BharatNotes Built from the Tourism chapter, whose visitor figures come from the Government of Rajasthan's Economic Review 2025-26 and whose World Heritage and Geopark facts are read from UNESCO's own property pages and lists. The defining trap in this topic is a count that has two right answers depending on the noun, and this page is built around it.
How to use this page
Every answer traces to the parent chapter, and no question invents a fact. The visitor tables are for calendar 2024 and 2025; the UNESCO count is as at 24 July 2026; the policy cluster is dated to 2025. There is no 2026 visitor figure and this page does not offer one.
The distractors are the point. Most are real: a serial inscription counted as six properties, a designation read as a visitor ranking, a religious site's figure set against a heritage site's, an approval to prepare a DPR read as a built project. Every answer carries a "why not the others" line, because in a paper with negative marking the skill being tested is elimination.
Work in this order: Section A first, since the World Heritage count decides several other answers; then the Geoparks, which are a separate designation entirely; then the visitor tables, where the surprise is; then the Panch Gaurav pairings and the policy dates.
Read the tag on each question
| Tag | What it tests | If you keep missing these |
|---|---|---|
| Type A · count by the noun | Properties counted as monuments, or the reverse | Ask what unit the stem is counting |
| Type B · designation vs measurement | An official list read as a ranking of size or footfall | Ask whether a list names or measures |
| Type C · label confusion | World Heritage, Global Geopark and IUGS site treated as one thing | Three programmes, three bodies, three answers |
| Type D · approval vs delivery | A sanctioned or approved project read as a completed one | Ask: approved, begun, or finished? |
| Type E · year attached | A visitor figure or rank quoted without its calendar year | Every visitor number needs its year |
| Recall / Concept | No trap — the fact, or the reasoning behind it | Ordinary revision |
Section A — The World Heritage count (Q1–9)
1. How many properties of Rajasthan are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List? Type A · count by the noun
Show answer
(a) Four — Keoladeo National Park, the Jantar Mantar at Jaipur, the Hill Forts of Rajasthan, and Jaipur City.
Why not the others: (c) nine is the count in the state's own Economic Review, which counts the six hill forts individually — and it is defensible if the stem says "sites" rather than "properties". (b) six is the number of forts inside one inscription. Answer by the noun in the question.
2. The Hill Forts of Rajasthan were inscribed in — Recall
Show answer
(b) 2013.
Why not the others: each is another Rajasthan inscription year — (a) Keoladeo 1985, (c) Jantar Mantar 2010, (d) Jaipur City 2019. The four years in order are 1985, 2010, 2013, 2019, and a question can be set on any of them.
3. Which fort is NOT one of the six components of the Hill Forts inscription? Recall
Show answer
(d) Mehrangarh, Jodhpur — a major fort and not part of the inscription.
Why not the others: the six are Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh, Ranthambore, Gagron, Amber and Jaisalmer. Mehrangarh is the most plausible wrong answer on the list, which is exactly why it is set.
4. Kumbhalgarh Fort lies in which district? Recall
Show answer
(d) Rajsamand, as the Economic Review itself states.
Why not the others: (a) Udaipur is the trap, and the state's own document plants it — a later paragraph of the same chapter writes that "the forts of Jaipur and Udaipur have been recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites", which is wrong: Udaipur has no fort on the list. (b) and (c) are neighbouring districts with forts of their own.
5. Which Rajasthan World Heritage property is a natural rather than a cultural site? Recall
Show answer
(b) Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, inscribed 1985 — the state's only natural property and its earliest inscription.
Why not the others: all three are cultural. Keoladeo is also worked in the biodiversity chapter as a Ramsar site, so it carries two international designations.
6. The most recent Rajasthan inscription on the World Heritage List is — Recall
Show answer
(a) Jaipur City, 2019. No Rajasthan property has been added since.
Why not the others: (c) Ramgarh Crater was declared a National Geo-Heritage Site in 2024, which is an entirely different designation made by the state in consultation with GSI — not a UNESCO inscription, and the confusion is the point of Section B.
7. A "serial site" in UNESCO's terminology means — Type A · count by the noun
Show answer
(c). The Hill Forts of Rajasthan is one property with six components, which is precisely why the count can be given as four or nine.
Why not the others: (b) describes a transboundary property, a different category; (a) and (d) are inventions.
8. How would you answer "How many UNESCO World Heritage Sites does Rajasthan have?" if the question were set from the state's Economic Review? Type A · count by the noun
Show answer
(b) Nine — the Review names exactly nine and lists them. Both counts are defensible and the noun in the stem decides; a question drawn from the state's own document takes the state's own count.
Why not the others: (a) four is right for "properties inscribed"; (c) counts only the forts; (d) gives up on a question that has a clear rule. Know that the difference is the serial inscription and you can answer either form.
9. Which pairs are correctly given as World Heritage components?
(A) Gagron and Ranthambore (B) Sariska and Mehrangarh (C) Jaipur Walled City and Jantar Mantar (D) Kumbhalgarh and Jaisalmer Fort Concept
Show answer
(c) A, C and D. Gagron and Ranthambore are Hill Fort components; Jaipur City and the Jantar Mantar are separate inscriptions; Kumbhalgarh and Jaisalmer are Hill Fort components.
Why not the others: every option containing B fails, because Sariska is a tiger reserve with no World Heritage status and Mehrangarh is not among the six forts. One wrong name disqualifies a whole pair, which is how these code questions are built.
Section B — Geoparks, a different designation (Q10–17)
10. How many UNESCO Global Geoparks are there in India? Type C · label confusion
Show answer
(d) None. UNESCO's own list gives 241 geoparks in 51 countries as at 24 July 2026, and India is not among them — which is exactly why the RAS Mains syllabus line reads "Potential in Rajasthan".
Why not the others: (a) four is Rajasthan's World Heritage property count and (b) ten its geo-heritage sites on the Ministry of Mines' last list — both real numbers for other designations. The answer to a Geopark question about India is a negative, and negatives are answerable.
11. The total number of UNESCO Global Geoparks worldwide, as UNESCO's list gives it, is — Recall
Show answer
(a) 241 in 51 countries, on a page stamped 24 July 2026.
Why not the others: (b) 229 in 50 countries is the April 2025 position, and it is the figure most preparation material still carries — a right number a year out of date. (c) and (d) are invented.
12. A UNESCO Global Geopark differs from a World Heritage Site principally in that it — Type C · label confusion
Show answer
(b). A World Heritage Site is a property protected under the 1972 Convention; a Global Geopark is a managed territory under the International Geoscience and Geoparks Programme, and its status can be withdrawn at revalidation.
Why not the others: (c) GSI declares national geo-heritage sites, which is a third designation again; (a) and (d) are inventions.
13. The Global Geoparks Network was established in — Recall
Show answer
(c) 2014.
Why not the others: (a) 2001 is when UNESCO began working on the concept; (d) 2015 is when Global Geoparks were established as a designation; (b) 1972 is the World Heritage Convention. Four dates, four different things, and this is the cluster a question is most likely to scramble.
14. India's entry among the first 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites is — Type C · label confusion
Show answer
(b) Mawmluh Cave, announced at the Union's 60th anniversary event on 25 October 2022, standing at number 23 on the list, and holding the GSSP for the Meghalayan Stage of the Holocene.
Why not the others: (a) and (c) are Rajasthan geo-heritage sites under GSI, a national designation; (d) is a national geological monument. Say IUGS, not UNESCO — the International Union of Geological Sciences is not a UNESCO body, though Indian reporting routinely calls the list "UNESCO's".
15. The Meghalayan Stage is defined by an event about — Recall
Show answer
(a) about 4,200 years before present — a mega-drought, recorded in the cave's stalagmite. It is the youngest unit of the geological time scale.
Why not the others: (c) 165 million years is the estimated age of the Ramgarh crater; (b) and (d) are other well-known boundaries but not this one.
16. Why does the chapter say Rajasthan has "potential" for a Geopark but no Geopark? Concept
Show answer
(c). The sites fail the unified-territory and management tests, not the geology test. A Global Geopark is an administrative achievement built on a geological one.
Why not the others: (a) is contradicted by ten declared geo-heritage sites, the most of any state; (b) and (d) are inventions. The gap between having the geology and having a designated geopark is the Mains answer.
17. Which body declares geo-heritage sites and national geological monuments in India? Type C · label confusion
Show answer
(d) the Geological Survey of India.
Why not the others: (a) UNESCO inscribes World Heritage properties and designates Global Geoparks; (b) the IUGS maintains the international geological heritage list; (c) ASI protects monuments of national importance. Four bodies, four instruments — and the whole of Sections A and B turns on keeping them apart.
Section C — Who actually visits (Q18–29)
18. Domestic tourist visits to Rajasthan in 2025 numbered — Type E · year attached
Show answer
(b) 2,525.03 lakh.
Why not the others: (a) 2,300.84 lakh is 2024, the year before; (c) 258.00 lakh is Khatu Shyam's own 2025 figure; (d) is of the order of the foreign total. Every visitor figure needs its calendar year attached.
19. In 2025 the direction of domestic and foreign visits was — Concept
Show answer
(d). Domestic rose from 2,300.84 to 2,525.03 lakh, while foreign visits fell in all four districts that appear in both years' top five.
Why not the others: A single year's tourism headline about "record numbers" is a domestic story, and the options test whether you noticed the two series diverging.
20. Which district led foreign tourist visits in both 2024 and 2025? Recall
Show answer
(a) Jaipur, with 6,23,534 in 2024 and 5,60,249 in 2025.
Why not the others: (b) Udaipur is second in both years, (c) Jodhpur third, (d) Jaisalmer fourth — the top four did not change order. Jaipur and Udaipur together take about two-thirds of the state's foreign visits.
21. The only change of composition in the foreign top five between 2024 and 2025 was — Type E · year attached
Show answer
(c) Dausa entering at 83,505 in 2025, displacing Ajmer, which had 1,03,393 in 2024.
Why not the others: the top four were unchanged in order. A question asking for the fifth-ranked district must have a year attached, because it is the only position that moved.
22. The leading source countries for foreign visits in 2025 were — Recall
Show answer
(c) — the United States sent 1,69,868 visits and the United Kingdom 1,33,978.
Why not the others: (a) and (b) are the next tier in the Review's own list, which runs Germany, Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan and Switzerland after the top three; (d) are not among the leading sources for Rajasthan.
23. The most visited historical and heritage site in Rajasthan in 2025 was — Recall
Show answer
(d) Jaisalmer Fort, 41.92 lakh — first by more than twice the second.
Why not the others: (b) Hawa Mahal 18.24 lakh, (a) Amber 18.15, (c) City Palace Udaipur 15.23 — the next three. Jaisalmer Fort is also the only entry in the top ten that fell, from 44.17 lakh in 2024.
24. Which heritage site in the top ten declined in 2025? Concept
Show answer
(b) Jaisalmer Fort alone, from 44.17 to 41.92 lakh, while every other site in the top ten rose.
Why not the others: (a) Chittorgarh gained 4.54 lakh, the largest increase in the table; (c) and (d) both rose. The ranking did not change; the direction did.
25. The most visited religious site in Rajasthan in both 2024 and 2025 was — Recall
Show answer
(d) Khatu Shyam, Sikar — 236.00 lakh in 2024 and 258.00 lakh in 2025.
Why not the others: (a) Pushkar 132.46 lakh is third, (b) Dargah Sharif 84.61 fifth, (c) Salasar 53.61 eighth. Khatu Shyam alone is about a tenth of all domestic visits to Rajasthan.
26. Which religious site recorded the largest increase in 2025? Recall
Show answer
(a) Poonchhari ka Lautha in Deeg, from 95.51 to 147.12 lakh. That single year's increase is larger than the total footfall of every heritage site in the state except Jaisalmer Fort.
Why not the others: (b) Khatu Shyam grew 22 lakh, a larger base but a smaller increase; (c) and (d) grew modestly.
27. Comparing the two visitor tables, the chapter's central finding is that — Concept
Show answer
(d). Khatu Shyam's 258.00 lakh against Jaisalmer Fort's 41.92 is more than six to one. Rajasthan's tourism is popularly forts and palaces; its actual domestic flows are religious by an order of magnitude, and that is where crowd management and revenue sit.
Why not the others: (a) and (b) are contradicted by the tables; (c) is not something either table measures.
28. Which three religious sites in the top ten fell in 2025? Recall
Show answer
(b) Kaila Devi (Karauli), Gogamedi (Hanumangarh) and Shiwad (Sawai Madhopur) — the last by nearly a third, from 47.81 to 33.63 lakh.
Why not the others: (a) and (c) name sites that rose; (d) is the assumption a reader makes from the headline growth. The table is not uniformly rising.
29. Domestic tourist visits are counted as — Concept
Show answer
(d). That is why the state's domestic total exceeds its population several times over, and why the figure must be described as visits rather than visitors.
Why not the others: (a) is the natural misreading and would make the number impossible; (b) and (c) are not what the Review reports.
Section D — Panch Gaurav, policy and institutions (Q30–45)
30. The Panch Gaurav tourist destination named for Salumber is — Recall
Show answer
(b) Jaisamand Lake. Udaipur's own entry in the same table is Fateh Sagar and Pichola, so the state's current document does not give Jaisamand to Udaipur.
Why not the others: (a) is Udaipur's, (c) Pratapgarh's, (d) Rajsamand's. The full evidence on Jaisamand's district is in the lakes chapter, and it is not as simple as either answer.
31. RPSC's 2021 key paired Nakoda with Barmer. The state's current Panch Gaurav list gives it to — Concept
Show answer
(c) Balotra, carved out of Barmer in 2023 and retained in the December 2024 cull. Both answers have a basis: the key was right for 2021 and the list is right for now.
Why not the others: (a), (b) and (d) are neighbouring districts with Jain temples of their own — Sundha Mata, Delwara and Ranakpur respectively.
32. The Panch Gaurav destination for Phalodi is — Recall
Show answer
(a) Khichan, the demoiselle crane village, in the district carved from Jodhpur in 2023.
Why not the others: (b) Mehrangarh is Jodhpur's own Panch Gaurav destination; (c) and (d) are real sites not on the Panch Gaurav list for this district. Khichan is a district-shift answer — older material places it in Jodhpur.
33. Baran's Panch Gaurav destination is — Recall
Show answer
(d) the Ramgarh Crater, the impact structure declared a National Geo-Heritage Site in March 2024.
Why not the others: (c) Ramgarh Vishdhari Sanctuary is Bundi's and the near-identical name is the trap; (a) Gagron is Jhalawar's; (b) is not on the list. Two different Ramgarhs in adjoining districts is exactly the sort of pair a paper sets.
34. Which Panch Gaurav destination connects the tourism chapter to the history unit's Mauryan and Buddhist material? Concept
Show answer
(a) Bairath, Kotputli-Behror's entry.
Why not the others: all three are genuine Panch Gaurav destinations for their districts, and none is the Mauryan site. (d) Budha Johad's name invites the association and it is unrelated.
35. The Panch Gaurav list must not be read as — Type B · designation vs measurement
Show answer
(b). Jaipur's Panch Gaurav destination is Amber Fort, although Hawa Mahal drew more domestic visits in 2025 — which shows directly that the list names rather than measures.
Why not the others: (a), (c) and (d) are all true of the list.
36. RPSC asked in 2024 which circuit contains Mount Abu and Ranakpur. The key was — Recall
Show answer
(c) Godwar — the Pali-Sirohi tract between the Aravalli and the desert, which is why Mount Abu (Sirohi) and Ranakpur (Pali) fall together.
Why not the others: (a) Mewar is the Udaipur belt, (b) Shekhawati the Sikar-Jhunjhunu-Churu tract, (d) Dhundhar the Jaipur region. Preparation material also carries a separate "Mount Abu Circuit" covering the same ground, which is why the option can look ambiguous — but the commission keyed Godwar.
37. The Rajasthan Tourism Policy 2025 came into force on — Recall
Show answer
(d) 7 December 2025.
Why not the others: each is another date in the same cluster — (a) the RTICF was constituted 11 March 2025, (b) the Tourism Development Board 20 November 2025, (c) the Film Tourism Promotion Policy 20 December 2025. Four instruments inside ten months, and a question asking which came first has a clean answer.
38. Which of the 2025 tourism instruments came FIRST? Concept
Show answer
(a) the RTICF, on 11 March 2025.
Why not the others: the sequence is fund (March), board (November), policy (7 December), film policy (20 December). The state built the money and the institution before it published the policy, which is a Mains observation as much as a Prelims fact.
39. The RTICF was constituted for tourism development works worth — Type D · approval vs delivery
Show answer
(a). That is about five per cent of the fund's stated scope committed in its first nine months, and it should be quoted as approvals rather than completions.
Why not the others: (b) reads the approved subset as the whole fund; (c) ₹100 crore is the reported cost of the Maharana Pratap circuit; (d) turns an approval into expenditure.
40. How many protected monuments does the state's Archaeology and Museums Department manage? Recall
Show answer
(b) 345, alongside 43 protected archaeological sites, 22 state museums and 2 art galleries.
Why not the others: (a), (c) and (d) are all real numbers from the same section — the archaeological sites, the museums, and the RTICF works. Note that these are the state's protected monuments, a different list from the ASI's centrally protected ones.
41. How many Palace on Wheels units does RTDC operate, on its December 2025 status? Recall
Show answer
(c) one — listed beside 25 hotels, 2 motels, 1 cafeteria and 1 transport unit.
Why not the others: (b) 25 is the hotel count, (a) 2 the motels. The Palace on Wheels is the state's most quoted tourism product and it is a single unit, which is the contrast the question draws.
42. The Maharana Pratap Tourism Circuit, reported at ₹100 crore, reached which stage on 3 February 2026? Type D · approval vs delivery
Show answer
(b). An approval to prepare a DPR is two steps short of a built circuit, and the chapter carries the item tagged Unverified because no government order was reached.
Why not the others: (a), (c) and (d) overstate or invert what was reported. The circuit is to cover Haldighati, Chavand, Dewair, Gogunda, Kumbhalgarh, Udaipur and Chittorgarh.
43. Why does the chapter offer no 2026 visitor figure? Type E · year attached
Show answer
(c). The newest published figures are for calendar 2025, in the Economic Review published with the Budget for 2026-27.
Why not the others: (a) and (d) are inventions; (b) misplaces the reason — the Review reported 2025 in full, and a 2026 total cannot exist before 2026 ends.
44. Assertion (A): Rajasthan has nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Reason (R): The Hill Forts of Rajasthan is a serial inscription of six forts. Type A · count by the noun
Show answer
(a). Both statements are true and the reason is exactly what reconciles them. The Economic Review states nine, counting the forts individually; UNESCO inscribes four properties; the serial inscription is the difference.
Why not the others: (b) and (c) treat the state's count as an error, and it is not — it is a different unit of counting. (d) denies the serial inscription, which UNESCO's own page states.
45. Match the site with its district.
(A) Nakoda Jain Temple (B) Khichan (C) Gagron Fort (D) Tripura Sundari Temple
(i) Jhalawar (ii) Banswara (iii) Balotra (iv) Phalodi Recall
Show answer
(c) A-(iii), B-(iv), C-(i), D-(ii). Nakoda–Balotra, Khichan–Phalodi, Gagron–Jhalawar, Tripura Sundari–Banswara.
Why not the others: (a) swaps Gagron and Tripura Sundari. Note that two of these four are post-2023 answers: RPSC's own 2021 key gives Nakoda to Barmer and older material gives Khichan to Jodhpur, while Gagron–Jhalawar and Tripura Sundari–Banswara are unaffected by the reorganisation and are corroborated by both the commission's key and the Panch Gaurav list.
More in This Series
- Tourism in Rajasthan: Sites, Visitors and the World Heritage Count — the parent chapter
- Every RAS Prelims Geography question, 2013–2024 — the two official tourism questions with RPSC's keys
- Rajasthan: Location, Extent and Physiography — the geo-heritage sites and Ramgarh
- Caution for Readers — the claims that are genuinely unsettled
