हिन्दी

About MaruShala

Meet our Godawan

Our logo is a Godawan, and so is our mascot. The Godawan, or Great Indian Bustard, is Rajasthan’s state bird. See what each part of the logo and the mascot says, then read the true story of the real bird.

For a classroom screen. Move with the arrow keys or the buttons.

  1. The logoFour parts, one bird
  2. The mascotFaces, poses and rules
  3. The real GodawanIts life, its dangers, its rescue

What each part says

This is how we read our own drawing.

  • Bird

    The Godawan, Rajasthan’s state bird. Its head is up: it looks ahead.

  • Book

    Study. Everything here starts from the NCERT textbook.

  • Circuit

    Technology. Our line says it: “AI for Education | AI for All”.

  • Sun

    The desert sun. The ring is left open where the beak points.

Maru + Shala = MaruShala

Maru means desert. Shala means school. MaruShala is a school from the desert.

maru = desertDark brown
shala = schoolDesert gold

Our colours come from the mascot

Every colour on this website was picked from the mascot’s picture.

  • Scarf teal#006a68Buttons and links
  • Book amber#f6b042Only for stars and the “In progress” badge
  • Neck cream#fffaf2The page itself
  • Feather brown#24160fThe words you read

One logo, three forms

  • Full colour

    On light backgrounds, like the top of every page.

  • For dark backgrounds

    The browns turn white so the name stays clear. You will find it at the bottom of every page.

  • Round icon

    In the browser tab, and on a phone’s home screen.

Three rules for the logo

  • ✕ Wrong

    Don’t stretch it.

  • ✕ Wrong

    Don’t change its colours.

  • ✕ Wrong✓ Right

    On a dark background, use the dark-background version.

Part 2 · The mascot

Who is our mascot?

A cartoon Godawan that studies with you. It carries books, wears a teal scarf, and turns up wherever there is something to learn.

Its nameGibi

The name comes from GIB, the short form for Great Indian Bustard used in the official records.

Look closely at the mascot

Every part of the drawing means something.

The mascot walking with a stack of books
  1. Black crest. Its scientific name, nigriceps, means “black-headed”.
  2. Pixels: learning on screens too.
  3. Teal scarf: our colour.
  4. A stack of books.
  5. Wings: the real bird is heavy, but it can fly.
  6. Long legs, for walking through grassland.

Four faces, four jobs

Each face has its own job.

  • Speaking: a tip

  • Thinking: a practice question

  • Curious: did you know?

  • Happy: the right answer

A pose for every place

Each part of the website has its own pose, chosen by what happens there.

  • Reading: the home page

  • With books: the notes

  • In class: pages for teachers

  • Sharing a book: pages for parents

  • Moving ahead: careers

  • With a computer: how AI is used

  • With a map: the “page not found” page

  • Wings open: this page and some chapters

Three rules for the mascot

  • One mascot on a screen.

  • Never beside the bird in the logo.

  • On a round sun, never in a box.

Part 3 · The real Godawan

Identity card

One of the heaviest flying birds in the world, and one of the rarest.

Name
Godawan (Great Indian Bustard)
Scientific name
Ardeotis nigriceps
Other names
Son Chiriya, Ghorad, Maldhok
State bird of
Rajasthan
Status
Critically Endangered (IUCN, 2018)
Protected by
Schedule I, Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972
Weight
Male 10–15 kg · Female 5–10 kg
Home
Grasslands, mostly in the Thar Desert, almost only in India
Food
Plants, fruit, crops, insects (grasshoppers, beetles, ants, termites) and reptiles
Lifespan
Up to about 28 years (an estimate)

A Godawan’s day, and its family

061218morningevening
Busiest from 5 to 10 in the morning and from 5 to 8 in the evening.

  • The mother raises the chicks on her own.

  • It nests only once a year.

  • A female first breeds at about 3 years old, a male at about 4.

  • It grows and breeds slowly, so every bird lost is hard to replace.

How many are left?

Godawans in India, estimates over the years

  1. 1969about 1,260
  2. 1978745
  3. 2000about 600
  4. around 2011250
  5. 2019about 150 or fewer

These counts were made in different ways, so read them as rough estimates. Source: India’s proposal to CMS, 2019.

A newer WII estimate for the Thar (130 ± 21) was reported in newspapers in July 2026. We could not find the official report, so it is not in the chart.

about 150

In March 2022 the government told Parliament that about 150 are left in India, about 128 of them in Rajasthan, based on studies by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

Once in 11 states. By 2022, only 5.

  • Rajasthan
  • Gujarat
  • Maharashtra
  • Karnataka
  • Andhra Pradesh
3

In Kutch, Gujarat, only three wild females are left (March 2026).

97

Apart from these, 97 birds live in the breeding centres at Sam and Ramdevra (October 2026).

What puts it in danger?

123
  1. Flies low
  2. Heavy body
  3. Thin wires are hard to see from far away

  • Power lines

    It is heavy and flies low, so it crashes into wires it cannot see from far away.

  • Grasslands lost

    Grasslands are often called “wasteland” and taken for other uses.

  • Eggs and chicks attacked

    Stray dogs and pigs, and foxes, mongooses and cats, raid nests and chicks.

  • Hunting, in the past

    Hunting and egg collecting had cut their numbers to about 1,260 by 1969.

Saving it: the breeding programme

Eggs are hatched safely, chicks are raised, and now birds have begun to go back to the wild.

In the centres, October 2026

97 birds: 40 hatched from eggs laid in the wild, 57 bred in the centres. 86 stay for breeding. 11 are set aside to go back to the wild, and 2 of them were released on 4 October.

Chicks born in the centres: 24 in 2025, 29 in 2026.

Jumpstart: an egg laid in a centre is placed in a wild nest, and the wild female hatches it. Six chicks in Rajasthan and two in Gujarat have hatched this way.

  1. 2013

    Rajasthan starts Project Great Indian Bustard. Its forest department says it was the first state to do so.

  2. 2016

    A national programme for the bird’s home and its breeding is approved, with ₹33.85 crore.

  3. June 2019

    A temporary breeding centre opens at Sam, Jaisalmer. Eggs collected from the wild are hatched there.

  4. March 2022

    16 chicks are being raised at Sam.

  5. August 2022

    A long-term centre starts working at Ramdevra.

  6. March 2023

    A chick hatches from an egg laid at Sam by birds raised there. WII calls it the first time anywhere in the world that the bird has bred in captivity.

  7. 2024

    ₹77.05 crore is approved for a five-year plan for the Godawan and the Lesser Florican.

  8. March 2026

    An egg from the programme travels 770 km by road to Kutch, Gujarat, and is placed in a wild female’s nest. It hatches on 26 March: Gujarat’s first Godawan chick in a decade.

  9. June 2026

    26 chicks so far this season, 18 of them by artificial insemination.

  10. 3 October 2026

    A huge Rewilding Aviary opens at Ramdevra: 160 m long, 64 m wide and 14 m high. Birds from the centres build their flying muscles here.

  11. 4 October 2026

    Two male Godawans from the programme are released into the wild at Sam, in Desert National Park.

Power lines and the Supreme Court

A case about power lines in the Godawan’s home was before the Supreme Court from 2019 until December 2025.

  1. April 2021

    The Court orders bird diverters on existing lines in the bird’s areas at once, and lines put underground within a year wherever that is possible.

  2. March 2024

    The Court lifts the 2021 limit on overhead lines (about 99,000 sq km), on condition that an expert committee lays down rules. The committee reports on Rajasthan in September 2024.

  3. 19 December 2025

    The Court gives its final directions and closes the case. Priority areas for the bird: 14,013 sq km in Rajasthan and 740 sq km in Gujarat.

Inside the priority areas

  • No new overhead power lines, except along one set power corridor. Small lines of 11 kV and below are exempt.
  • No new wind turbines.
  • No new solar parks above 2 MW, and no growing the old ones.

Ordered for Rajasthan, within two years (by December 2027)

  • 80 km of 33 kV lines go underground, starting at once.
  • 250 km of lines that WII identified as critical go underground.
  • Some big lines (66 kV and above) move to new routes.

Bird diverters

Markers hung on wires so birds can see them. More than half the lines in the area already have them. The Court did not order more: it asked for a scientific test first and left the decision to the authorities.

Ordered is not the same as done. As of 5 October 2026 we found no official figure for how much of this work is finished.

Where does it live?

  • Rajasthan: the Thar

    Most Godawans live here, in and around Desert National Park in Jaisalmer and Barmer. The park covers 3,162 sq km and was set up in 1980. Inside it, about 200 sq km of grassland is fenced off: the bird’s best breeding ground.

  • Rajasthan: the breeding centres

    Sam and Ramdevra, both in Jaisalmer district.

  • Gujarat: Kutch

    Only three wild females were left (March 2026). The jumpstart chick hatched here.

  • Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh

    Fewer than 10 in each (told to Parliament, March 2022).

What can you do?

Four small things that help.

  • Keep far away and quiet. Never go near eggs or chicks.

  • Grassland is not wasteland. Say so at home.

  • Seen a hurt or dead bird? Tell the forest department.

  • Tell three friends the Godawan’s story.

Where these facts come from

Every fact on this page was checked against these records on 5 October 2026. Numbers change, so always look at the date.

  1. Rajasthan Forest Department: Project Great Indian Bustard
  2. PIB, 14 March 2022: Protection of Great Indian Bustards (reply in Parliament)
  3. PIB, 27 March 2023: Conservation Plan for Great Indian Bustards
  4. PIB, 12 December 2024: Conservation status of the Great Indian Bustard (reply in Parliament)
  5. PIB, 28 March 2026: Godawan chick hatches in Gujarat after a decade
  6. PIB, 14 June 2026: captive stock reaches 94 birds
  7. PIB, 3 October 2026: the Rewilding Aviary and the start of release
  8. PIB, 4 October 2026: two males released at Desert National Park
  9. Wildlife Institute of India: Great Indian Bustard report, 2020
  10. Wildlife Institute of India: Bustard Recovery Program annual report, 2023
  11. India’s proposal to list the Great Indian Bustard under CMS, 2019 (COP13 Doc. 27.1.4)
  12. Supreme Court of India: order of 19 April 2021
  13. Supreme Court of India: judgment of 21 March 2024 (2024 INSC 280)
  14. Supreme Court of India: judgment of 19 December 2025 (2025 INSC 1472)
  15. Incredible India (Ministry of Tourism): Desert National Park