Mount Abu :India
Mount Abu, 1,220 metres (4,003 feet) in the Aravalli Hills, is the sole hill station of the desert slate of Rajasthan. The nearest of the great Rajasthani tourism centres, Udaipur, is 185 kilometres (115 miles) away and Abu remains slightly off the foreign tourist route. Its visitors are mainly Indians and during the season it is well patronised, especially by honeymoon couples.

The name Abu is variously described as a corruption of Arbuddha, hill of wisdom, or Arbuda, the name of a powerful serpent who rescued Lord Shiva’s mount, the bull Nandi, from a chasm here. Legends surround the town. The Nakki Lake is said to have been excavated by the nails ol the gods, and the great Hindu sage, VashishL is believed to have performed a sacrifice here which led to the birth of four Rajput warrior clans whose descendants ruled large areas of India. For centuries, Mount Abu has been a pilgrimage site and its most remarkable attractions are its beautifully carved Jain temples, nearly a thousand years old.

The British added a chapter to Mount Abu’s long history by making it a hill station. They had no hill retreat in Rajputana, as Rajasthan was then called, until 1845, when the government leased Mount Abu from its Rajput owner. The station was built principally lor the British Resident of Rajputana, and in 1847, for the first time, 60 Britons escaped to the hill from the plains. While the British built private bungalows, and a polo ground, the Raiput princes constructed palatial residences.

Mount Abu has a cooler climate than the plains and stands among great granite outcrops, surrounded by scrub-covered hills. It is worth visiting all year round but the peak seasons are March-June and September-November.