Raipur, the capital city of the newly formed Indian state Chhattisgarh has a population of over seven hundred thousand or seven lakhs. In terms of population it holds the fifty fifth position among all the Indian cities, that is, it is the fifty fifth largest city in terms of population in India according to the census report of 2001. As the capital city of a state, it is also its administrative headquarters. The state of Chhattisgarh (formed in November, 2001) is a breakaway from the former state of Madhya Pradesh of which Raipur was previously an important city.

Raipur is geographically located near a region which is often referred to as the rice bowl of India. This area is an extensive and very fertile plain which is conducive for the growth of various types of rice and hence such a name. There are dense forested lands to the south of this city. Raipur has a river bordering it on its eastern side—the Mahanadi river. The famous Maikal hill range lies to the north west of this city. North of Raipur the elevation of the land increases until it merges with the ancient and extensive Chhota Nagpur Plateau. This plateau extends northwards up to the state of Jharkhand. Towards the south of Raipur lies another plateau region known as the Bastar region.

Raipur is a well connected city through roads and railways. It is connected with other major cities such as Kolkata, Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kochi, Howrah, Patna, Dhanbad, Amritsar, Kochi, Bangalore, etc. It can be accessed through the Howrah to Mumbai route of the Eastern Indian Railways. The national highway number six (NH 6) passes through Raipur thereby establishing its links to the other Indian cities like Jabalpur, Visakhapatnam, Vilaspur, etc. After Raipur became a state capital, many new air routes were opened connecting this city with the rest of the country.

The airport located just outside the city is in a small bordering town called Mana. Hence, it is also known as the Mana Airport. Indian Airlines has a series of domestic flights to and from Raipur linking it with Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Nagpur, Mumbai, Bhubaneshwar, New Delhi and Kolkata. Private airlines such as Air Deccan, Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways also have flights plying from Raipur and connecting it with the rest of India. These flights include cities like Indore, Ahmedabad and Ranchi as well as the major cities like the four metropolitan cities mention earlier.

There are a number of colorful festivals held in this part of India that interests a lot of visitors and tourist. These include festivals like the Gouri-Goura, Surti, Hareli, Pola and Teeja. Hareli for instance is a celebration of greenery welcoming ‘savan’ or the monsoons. It is a time for the farmers to worship everything associated with the agricultural produce—from the farming tools to the animals like cows which are used to till the soil. The rituals include placing leafy branches of the bhelwa tree in the faming fields to bring good crop. Seasonal diseases are warded off by the symbolical hanging neem leaves from the doors. Baigas or traditional doctors start imparting medicinal skills to their disciples starting on the first day of hareli. This then continues for fifteen days after which the students are tested.