Carnelian Day 3 - Rani ki Wow it was

 23rd Feb 2025 - Patan

Continued from here.

 

Once again, we needed to check out by 8am and head for breakfast.  We were ready early and decided to explore the neighbourhood.  Sandhya was down and briskly walking up and down.  Hotel Raveta seems to be away from town, off the NH10 - and the area is called Tirupati township!

Nothing much to write about the environs - an open sewer ran the length of the road - or was it a stormwater drain?  There were these bird stands - the one with the peacock on it - where pigeons cooed and fed, as also the Jungle Babblers.  One Grey Wagtail hurried and bobbed along the banks, very busy with his/her morning feeding.

The white-breasted waterhens rooted around in the canal.  We strolled in the streets behind the hotel - dusty and dry, and once again many pigeon feeding stands, and we saw Sparrows go in and out of one of these.  

There were Laughing Doves calling, from the wires, cows wandering and of course the street dogs looking at us with hope for a biscuit or morsel.

We got back to the hotel, to see the Buddha fountain also filled with pigeons!  Ebird list here.  

Breakfast was in the ground floor cafe - and there were very nice dhoklas and also khandvi - I quite enjoyed those, though I think my Selvi's poha is better.😆

Our bus arrived - the driver was amazing - never late, kept the bus shiny and clean, and drove steadily.  

We settled into our seats - already habits were forming - Sekar and me sat on the right hand side - all through the trip I think!  We had to pick up the splinter group who were at the other hotel just down the road.

Suddenly we were in the greener and cleaner part of down town Patan it seemed.  I remembered from my Sarkhej ki Roza Ahmedabad story about Patan being the capital of the Gujarat Sultanate before his time.  There were some old fort walls, a couple of large fancy schools, lots of tree lined roads, and then we were there.

Our first glimpse of the ASI complex - standard with lawns and trees.  As with all ASI monuments we were greeted by large lawns and neem trees. I wonder why they do this though - it’s so not part of our old gardens and it’s so water intensive. 

We strolled across the lawns, there was a flash of brilliant blue - an Indian Roller darted across the lawn and settled on this Neem tree.  Do you see it?  Photo by Devaroon

And then just like that - we were at the well!  I just stood there stunned.  Stunned at the sheer size of it, the stark beauty and the wonder, and even more stunned as to how something like this could have been buried and forgotten.

Bhimadeva I - of the Modhera sun temple - had a wife, Udaymati, who is the Rani who is believed to have built this Vav or well in the 11th century, after his demise.  We know nothing about her, it seems?  So she did not rule upon her husband's death, but she was important enough (and wealthy enough) to commission this monument to water.

While one version says that the step well caved in during a flood, it could be that it just silted over.  The well part has always been visible - only no one seemed to remember the step well bit.  The whole ASI restoration makes for fascinating reading.  The fact that it was silted over is seen by many as a blessing in disguise - it saved the step well from vandalism and possibly erosion by wind and the elements.

Supposedly in the 19th century, those pillars that were seen poking out, were vandalised and carted off to build another step well Trikam Barot-ni-Vav  in Patan.  Talk about repurposing.

The whole step well is 64m long, 20m wide and 27m deep with tier upon tier of carvings.  Were these pillars - seen in the foreground in this picture -  the base of an entry arch? 

Clearing The Debris

It was in 1958 that ASI undertook the clearance and restoration work for the Vav, which was filled with silt and water. As the process of desilting and debris clearance started, the water also started receding. The silt had to be cleared bit by bit by hand and carefully checked before disposal for antiquities that could be mixed with the mud.

“It was the most risky project of my career,” says Bhopal-based retired ASI archaeologist Narayan Vyas, who did the documentation work at the site for seven years between 1981 and 1988 and also holds a PhD degree on the stepwell. “For days, I would sit on the narrow ledges that run along the walls on a chair working. If I looked down I felt dizzy, it was so deep,” he remembers.

Work was slow – the process took more than three decades to complete. Bisht recalls that when he had taken charge of the Indore circle (which includes Patan) in 1989, only three levels had been exposed. The rest was completed under him. The top two levels of the stepwell had been destroyed – ASI rebuilt them, but without any of the sculptural adornments that must have been there originally. After the desilting, the sculptures had to be cleaned with distilled water. “Chemical cleaning and treatment was done to protect the structure and sculptures,” says Vilas Jadhav, another retired ASI archaeologist who had also worked at the Vav.

(Source:  https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/pride-of-patan-the-journey-of-rani-ki-vav-from-a-being-buried-art-treasure-to-the-reverse-of-the-new-rs-100-note/story-2vFSa1l6JZtGLhUx6pC7NI.html)

We climbed down the steps, and I for one did not know where to look - row upon rows of beautiful sculptures, intricate designs, amazing "engineering" must have gone in to get this sandstone step well in place.  Who were the builders, the architects?  who were the sculptors?

Kalki - the one we await.  Riding Devadutta the horse, and with maidens pouring water?  Enemies are underfoot and crushed.

Mahishasuramardhii was one of my favourites - so beautifully sculpted, though I felt she did not have a "fierce" look.

Do you see the 3 owls?  Meera had set Sheila and me the task of finding them, we failed miserably, so distracted were we, and she had to point them out, eventually! 

The most wondrous feat of engineering cum ingenuity for me was the reclining Vishnu - seen at the far end, through the various layers of pillars - carved so when the well was full of water he would appear reclining in the ocean!  How cool  is that I thought. 

There was Balarama, Buddha, Rama, Parvathi and so many more - dancing women everywhere.  ASI estimates that there must have been at least 800 sculptures in al!

Varaha once again with a maiden pouring water?

Some one remarked very wryly, isn't this all a bit much, what is one supposed to see?  Then we discussed and imagined how Patan residents would have visited the well ever so often, and then each day they could sit in a different spot, admire a different sculpture, or maybe have a favourite spot, have rendezvous with secret lovers under specific figures, the possibilities were endless!

What was interesting was along with the innumerable gorgeous apsaras, there were female sculptures like this - with khatvanga  in hand.  Rani Udaymati - I wish we could know more about her, and the brief she gave the "design team". 

You had to admire the scale of it...

and the intricate details of each panel.

A vertical panoramic shot from where we stood to the top.

Here's a video of the well, and also zooming in on the Vishnu at the rear.

A couple of hours later, we reluctantly  moved out of the step well, came around to the actual well at the rear.  There are guards ensuring that people do not try any stunts like trying to look into the well. But there should be a way for us tourists to see the well face as well = I have since seen pictures, and even the well wall has beautiful work on it.

From the well, looking back at the step well , where we had just come from.

Even these walls were sculpted!

A pair of rose ringed parakeets seem to have made a nest in the wall - and were busy feeding their young ones - I think.

I could have quite happily lingered longer. We then went to the Patola museum and I learnt about the Patola style of double ikat weaving. No photos allowed but it was a pretty cool place. The family said they were involved in the this for 28 generations and claimed to trace their lineage back to the Solankis. 

And then we drove and drove (some 5 hours) and drove all the way to the island of Khadir where Dholavira is located. Along the way I saw 2 flamingos, a roller and one wild ass as well besides the longest every cattle procession ever!

We entered the Rann salt areas halfway through - and then travelled on the old Road to heaven - to reach Khadir Bet island.

Lunch was so so. And we reached the rather nice Evoke hotel in the evening. Checked in and then went off to see the sunset at the rann - what a lovely experience it was.   Sekar's
 photos below

Flamingo flock makes pit stop in Chennai - The Times of India

We saw them at Kutch, and at Pt Calimere, and now they are here.

Flamingo flock makes pit stop in Chennai - The Times of India

Karthikeyan Hemalatha, TNN | Oct 29, 2012, 03.38AM IST

CHENNAI: These are special guests in times of destruction and degradation. The arrival of a flock of flamingos in Chennai has excited birdwatchers, 
photographers and environmentalists. Around seven Greater Flamingos, including six adolescent birds, were spotted at the Pallikaranai marsh on 
Sunday morning. Ornithologists said the birds are probably on their way from Rann of Kutch in Gujurat to Kodiakkarai (Point Calimere) in 
Nagapattinam. Rann of Kutch, close to the Pakistan border, is one of the largest flamingo breeding grounds. 

"During winter, they travel south to feed. Chennai, however, is not a feeding ground so they are probably making a stopover here," said K V Sudhakar, 
president of Madras Naturalist Society. Flamingos are more common at Pulicat Lake, around 60km north of Chennai. 

"It is very unlikely that they will stay here for more than a few days," said Sudhakar. The next time one will have a chance to spot them in the city is in 
March, when they start their return journey back to their breeding grounds. 

But birdwatchers in the city say spotting these elegant birds has become rare over the past decade. "We spotted around 40 the year before last. 
There have been very few sightings and it is a privilege to see them," Sudhakar said. 

Flamingos were sighted in the Adyar estuary till two decades ago. "But now they do not come to the mouth of the river any more because of 
encroachments in the area," said T Murugavel, a city-based environmentalist. "One or two birds still stop there sometimes during migration and 
also in the backwaters in Sholinganallur." 

There are five species of flamingos in the world. Two of them are found in India, the Greater and Lesser Flamingo. These birds can grow up to 
145cm in height and have a wingspan of up to 165cm. They are known for a distinctive pink hue and their peculiar way of feeding. "The pink hue 
comes from aqueous bacteria and beta carotene in their diet," said Sudhakar. 

They have long necks and they are their beaks sieve the algae, plankton, shrimp and small fish they eat," said Sudhakar. 

There are about two lakh flamingos left in the country.

Rann riders reviewed

United colours of breaking even | CSR | wildlife resort | The New Indian Express

A Kutchi summer - Day 2 - snake skins, an empty den and theIndian courser!

Continued from Day 1. My son's narrative continues.....

The next day, I was woken up(again) to go for tea, which I left to the very last moment, in order to get some sleep. Drowsily refreshed after the cup of coffee payasasm (Recipe: Coffee with as much sugar as will dissolve), we set out once again, with the same Jeep mates. This time, I quickly occupied the front seat along with Arun uncle, with whom I ended up chatting with until we reached our first destination. Thankfully we were spared the endless wastelands and were instead taken to a marsh or swampland where there was a largish water body

Said marsh with flamingoes in evidence.

Once again the cameras were out, fighting for supremacy over the length of their lenses. A spotting scope was also in attendance, for those who had the misfortune of not bringing a pair of binoculars. Once again a great many Flamingoes were spotted, and they soon took to the skies, their privacy shattered. I turned back thinking there was nothing else to see, only to hear the naturalists excitedly chattering about some bird, that to my eyes looked like a duck. I gave up all hope of even attempting to identify all the birds in the water body and after seeing the moorhen, purple heron and the shovellers, I went over to the vehicle to sit and watch the bird watchers watch time slip away. I was low on film for my camera, and this added to my discontent.

The same marsh, with the Nikon.

Another water body awaited and so were the many Stilts, egrets, coots and a congregation of cormorants.
Photo by Mr Ramanan. The cormorant congregation.
A cobra had also used the place for a changing room and left behind remnants of its old body.
The snake skin

Suitably sated with birds and creeped out by snake skins, it was decided that we would head home, when suddenly our jeep driver cum guide swerved off the road and onto a miniature plain. Vehicle stopped, he whispered “Indian Courser”. At once, every person in the vehicles was agog, searching for the well-camouflaged courser. For many of us, it was a first spotting, so it was exhilarating. And I, being me, usually would not have bothered, but I feel happy, now that I think back about that moment. Maybe, now I will start paying closer attention to the finer details of bird watching.

(My mom mentioned later that it was a first for her too. We saw a pair and a couple of chicks, which of course she found cute! And oh yes, Suresh uncle tried to stalk behind them, and the more he moved the more they moved away, in a kind of scurrying manner! We didn't get any picture of the coursers.)

A breakfast to suit our joy awaited us and nobody held back from gorging. The usual pre-lunch naps took place, this time along with people washing clothes. In the Kutchi atmosphere of less than 0 humidity, the clothes dried within a half hour. Lunch eaten, a spurt of post lunch packing took place, with washed clothes being neatly, or otherwise, put away. My mother, suitably surprised that I was washing my clothes, quickly put out her own clothes after washing.

See the clothes drying besides the room!

A Shikra in the tree that I spied close to our room

The pre-evening ride tea break was slightly subdued, with an assortment of members wanting to bunk. In the end, as the jeeps were getting filled, the very same members who had expressed an aversion to coming on the evening ride ended up climbing in themselves. The evening ride, sadly, saw us back on the dusty Rann. The same asses greeted us again and nothing new of interest seemed to pop up. What a strange habitat indeed!

Wild ass again!

One by one, all the jeeps had starting problems, easily enough rectified. We visited an active saltpan, teeming with birds even though the water was nowhere near potable. After a while, the jeeps and the "elephant" united at what was supposedly a fox’s dugout.
An abandoned fox den. Or was it inside, waiting for us to leave? The previous day, we had seen a momma fox and baby in the distance near a bund, and the mother scooted off, while the bay vanished down a similar hole. My mother's jeep waited patiently for a while, but it never poked its head out.
Disgusted at its absence, we all headed back to our safe base at Dasada to get ready for another train journey to Gir. On the way, we stopped to collect salt crystals that had fallen off the salt lorries and to photograph an owlet, safely ensconced on a cable.

The owl as seen by our "kutty" Lumix. Fading evening light.


The very same owlet. Photo by Mr Ramanan

A short while from this owl, all vehicles pulled over, no reasons given. Then the "elephant", which was usually at the front, showed up. ‘Clutch problems’ it seemed. So the gearbox was opened up, and the drivers, not ones for subtlety, starting whacking away at it with a hammer!

Needless to say, those who had studied engineering were shocked at this cavalier approach to the gear system. The drivers didn’t seem to care, though and they had the problem soon resolved actually!

When we returned, an anxious Vikas, who had dozed off and not woken up in time for the ride, wanted to know if we had seen anything interesting. Our somewhat lukewarm 'no's seemed to cheer him up, though.

At the resort, dinner and another journey awaited us, though these were looked forward to, since Gir and the lions was sounding very promising compared to the vastness and emptiness of LRK. After dinner, we all stuffed our bags into the back of a bus and hopped in ourselves for the ride to Viramgam station, where we were to catch our train to Veraval, the train stop for Gir. At Viramgam, I hopefully looked around for a shop selling film rolls, but all I found was a jielbiwallah and another selling paan and Coke! Oh well! Ration out the one remaining roll for the lions I suppose.

That very same night, our very own CSK were playing Pune and Vijay uncle wrote CSK off saying that Pune would thrash us. This was playing on all the CSK fans' minds as they nervously checked for updates on the phones that had internet. Finally, the train arrived and we boarded. Mummy, Ramanan sir and his family and Me were in the same enclosure, which lent a slight sense of relief that we had at least another set of fellow MNSians for company. The ticket collector came by, vastly amused, as he had gone from compartment to compartment, and all the tickets he was checking at Viramgam seemed to be Madrasis going to Veraval!!

Listening to the trains rattling along, I dozed off to the thought of another long day.


Day 3: On to Sasan Gir!

A Kutchi summer - Day 1 - Of broken down jeeps and the fashion king of Dasada

I wrote about searching for the wild asses here. Now read Day 1 "retold" by my teenage son!

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After cheerily wishing my friends an enjoyable and unenviable last week at school, I finished my packing for the MNS trip to the LRK and Gir. The next morning, I was duly awoken by Dave Mustaine singing about death and annihilation, reminding me of the long two day long train journey ahead of me. Excitedly, Me and mother were dropped off at the train station by a noticeably subdued daddy.

We then made our way to the Navjivan Express where along the way to the oven-like bogie we met the fellow eccentrics who would be our companions for the next week. Some avid naturalists with a dead serious streak and a young birding prodigy, mixed with those who were along just for the fun. (I say this in the hope that I was not the only one!!)

The journey started, I realized that a certain set of headphones of mine had been left at home and I was soon scrounging, much to my mother's amusement, for another pair. A very kind Prasanna aunty loaned me a pair for the trip and I remain eternally grateful for that. The rest of the train journey thankfully passed in a blur, punctuated only by frequent visits from the local motormouth Roshan and a hilarious Malayalam movie.

On reaching Ahmedabad at 7.30, two buses carried the luggage and us towards our destination: Dasada. A half hour detour was made to nourish the group as we made good time and reached by about 11.30. The first order of business for some of us was relieving ourselves of the nitrogenous burden that unsanitary train toilets had brought about. For those who had braved the loos, it was bed, only to be woken up 4 hours later for tea and the morning safari!

One of the jeeps, kicking up dust at the LRK


The LRK in the summer felt almost like a desert and wildlife seemed to be sparse other than the Wild Ass and the Nilgai. Bird life was also somewhat absent other than near the watering holes, where it is abundant. So off we trotted to some god forsaken place in 4 jeeps and a big Tata vandi to carry the others that didn’t fit.

One jeep conked even before we reached the destination. So that jeep’s occupants, me included, dispersed ourselves between the other jeeps and the "elephant" (Tata vandi). So finally, we were on our way and as I was in child prodigy Vikas’ jeep, the first birds were spotted:Rosy Pastors. Two of them. So everyone suitably pleased, we headed on, to spot the famous Wild Ass we had come to see.

The Tata vandi

Far from the moviestar we were expecting, “it looked just like a donkey” as someone later said. Of course, my mother finds all these things so adorable; it just had to be coochie-cooed. Moving on, our jeep saw a herd of wild Nilgai, the blue bull, which thankfully not many others had seen.

The herd of Nilgai. With the Nikon 8008 analog.

We soon hit an old salt plain, with the last remnants of a drying water body, where truckloads of flamingoes were spotted, along with a pair of shrieking lapwings, whose newly hatched chicks we had disturbed. All bird enthusiasts suitably excited about the spotting, it took everyone a while to get back into the jeeps.

Click on the picture to see two fledgling lapwings. One of them was in the process of hatching, so we left quickly so that the shrieking parent could return to her nest.
The Shrieking parent
The same lapwing waits morosely in the distance for us to clear out

Much exhilarated at our finds, we headed back to our resort to enjoy a break from constant movement after so long and a well-earned breakfast!

The dining area at Rann Riders where we spent a good portion of our time finishing off all the food!

After breakfast, the resort's resident peacock was found posing for pictures (and probably fishing for some food) on the dining room sofa and everybody was agog at its boldness. The following shots are with the digital camera.

The "star" poses, complete with backdrop and fancy setting


He obliged for a close-up.

And a frontal as well. My mother posed with him as well. Imagine!

This mild excitement notwithstanding, there was pretty much nothing to do except go to our rooms and do……nothing! I was sharing with Vijay uncle and Pritam uncle and they both hit the sack with the AC on, and were soon sound asleep. I read about the misadventures of Fletch and his fiancé, whatever her name was. Upon being groggily shaken from our respective reveries, we made our way unsteadily down for a nice north lunch.

Feet up, my mom contemplating the ceiling!

Another nap later, we headed out for the evening ride which was more agonizing as the temperatures were in the high forties and everybody was wrapped up like a mummy to keep out the dust! Young Sanjana joined us on this trip as we headed into the true Rann of Kutch and across the numerous salt plains. Although the dust slightly dampened our spirits, we soon caught sight of the asses and spirits were lifted again. We spent the rest of the evening whizzing around the Kutch and passed many a lorry piled high with salt crystals.

Once again, one of the jeeps broke down and so we stopped as the sun went down on another day spent. The issue resolved, the jeep’s occupants relocated and we were on our way to Dasada again, just in time for a delicious and sumptuous meal that knocked everybody out for the next 8 hours, till the next morning safari.

This one was out in the wild, in Gir. He had just finished his dance I think.


LOOK OUT FOR THE NEXT INSTALMENT!