiographic division before answering.
One shape names two or three destinations and asks for the circuit or region that holds them, as here.
Another can reverse it: a circuit name followed by a list of places, one of which belongs to a different region.
A third carries the same regional name into another subject — the dynasty that ruled it, the painting school named after it, or whether it forms part of the Thar.
Related PYQs
UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2021 here once that paper is published on this site.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Shekhawati region of Rajasthan, known for the painted walls of its havelis, mainly covers which of the following districts?
- (a)Sikar and Jhunjhunu
- (b)Dungarpur and Banswara
- (c)Kota and Bundi
- (d)Pali and Sirohi
Answer(1) — Sikar and Jhunjhunu form the core of Shekhawati, which extends into Churu. Option (2), Dungarpur and Banswara, is the Vagad region in the far south. Option (3), Kota and Bundi, belongs to Hadoti in the south-east. Option (4), Pali and Sirohi, is the Godwar side of the state. - practice — not a real PYQ
In which district of Rajasthan is the Ranakpur Jain temple located?
- (a)Sirohi
- (b)Rajsamand
- (c)Pali
- (d)Udaipur
Answer(3) — The Ranakpur temple stands near Sadri in Pali district. Option (1), Sirohi, holds Mount Abu and its Dilwara temples. Option (2), Rajsamand, holds Kumbhalgarh fort, another work of Rana Kumbha's reign. Option (4), Udaipur, is the old Mewar capital, which is why Mewar's link to Ranakpur misleads.