State

Madhya Pradesh, often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India came into existence on November 1, 1956. It is bordered by the states of Uttar Pradesh to the northeast, Chhattisgarh to the southeast, Maharashtra to the south, Gujarat to the west, and Rajasthan to the northwest. Bhopal is the capital city of the state.

Geographically, the state straddles the Narmada River, which runs east and west between the Vindhya and Satpura ranges; these ranges and the Narmada are the traditional boundary between the north and south of India.

http://http://www.indiaunveiled.in/node/272/editwww.flickr.com/photos/e…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/felixdance/5032428225/in/photostream

Karnataka, originally known as the State of Mysore, is a state in South West India and is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, Goa to the northwest, Maharashtra to the north, Andhra Pradesh to the east, Tamil Nadu to the southeast, and Kerala to the southwest. The state was created on 1 November 1956 and Bangalore (now called Bengaluru) is the capital city.

Geographically, the state has three main regions: the coastal plains abutting the sea of Karavali; the Western Ghats running parallel to the coastline comprising the hilly Malenadu region; and the inland plains of the Deccan Plateau known as Bayaluseeme region.

Jharkhand, carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000, is a state in eastern India and shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east. Ranchi is the capital city of Jharkhand, earlier it was the summer capital of Bihar during the British rule.

Jammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state and is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains,
bounded on the South by Himachal Pradesh and the Punjab, on the South West and West by Pakistan, on the North by Chinese Turkistan and a little of Russian Turkistan, and on the East by Chinese Tibet - thus strategically bordering the territories of three countries - Russia, China, and Pakistan.

The state consists of three regions: Jammu, the Kashmir valley and Ladakh. Srinagar is the summer capital, and Jammu is the winter capital. Jammu's numerous shrines attract tens of thousands of Hindu pilgrims every year while the Kashmir valley is famous for its beautiful mountainous landscape and Ladakh is renowned for its remote mountain beauty and Buddhist culture.

Haryana, once the home of legendary Bharata dynasty from which got the name Bharat to India, is is a landlocked state in northern part of the country was created off Punjab on 1st November 1966. The capital of the state is Chandigarh which is administered as a union territory and is also the capital of Punjab.

Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region where the epic battle of the Mahabharata between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, was fought at Kurukshetra (a famous religious spot in Haryana).

Gujarat, one of the most industrialized states in India, is situated on the west coast (most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula) and is bordered by Rajasthan to the north, Maharashtra to the south, Madhya Pradesh to the east and the Arabian Sea as well as the Pakistani province of Sindh on the west. Its capital is Gandhinagar, while its largest city is Ahmedabad. It came into existence as a separate State on 1st May 1960.

It can be divided into three geographical regions: the eastern region that has the major cities of Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodra; the Saurashtra region between the Gulf of Cambay and the Gulf of Kutch; the northern region of Kutch which is a salty desert.

Chhattisgarh, formerly a part of Madhya Pradesh was formed on November 1, 2000 as the 26th state of the Indian Union with Raipur as its capital. It borders the states of Madhya Pradesh on the northwest, Maharashtra on the west, Andhra Pradesh on the south, Orissa on the east, Jharkhand on the northeast and Uttar Pradesh on the north. The natural beauty of the state combined with ancient caves and the unique tribal population make it a popular tourist destination.

Rajasthan, literally means a Land of Kingdoms, is located in the northwest of India and is the largest state of India was formed on 30 March 1949 with Jaipur as the state capital. It 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 north.

Geographically, the great Thar Desert is replete with arid plains and shifting sand dunes while the rugged Aravallis form the backbone of Rajasthan.

Rajasthan is famous for its majestic forts, intricately carved temples, and decorated havelis, which were built by Rajput kings in pre-Muslim era. It is often called a shopper's paradise and is famous for textiles, semi-precious stones and handicrafts.

Image Credit:

Kerala is located on the lush and tropical Malabar coast of south-west India, formed on 1st November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions. It is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Arabian Sea on the west. Thiruvananthapuram is capital city of the state.

Geographically, the state is wedged between the Lakshadweep sea and the Western Ghats and can be divided into three climatically distinct regions: the eastern highlands (rugged and cool mountainous terrain), the central midlands (rolling hills), and the western lowlands (coastal plains).

West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India, bounded on the north by Sikkim and Bhutan, on the east by Assam and Bangladesh. On the south by the Bay of Bengal and on the west by Orissa, Bihar and Nepal. The state was created as a constituent state of the Indian union on 15th August 1947 as the result of partition of the undivided British Indian province of Bengal into West Bengal. It stretches from Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south. Kolkata is the capital city.