Rajasthan
State in northwestern India, with an area of 342,239 square kilometers, comprised of eighteen princely states, that were integrated into India after 1947. The early tribes, ruled by chieftains, carved out fiefdoms known as Rajputana or Land of the Kings, before Rajasthan. Nomadic people of Rajasthan include the Minas or Mewatis, the Meos, Banjaras, and the Gadia Lohars, a wandering itinerant tribe and the Bhils. The Grasias and nomadic Kathodis are in Mewar; the Sahariyas in Kota; and the Rabari cattle breeders are from Marwar. Rajasthan has an unusual diversity of people, customs, culture, costumes, music, dialects, cuisine, and geography.

Ranakpur
City in Rajasthan, India, site of Jain temple complex dominated by the 15th c. Adinath Temple with its sculptural ornamentation and unusual four-sided plan. The four-faced Jain temple has 29 halls and 1,444 white, Makrana marble pillars (the same marble used in the Taj Mahal) distinctly carved. Elaborate ornamentation includes corbelled ceilings, with concentric circles that reflect the belief in cosmic cycles, and struts of dancers and deities.

Rock-hewn
Rock cut with blows of a heavy cutting instrument (such as an ax) to give form or shape to rock as in the rock-hewn church of St. George (Bet Giorgis), Lalibela, Ethiopia. A unique Ethiopian Orthodox holy site, Lalibela, on a high plateau formed by molten volcanic rock and isolated within the cliffs, is the site of the cross-shaped church of the House of St. George. The surrounding rock was cut away to leave a 12-meter by 12-meter cross. Bet Giorgis is formed out of a single rock without a single seam; the interior hollowed out or hewn from the rock. Lalibela has 11 stone or rock-hewn churches connected by tunnels: Madhané Alam, Maryam, Denagel, Sellasé, Golgotha, Mika’él,  Amanu’él, Marquréwos, Abba Libanos, Gabr’él-Rufa’él, and Giyorgis.

Ross Sea
960,000-square-km. sea in the Southern Ocean, Antarctica. The Ross Sea is the location of Cape Royds, site of Shackleton’s polar expedition hut and of Cape Evans, site of Scott’s expedition hut. The Ross Sea is the southern extension of the Pacific Ocean that, along with the vast Ross Ice Shelf at its head, makes a deep indentation in the circular continental outline of Antarctica.

Royal albatross
World’s largest seabirds that breed on remote islands and spend 85% of their lives at sea. The royal albatross has a massive wingspan up 3.3 meters. The southern species of royal albatross breed on Auckland Island and Campbell Island, New Zealand, sub-Antarctic islands.

Royal Tombs
El Khazneh, the Greek-Hellenistic royal tomb, Petra's most famous monument, and the Urn Tomb, Silk Tomb, Corinthian Tomb, and Palace Tomb, set into the rock-face of the Jabal al-Khubtha in Petra: Lost City of Stone, Jordan, are thought possibly to be tombs of Nabataean kings.