The Thar Desert covers much of Rajasthan, India. Millions live there despite its harsh conditions. The desert provides space for herding and industries like mining, quarrying, and textile production. Camels are important for transportation and influenced building designs, like wide ramps for palaces. Many people are still nomadic, using materials like cow dung in their movable homes. Temples worship fire gods in tall, narrow structures that resemble flames and smoke. The cities of Jaipur and Jodhpur are colorful, with Jaipur's iconic flat towers and Jodhpur's blue walls representing cultural meanings.

1. LESSON IV – THE
GREAT INDIAN
DESERT
The Thar Desert is by far the largest
desert in India; a barren, dry and
empty place. And yet many millions
live there and have done for
centuries….

2. The Thar desert covers a vast area of land in
Northwest India, and makes up for most of the
state of Rajasthan

3. The desert is a famously difficult place to live and
settle, and yet thousands of people decided to
make it their home…

4. The desert provides opportunity for many types
of industry. Despite being a difficult place to
live, it is the only place with enough area to herd
•
cows, goats and camels
• Other industries include:
• Quarrying stone
• Mining gold and jewels (the Thar desert is famous for its rubies and
emeralds)
• Harvesting water – when something is rare and precious, people
will always be able to make money from it…
• Traditional textile manufacture and textile printing
• A huge and successful tourist industry
• Elephant farming

5. Camels are an important part of everyday life…
what are they used for? How does the use of
animals affect the architecture of the region?

6. The great palaces of Rajasthan and the Thar had to build
enormous long „ramps” or wide walkways leading up and
around the mountains they were on. What were they for?

7. As we can see, the widespread use of animals had a
dramatic effect on the designs of buildings…

8. Rajasthanis… the modern nomads of India
• Why would people become nomadic?
• Why would people stay nomadic? India has changed almost
completely over the past 100 years… why are so many of the
people who live in Rajasthan still living nomadic lives?
• What might we expect a nomadic culture to be like? How might we
describe a nomadic culture? What other differences are there
between nomadic and non—nomadic people?
• What can we guess about their homes and architecture?
• What materials must they use, or have access too? What must their
properties be?

9. One perhaps unexpected material with
many, many important uses….
What is this house
made of? It isn’t mud
or clay… This is one
of the most versatile
and widely used
nomadic materials…

10. Cow dung…

11. What would the religions and temples of the
desert cultures be like?
• Let’s think again about what a deity or temple iconography needs
in order to be created…
• What would this culture essentially worship?
• What might the icons of this deity be?
• What would be feared/respected/misunderstood etc, and how
could this be represented?

12. Agni – god of fire and weather, who lives in the
clouds…

13. What would be the most logical way to build a
temple to a fire and sky god?

14. Modern Rajasthan is a blaze of colours
• Split between two main cities, Jaipur and Jodhpur, it is famous
around the world for its colourful culture, its palaces and forts, and
beautiful designs and buildings.
• Colour has always been important in desert cultures. Why might
this be?
• Certainly Jaipur and Jodhpur are two of the most distinctive cities
in the world, known respectively as the ‚pink’ and ‚blue’ cities of
India, sitting in the ‚golden triangle’ of Rajasthan.
• As with most of India, ancient tradition sits next to modern
development, and nowhere is this more obvious than the desert
cities.

15. The ‚flat tower’ of Jaipur. What might the function of
this building be? Why is it in this shape?

16. The blue city of Jodhpur. What does the colour
blue represent?