Geotourism in India

While India is well known among tourists for its culture, food, ancient architecture and versatile landscapes, not much thought is spared on its geological features. But that is about to change as the Geological Survey of India has identified 26 sites across the length and breadth of the country as National Geological Monuments planning to thrust geotourism in India. Rock geeks have a reason to cheer. These ancient natural formations are finally getting their due. The campaign to promote geotourism is expected to raise awareness and curiosity among the population regarding the quirks of geoscience.

Rajasthan : Geotourism in India’s land of Palaces

Rajasthan harbors 10 of these geotourism sites— the maximum in the list. With three fossil parks, three rock monuments, two stratigraphic sites, one economic geological site and one unique granite rock formation site under its belt,  Rajasthan is now not just about palaces, camels and desert.

About 180 million years ago, Jaisalmer was a lush green forest. Remnants of the lower Jurrasic period can still be found in the 21 hectare  Akal Fossil Wood Park, which contains fossilized wood logs.

As impressions of one of the earliest forms of life, Stomatolites are stratified, columnar and nodular structures produced by blue-green algae through their ability of bonding carbonate particles from sedimentary materials. About 14.6 kilometres from the historic city of Chittorgarh, known mostly for its fort and the royal tussles, near the village of Bhojunda, an 8-acre wide plot lying across Chittorgarh-Udaipur state highway forms the Stromatolite Park, Bhojunda. In Udaipur district of Rajasthan Stromatolite Park, Jhamarkotra, gives a similar experience.

26 kilometers northeast of Ajmer along National Highway 8, an area of geological interest ageing between 1910 – 1590 million years has been marked for its Nepheline Syenite, pale grey and pink coloured plutonic rocks having nephelin and alkali feldspar. Included in the list is Sendra Granite in Pali district, formed 900 million years ago and shaped by wind and water; the rocks here mimic fine sculptures. Barr Congolomerate in Pali district has also been identified to be a rock monument. It would be hard to woo a layman for the availability of nephelin syenite, barr conglomerate or sendra granite, but an expert on rocks would doubtlessly be interested in it.

Near Jodhpur Fort hill area, terraces and columns rise from the rock body. These are Welded Tuff, containing glass, quartz and feldspar. These were formed by cooled particles released from volcanic vents during volcanic explosions millions of years ago. Jodhpur Group Malani Igneous Suite Contact is another site of geological interest in this region denoting the conclusive phase of igneous activity of Precambrian Age in the subcontinent. The colourful rocks stand out against the pale Jodhpur sandstone.

Historians would take delight in Bundi, a lesser known district in Rajasthan, where stone age tools were discovered. But even for geology geeks, Bundi features the Great Boundary Fault at Satur, a fault line which disrupted the topography and deformed the local limestones. The last one to make it to the list is Gossan, Rajpura, Dariba in Rajsamand district — a kind of oxidized and weathered rock containing deposits with distinct colours.

Karnataka : South India’s Geotourism thrust

The versatile state in south India has four of these identified geological interest sites, all four being rock monuments. Geotourism in India is certainly getting a facelift.

Right in the heart of metropolitan Bangalore is the Peninsular Gneiss National Monument in Lalbaug. The gneiss— a metamorphic rock, foliated and coarse grained, consisting of feldspar, mica and quartz is 2500 – 3400 million years old in this region.

60 million years ago, basaltic lava was breathed out by volcanoes, which cooled down to form the Deccan trap. In Coconut Island, Udupi, Parallel Columnar Joints emerged from the cooled down basaltic lava. Situated off the coast of western India, Columnar Basaltic Lava, Coconut Island, Udupi is the perfect place that offbeat travelers seek.

16 kilometres south-east of Chitradurga town in Maradihalli, Pillow Lava dating back 2500 million years has been enlisted as a geotourism site. This intriguing rock formation is attributed to the phenomenon of underwater eruptions spewing hot molten lava into water.

Pyroclastic Rocks, near Peddapalli village shares space in this list. These kind of rocks are formed when a mélange of particles ejected due to volcanic eruptions consolidate.

Andhra Pradesh

India has its own natural arch, now a noted site to boost geotourism in India, in Andhra Pradesh. Sculpted by weathering agents, measuring 8 metres in width and 3 metres in height, carved out of quartzite, this Natural Arch graces the Tirumala Hills in Chittoor district. Another site in the Tirumala Hills, Eparchaean Unconformity is marked as a geotourism site. The third site, Bedded Barytes of Mangampeta in Cuddapah district contains  28% of the world’s total Barytes (a mineral) reserves.

Tamil Nadu

National Fossil Wood Park, Tiruvakkarai in Villupuram district exhibits 200 fossilized trees of Mio-Pliocene age and National Fossil Wood Park, Sattanur, in Perambalur district contains ossified conifer tree trunks of Upper Cretaceous Age. Charonockite, St.Thomas Mount in Chennai is the third point of geotourism site in the state. The same rock was used as Job Charnock’s tombstone, hence the nomenclature.

Maharashtra

In Cretaceous age, a meteorite had hit the basaltic rocks of the Deccan plateau in the Buldana district, forming a large cavity 1710 metre in diameter, which eventually became a crater lake — The Lonar Lake. The lake and the forest that hems it are a part of Melghat Tiger Reserve, home to a wide variety of mammals and birds. A trekking trail to the lake is also considered a tourists’ delight.

Himachal Pradesh

Paleontologists have a reason to smile as the Siwalik Fossil Park, Saketi in Sirmur district of Himachal Pradesh is a reserve of 2.5 million years old vertebrate fossils from the Siwaliks. Originally conceived to prevent the destruction of fossils, it stretches for 1.5 square kilometres complete with fiberglass models of the species that lived in the area a millions years ago. The drive to establish this park to mimic the look of Plio-Pleistocene period (ca 2.5 million years) required massive afforestation. Thanks to geotourism in India, these rare gems are being recognized.

Chattisgarh

In Marine Gondwana Fossil Park, Manendragarh, in Sarguja district, marine fauna from the last period of Palaeozoic era is etched over its rocks. The place can be toured all year round except in the rainy season.

Gujarat

Located on the left bank of the Kadama Dam, Eddy Current Markings, Panchmahal, are markings on a sandstone surface by a wooden log or pebble trapped in the vortex of eddy currents in a waterbody.

Kerala and Orissa

Pillow Lava Iron Ore Belt, Nomira, in the Keonjhar district of Orissa and crystalline rock with rich Laterite in Angadipuram, in Malappuram district of Kerala are the final two marked regions for geotourism in India.

Disclaimer: This article is developed in collaboration with the Geological Survey of India.

Are you a rock geek? Have you been to any of the sites above? Do you plan to? Feel free to comment below and start a conversation!

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