Ads on the television promoting Gujarat Tourism by Amitabh Bachan are quite a hit. Its for quite some time I had been impressed and thinking of making a trip to Kutch. It finally happened this year and this was the last and the most unique destination of our road trip.
Kutch also spelled Kachchh locally is the largest district in Gujarat and is a wonderful combination of pristine beaches, the world's only white desert, swathes of arid land running into the horizon, the abode of as many as 18 different tribes, each one with their own way of dressing, customs, traditions etc, birds, handicrafts and the cradle of human civilization at Dholavira.
There is some much to write about this wonderful place, that I am still confused on where do I start.
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| Salt pans along the Hakadiya Creek |
I will maintain this post only as an introduction to the landscape of Kutch and cover the rest in further posts.We made our journey from Gondal passing through Rajkot, Morbi, Bhachau, Bhuj and reached Hodka. After Morbi, you pass through a part of the Little Rann of Kutch and it is interesting to see salt pans in that area. When you look at the map, the area is shown green denoting a forest, but the area is just dry and arid with Hakadiya creek providing some color of blue to the landscape. Road conditions almost excellent all through, except for some minor work on Bhachau Bhuj highway.
The entire area is not very fertile and you do not see much of cultivation anywhere around, however once you cross Bhuj airport and the Rudramata dam, the change in the landscape is dramatic. Banni grasslands take over and changes the color of the land. The land is almost flat, no cultivation anywhere interspersed with some thorny shrubs here and there. Castor plants however are found here and probably cultivated too. From here on you get to see bhungas(traditional mud huts) and also occasional settlements of nomadic Rabari tribes. The occupation of the most of the people in this region is cattle grazing and are called Maldharis. Just a little ahead is the Rann of Kutch, the world's only white desert. Do not be mistaken, it is not made up of white sand but it is due to salt deposits. During monsoons, the Rann is filed with standing waters from the sea, which recedes during the summer and winters to leave a crust of salt above. Ecologically very rich, the area of Greater Rann of Kutch along with the Little Rann of Kutch is home to many wildlife sanctuaries and preserved areas like Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary, Narayan Sarovar Bird Santuary, Kutch Bustard Santuary, Kutch Desert Wildlife Santuary, Chhari- Dhand Wetland Conservation reserve and more. Bird enthusiasts are sure to have a field day here.
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| The Banni grasslands |
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| You can see till infinity |
Its said before the earthquakes of the 18th century, river Indus flowed through this place and was the land very fertile not anymore. This arid, dry and dusty land is the hotbed of many handicrafts which bring in much needed color to the lives of those living here.
