8 hours Ago By Kalpana Sunder
Imagine a stretch of road flanked on both sides by the waters of the Arabian Sea and saline mudflats that look like frozen ice at first glance...
Driving on the ‘Road to heaven’ is a sensory overload. This appropriately named stretch of asphalt road sprawling over 32 km, connects Khavda to Dholavira in Kutch, at the western tip of Gujarat, not far from the border with Pakistan. The first glimpse of the luminous white desert is awe-inspiring.
Not many sights can compare with this otherworldly barren expanse of nothingness. If you are visiting in December, an added bonus is spotting pink and white flamingos. Tourist guide Iqbal Kumbhar explains that the Great Rann of Kutch spread over an area of about 7,500 sqkm is a geographical oddity, a bowl-shaped depression which was once a shallow arm of the Arabian Sea, until a tectonic shift closed the connection, making it a salt desert.
It morphs dramatically from a shimmering inland sea in the monsoons, to an arid salt desert in the winter, where locals live in traditional cylindrical mud huts with conical roofs called bhungas that can survive earthquakes and provide relief from extreme cold and heat. Not many travellers to Kutch make it to Dholavira, one of the five largest sites of the Harappan civilisation. A visit to the excavation site is a journey back in time.
Three distinct sections of the township have been revealed—a citadel, a middle town, and a lower town. Archaeologists have also found 10 large-scale inscriptions carved in Indus Valley script, which are yet to be deciphered. From a stone bath to drainage systems and pipes, huge entrance gates and a market street, this is one of the most spectacular excavations in Asia.
There are also the traces of a huge sports stadium, with a wall of stones and a seating area for 10,000 people. The tiny onsite Dholavira archaeological museum has some of the finds from the site—from pottery shards to seals, beads and miniature pottery. The main site lies on a slope fronted by a huge reservoir, with a water recharge well.
Local guide Mahendr Sanjot explains that this advanced site that was located between two seasonal streams, was known for its brilliant water conservation and rain harvesting as well as town planning and was settled seven times repeatedly down the ages, one building on top of the ruins of the other. From Dholavira, Dhordo is an 88km drive, passing through salt flats, castor fields, banni grasslands, and past herds of stocky banni buffalo. Dhordo is home to the Rann Utsav Tent City, managed by Evoke experiences as a public private partnership (PPP).
What began as a three-day festival in this temporary city that comes up in a matter of a couple of months on barren land, has now become a four-month long affair, starting November. The tent city is a gargantuan self-contained world by itself that offers everything to a traveller—stalls laden with local textiles and art, a wellness centre, and more. Taking advantage of the clear night skies, star gazing is offered in a special enclosure.
Kutch is dotted with villages like Bhujodi and Ajrakhpur, which are home to artisans devoted to one particular art or craft form. One of the must-visits is the village of Nirona, home to the Khatri family, who have carried on Rogan craft for seven generations, and converted it onto an art form that uses castor oil mixed with pigments and is painted on cloth using a metal stylus. Come evening, all roads lead to the White desert for a sunset visit, where the attraction is an ever-changing palette of colours.
Camel and horse-driven carts take travellers on the last lap to zero point and the crystalline salt desert. A blanket of pristine salt crunches and shines like diamonds under one’s feet as the sun starts its descent, casting orange and purple shadows on the floor. Walking towards the horizon, as the cold desert wind blows and watching the orange orb sink, one can’t but be mesmerised by the sheer beauty of the unique landscape that is carved by the forces of nature.
.
