So I was telling you about Indus Valley Civilization, in the last post (when we were calling it the Harappan Civilization, as every other text book says, expert Michel Danino, vehemently opposed it, as the area is so so so much more than Harappa!). And I ended the post with a note on a huuuuge site and here's the post on it. The site is called Dholavira and its in the Rann of Kutch.
First things first. Reaching here is an awesome experience by itself. The previous day I was at Ahmedabad and from there via Modhera (travelogue on the sun temple there, coming up soon), the trip was to Dholavira. The long lonely road with very few villages that occur occasionally!!! At the last relatively bigger village with some shops, I made sure to call my mom & hubby to inform that I'll be soon entering a no-cellphone-signal zone! But guess what, not just BSNL, Vodafone also picks up signal even till the deepest part of Dholavira!!!
Dholavira has just 2 options to stay - the guest houses of the state tourism dept. and the state forest dept. In any case pre booking in necessary, coz even they are very less in numbers. I stayed at the tourism dept guest house and the night spent there was fabulous. The houses were typical Gujarati pol houses - circular houses with conical thatched roof. However the facilities were pretty good with air conditioner, geyser, etc.
The best part of the night was star gazing. The last time I saw a sky filled with so many stars was in the highway while returning from Panamalai! The unpolluted environment here made the sky so clear and millions of stars visible!
Well, early next day we started off the the actual Indus valley civilization site. Here, unlike Lothal where mostly bricks were used, here stones of various sizes were used with mud as mortar. The 3 major sections in here were the citadel, middle town and lower town. The citadel has the castle in the east and bailey in the west.
At certain places their incredible skill in stone work was evident. One such example was this cylinder. This is actually a base of a pillar. The level of polishing was incredible. In the sultry, hot sun, this stone was so so chill!
Also similar to Lothal, wells were built very neatly here too. One of the wells also had a side plank where the pulley marks are still visible!
But its not these that caught my attention, it was the reservoirs. Huge reservoirs. There are 16 of them around the area. At a particular point there were 5 of them next to each other. They not just hold water but also filter it to a certain extent. The largest of them all, measures approx, 73m x 29m. There are steps to reach the depth of the reservoir when water level is low.
There are 2 open spaces also which might have been used for various purposes like entertainment, bazaar, meetings, gatherings, ceremonies, sports etc.
The view from one point in Dholavira was spectacular, from where the horizon meets the white sands of the Rann of Kutch!
The view from one point in Dholavira was spectacular, from where the horizon meets the white sands of the Rann of Kutch!
Also I spotted a couple of interesting rocks! A rock with several sea shells fossilized and embedded onto it! Another rock with multi color stripes naturally occurring on it!!!
A few km from here was the Pakistan border! See that watch house there? That's the BSF post. Just beyond it was the Indo Pak border. Went so close to the border and still waiting for my Pakistan trip dream to come true...
TO GET THERE:
From Ahmedabad Airport: 330km via Mahesana, Radhanpur, Balasar
From Bhuj Railway Station: 220km via Bhachau, Rapar, Balasar
TO STAY:
Toran (TCGL) Guest Houses are available at Dholavira itself.
They are the traditional Gujarati Pol Houses, and only 10 are available.
They are very good, for that locality, in the middle of nothing, with Air Conditioning and Geyser facility.
Food is also prepared according to requirement.
So definitely prior booking is very necessary.
Few similar Guest Houses of the Forest department are also available, in which case also prior booking is necessary.
On Google Maps: http://goo.gl/eGhf2T
Dedicated to Prof. Swaminathan & Co...
TO GET THERE:
From Ahmedabad Airport: 330km via Mahesana, Radhanpur, Balasar
From Bhuj Railway Station: 220km via Bhachau, Rapar, Balasar
TO STAY:
Toran (TCGL) Guest Houses are available at Dholavira itself.
They are the traditional Gujarati Pol Houses, and only 10 are available.
They are very good, for that locality, in the middle of nothing, with Air Conditioning and Geyser facility.
Food is also prepared according to requirement.
So definitely prior booking is very necessary.
Few similar Guest Houses of the Forest department are also available, in which case also prior booking is necessary.
On Google Maps: http://goo.gl/eGhf2T
Dedicated to Prof. Swaminathan & Co...
hey great information. Actually i had visited this site in 2003 when i was in 8 std. It was a great experience we had travelled all the way from bhuj via rappar and journey was approximately 250 km. Then there was no facility to stay there. Good to know after 11 years we have such facilities so i may visit again. Thanks to you and gujarat government for their development and network connectivity and making facility to stay.
ReplyDeletesaurabhthuse@ymail.com
Do visit again. You'll have some nostalgic beautiful memories!!! :)
DeleteNice post.... I have not been to this part of our country. would love to go......
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the details, Bhusha......
Thanks Venkat!
DeleteDo visit these places. You'll love them too!!! :)
Interesting post... and photos
ReplyDeletethanks
Thanks Krishna!
DeleteInteresting information. Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteIts my pleasure, Niranjan! :)
DeleteWonderfully informative post of ancient civilization.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for the appreciation Rajesh!
DeleteWaiting for my turn now!
ReplyDeleteMe too waiting for your version of travelogue!
Deletewow - so much history!! when did you go? Next time you travel please call me too
ReplyDeleteWent in Jan. Definitely, will let you know next time!
DeleteRann of Kutchh, Gujarat is surely one of the places I wish to visit. You have shared some impeccable pictures out here. Civilizations like he Harappan civilization have always revealed to the world the progress of man even in ancient times.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. Indeed!!!
DeleteDear Bhushavali
ReplyDeleteI am planning to visit Dholavira in the second week of January 2015, and want to stay there for one night. Can you advise on this ? also can you please share contact details of toran guest house manager ? any details about the forest department guest house ?
Right now I do not have the details. Will try to find & update.
Deletenext fortnight i am planning to visit from ahmedabad to Dholavira. i read on web that road from radhanpur to balasar is not existing or under construction or not in good condition. please confirm i can go on this route by my own car.Regards and lots of love
ReplyDeleteThe road is not great and you can't compare it with city roads and has a lot of potholes. But you can take your car!
Delete