Carnelian Day 5 - A Slice of Kutchi history and culture

 25th February 2025.

Continued from here.

830 am and we were checked out, done with breakfast and ready to start our explorations of Bhuj.  The Fern at Bhuj was a nice and friendly place to stay.

I remember Bhuj from the horrific earthquake of 2001.   The images of rubble and dstruction and lives lost, at that time made me wonder how can families recover and rebuild after such a tragedy.  And now looking at the countryside and the buildings, there was nothing to remind us of it, on the surface atleast, as a tourist.

There is a Smritivan Earthquake Museum that came up in 2022 and you can read more here:  https://www.smritivanearthquakemuseum.com/smritivan-earthquake-museum.html

We did not stop by there, but went on to Darbargarh - and got a slice of Kutchi history.

I was surprised to see a rather huge lake in what I thought was a rather dry part of the country.  Seems to be that the Bhuj kings were also conscious of water conservation (like their Dholaviran ancestors!) and created Hamirsar lake some 450 years ago, and also the canals and tunnels to bring water here, according to Wiki. 

As is quite typical of modern India, the lake was neglected post-independence, and the waters ebbed.  It was only post earthquake that the lake also was restored to some level of viability.

We entered what was probably old Bhuj, narrow roads, fort walls, temples everywhere, along with Daddy Cafe Shop, cable wires, tractors and other such modern intrusions. 

Our large bus had to stop at a wider place, and we walked to the gate of the Palace where we were headed.

Darbargarh - What an interesting collection of buildings we entered!  On one side was the Ranivilas palace, battling to stay in one piece, it seemed to me, earthquake adding to the ravages of time.  Beyond, the Aina Mahal or pleasure palace  and on the opposite side the stauesque Prag Mahal.

Ranivas

 

 

The Ranivas, the Queen's quarters, suffered hugely during the earthquake, when there was just a lot of collapse and damage.  We were not taken in for obvious reasons of safety but just viewing the trellis work and those balconies gives an idea of how grand and jumbled it must have been.  In the earthquake, the Library in the Ranivas just collapsed on itself, burying the entire collection with it.  We were taken around by Shriraj, of the trustees of the restoration and management trust and close to the Jadejas, the erstwhile royal family.

 

Aina Mahal

The Aina Mahal has been opened to tourists as a museum, and we went through with Shriraj, who was an excellent storyteller, weaving the account of  Ramsingh Malam who sailed to Europe and learnt the crafts and architecture styles of the continent and returned to Bhuj and was given a free hand to try all the various styles in different rooms!  

You need to buy a photography ticket even for mobile phones.

Shriraj spoke about the idiosyncratic display of artefacts, and I was in turns amused and amazed at the motley collection!

We entered past this beautifully carved sandstone panel into another world.

There was a board that elaborated on the legend of Bhuj's founding.

"Bhuj, The capital of the fadege Dynasty was est. in 1510.  Legends says that the Earth rests on the head of a snake. The first king chose a location on which he wanted to build his empire. He began to hammer a nail on the chosen spot to make the earth stable on the snakes head. One of the King's courtiers asked the King if he was certain that the chosen spot was placed on the head of the snake. The now doubtful King began to remove the nail. And as he did so, the ground began to bleed, this is when he realised he had in fact dug a nail into the head of the snake.
So he dug the nail deeper into the ground little knowing the snake had moved. The earth was now fixed onto the tail of the snake. The people of Bhuj believe that the constant movement of the snake causes earthquakes in this region."

We entered the Fuvanra Mahal, which was built in 1740 by Lakhpatji, his entertainment room and where he was supposed to have performed as well.  The marble throne in the centre was meant for the King, the musicians sat on the brocade and zardozi embroidered divan.

 

This central "stage" was surrounded by fountains and a water moat and the lamps would be lit and they would probably shimmer off the water and create quite a magical experience

The ceiling!

We stepped through this door into another space filled with more treasures.

I loved the displays on the coins of Kutch, and the birder in me was intrigued at the whole set of porcelain birdies.

 

 The ivory inlay door and the letter from the Royal Albert Museum

 

 There were letters of correspondence between the Mughals and the Jadeja rajputs in beautiful calligrpahy scrolls and there was a detailed collection of leaf pressings, and collections of shells and mother of pearl.

We each found something that fascinated us, a mirrored frame here a porcelain artefact there, paintings and more.  We were running out of time, and were hurried  on to Pragmahal.

Pragmahal

For some reason, I have not taken a picture of the entire Mahal!  Just views like this.  

The 19th century Prag Mahal was never completed, Shriraj said.  From what I understood, this is designed as Italian Gothic, with marble and sandstone.  It could not have been cheap, and probably escalating costs were its undoing.  

Shriraj told us to look for the Rajput motifs in the midst of the Italian decorations. 

The clocktower was damaged in the 2001 earthquake - and now visitors are not allowed in there. 

This lovely Photo by Devaroon showcases the entry steps to the first floor

I found some dragons in the decorations, there were monkeys and other little delightful details.  And the roof decorations had two doggie pictures as well.  All quite a mishmash!

Please click on the above picture to enjoy a full panoramic view of the main durbar hall, with its chandeliers, viewing gallery, choir boys holding up the pillars, stained glass and stuffed animals.

There was a delightful ghost story too for this room, which now completely eludes me.  Something about one of the workers being terrified in the morning, as if he had seen a ghost!!

 Around 11, we were done with our tour, and we had a half hour of touristy shopping of Kutchi craft at the craft store in the complex.

We set off for lunch at our next halt - Shrujan and the LLDC

 

I loved this floor design that captured block printing so nicely.

Many of my more culturally aware friends were aware of LLDC and Shrujan - it was a first for me.  I had not heard of this NGO/Trust that was doing so much for Kutchi handicraft, embroidery and therefore women's empowerment.  What I learned was that they have revived many of the embroidery styles and are also systematically documenting them, so that these oral and practised traditions are not lost for future generations, but documented and kept for the future.  

Very inspiring and impressive.

I loved this board that was there in the Museum - 

"Kutch is Unique!

The land that we know as Kutch was born in the sea. It existed even before the Jurassic period when the entire East-West plate surfaced out of the sea.  This elevation is called the Bhui Ridge. It is in the shape of the shell of the tortoise or kachua, from which comes the name Kutch.

So Kutch was born in the sea and rose from it. We know this on account of the fossils of the sea creature called ardhlakhvo (the ammonite) and the dinosaur eggs that have been found in Kutch. Both these creatures were there in Kutch when it emerged from the sea. 

The Jurassic period dates back 213 to 144 million years. That is at least how old Kutch is
Immediately after the Jurassic period came the Cretaceous period when the rivers started flowing and the sandstones that stored sweet water in their belly were formed. This was followed by the Tectonic movement when the underground volcanoes broke through the Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks to create the black basaltic hills and fertile soil that gave rise to the thorn forests. Finally, there was the Recent Period when the Alluvial plains formed the grasslands.

Not only does Kutch have the four main geologies of the world but these diverse geologies also gave rise to its diverse ecosystems -
There is the desert ecosystem of the Rann, which has clayey soil. In the middle of the Rann, there is brackish water caused by the intermingling of water from the sea with the sweet water of the rivers. This brackish water gives life to millions of small sea creatures, which in turn attract migratory birds, such as the flamingoes that fly 3000 to 4000 kilometres to the Ran during the breeding season

Kutch also has the mangrove ecosystem along its coast, where the sea and land converge. The mangroves are the nurseries and hatcheries of almost all of the sea life. Kutch is the only place in the world where an arid desert ecosystem has a mangrove ecosystem huddled next to it.

There is also the thorn forest ecosystem that grew out of the fertile lava soil that poured forth during the Tectonic movement.  These thorn forests became protected areas or rakhaals because of their extraordinary biodiversity and the rare and diverse animal, bird and insect life that abound in them.

And there are the grasslands. For centuries the river waters kept bringing down the silt to the shallow sea that existed to the north of Kutch. Over time, the sea retreated towards the Ran and land emerged from the sea. In the Kutchi language, that which gets created is called Banni. So 'Banni was the name given to this 'created land famous for its grasslands with their 40 and more varieties of grass.

Kutch has about 46,000 square kilometres of land. This makes it a small region and perhaps the only region of its size in the world to have such a diversity of geologies and ecosystems. This could be the reason why so many communities from Central Asia and other parts of Asia migrated to Kutch and made it their homeland.

Each community had the wisdom and the knowledge to sustainably live off one of the four ecosystems that Kutch is blessed with.
The maaldhaari (cattle-herder) communities came from as far away as Baluchistan in Central Asia. Like all the other migrant communities, they crossed over from Sindh. These Muslim communities - Mutva, Node, Haalepotra, Jat - remained in the north, moving around in the Banni grasslands, following the rain and making a temporary home wherever they found fodder for their animals.
The Hindu communities - Jain, Bhatia and Lohan among others - moved to the southern parts of Kutch, with its long coastline of 352 kilometres. These communities understood the ecosystem of the sea and became the entrepreneurs, the seafarers and the traders who set out into the world
The presence of different communities and the way they interacted with Kutch is also responsible for its rich and varied crafts tradition.
The migrant communities that settled in the north brought with them a lot of their crafts and their embroidery skills from the traditions of Central Asia, Persia and Turkey. The seafaring communities of the south also influenced the crafts. They brought in the best timber from South- East Asia to build their wooden mansions called havelis. In doing so they patronized several crafts and several generations of craft families. The khundkaam (woodwork) artisans created intricate carvings in different parts of the havelis. Their best artistry was seen on the majestic teak wood doors at the entrance of the havelis.
Artisans from the Gaijar community erected entire havelis without using a single nail. Kamaangari kala artisans decorated the havelis with fresco wall paintings that depicted scenes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata
The rulers of Kutch, who were migrants themselves, also played a part in sustaining the craft traditions. The most famous example of royal patronage is the Aina Mahal, commissioned by Lakhpat Raja of the Jadeja dynasty in 1752. Ramsingh Maalam, a gifted artisan, lavishly decorated the palace with a variety of crafts, including mirror work, carved woodwork, inlay work, wall paintings, Aari embroider and silver work.
The diverse geologies were also crafted into different building traditions. Each one had its own colour story. Dressed stone in brown, pink, white and black was crafted from sandstone, and used in palaces and havelis. Limestone was used to build beautiful dry masonry random rubble walls. Laterite created bright red walls and from basalt came the majestic black walls.
The diverse geologies and ecosystems, the rich and varied crafts and building traditions - all these make-Kutch unique. However, its most cherished feature is the happy intermingling of opposites. The best metaphor for this syncretism is Lakhpat. Among its 43 heritage structures are places of worship belonging to many religious traditions - some of the oldest Shiv temples, mosques, gurdwaras and dargahs sit next to each other in this remote corner of Kutch. They tell the world that opposites are not to be feared but understood and celebrated."

Indeed!

"The Living Embroideries of Kutch 

Each community had a distinct embroidery style that was passed on from mother to daughter.  Over the centuries, the embroideries changed and evolved. They embraced other influences but kept their core values intact.  Embroidery was a personal craft. Unlike all the other crafts it had no commercial agenda. It was a means of personal expression and a marker of community identity. Women used embroidery to decorate day-to-day as well as ceremonial clothing, household items and adornments for animals.
Some communities embroidered a wide range of items, others were more selective. But all revered it equally.
Over the last five decades we have created a 20,000-strong family of Shrujan craftswomen. We have discovered 42 distinct embroidery styles practised by 12 communities. These include communities that came to Kutch as refugees from Sindh, Pakistan a few decades ago and have now settled here;
This Museum Show - The Living Embroideries of Kutch - is dedicated to the embroidery craftswomen of Kutch who create entire worlds with just an itsy-bitsy needle and some coloured threads."

 Some of us tried our hand at block printing - and I made a little napkin which I am rather proud of.

Around 3pm we left Bhuj for Dasada in the LRK. 

Crossed the mouth of the estuary at the LRK

 

Salt  - everywhere.  Reminded me of Salt marches and Independence.

It was 9pm by the time we reached The Fern, Sattva.  What a relief.  The roads on this stretch were not the best shall we say.  Thankfully dinner was served right away, and after five days, there was rejoicing at the sight of butter chicken on the menu!!  Ishaan was a happy trooper.  Sekar was relieved that he did not have to partake of the baingan bartha, which his wife was happy to consume!

The beds were most inviting. 

And we all had mysteriously swinging chandeliers above our heads- which went well with the ghost story of the morning!  (It was that AC in the background that was the culprit, but how mundane is that!). 

Much friendly banter on doors that would not shut and uninvited guests and retired hurt spouses and the long Kutchi day ended.

 

Carnelian Day 4 - Back to the Future feeling at Dholavira

 February 24th 2025

Continued from here

Here I was - Dholavira!  

It is difficult to explain and capture our  Dholavira experience that morning. How to explain walking through the ruins of a city that is more than 4000 years old?  

How to explain the strangeness of seeing urban planning that’s so ‘modern’ - the check dams and the drainage systems, the reservoirs and the bead workshops, the ideas of intercontinental trade and city states? 

How to describe the frisson of discussions on their elusive script, the seals, the lack of a God, the seeming non violence and the hierarchies of the living quarters? 

The more Meera and Pankaj explained,  the more questions we had. What were they  guarding in the Citadel?  How did they communicate between these far flung outposts? How long did a trade journey take?  And to top it all was the fascinating possibilities of how the Kutch area was geographically all those years ago. Probably the seas were more inland and there were more waterways, the discussion of which started at Lothal.  

Pictures don’t do justice at all, but let me try.

By now, after Lothal, I knew that the trademark of Harappan cities was the urban planning, the "Citadel" area, the Lower Town, reservoirs and water channels - they were quite obsessed and rightly so, with ensuring freshwater supplies - and the bead works and pottery, seals and sealings.  Dholavira had them all. The site is dated as being an active city between 3000 and 1500 BCE.

First views

It was 8am, the air was cool and sparrow calls filed the air.  The surroundings were dry and arid I was happy to see these large Euphorbia caducifolia bushes.  These Succulents are very typical of this region of India, and it is called Thor in Hindi - Leafless Milk Hedge

As we stood on what looked like a dry river bed, Pankaj explained that the pile of stones in the distance were the remnants of Check Dams.  Dholavira is situated between two rivers- Manhar and Mansar - and these check dams stored and channelled water into the reservoirs.  Check dams are unique to the Dholavira site, in the Harappan world.

Then we moved to the East reservoir

How grand and huge is this!! Was this really a reservoir - some 7.5m deep, with a flight of 30 steps going down into it.  There must have been seasons when only that rock-cut well with a stone enclosure had water?  I wonder now, is this a precursor to the step wells that came a good 3,000 years later?

In fact, an article in TOI actually called this a step well!  https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/5000-year-old-harappan-stepwell-found-in-kutch-bigger-than-mohenjodaros/articleshow/44638220.cms#

I loved this picture of us - our shadows rather - as we stood there taking it all in.  In sheer size, this reservoir is supposedly 3 times the size of the Great Bath of Mohenjo Daro. 

The ASI board next to the reservoir said -  "The reservoir was abandoned and probably went into disuse at the end of Stage V. The evidence of performance of rituals along with the presence of figurines, including a complete unicorn figurine indicates the ritualistic importance of this reservoir."  Stage V is the Late Harappa phase.

"

Of course, every time we saw bricks we had to ask - are these new or original?

I liked this picture we saw in the museum of its excavation - see how tiny the humans are in relation to the size of the reservoir!

Through the East Gate and into the Lower Town

We walked along this path through an opening that Meera explained was the East Gate, which served as an important entry point into Lower Town.  The mound of bricks on the left - the remnants of the wall.

The Manhar River we crossed was dry, then we saw the East reservoir with 31 steps, before we walked into Lower Town, crossed to Middle Town from where we entered the impressive and huge ceremonial grounds, and then ascended into the Citadel and Bailey before exiting via the rock cut southern reservoirs

The Lower Town

I loved the texture of the walls and the stones, each one a different colour and I wondered about that.  Were they from different sources?

Clay pottery bits are all around, and you just have to look in the mud and dirt at your feet to find them!

Middle Town, or maybe downtown Dholavira?  Broad roads in between the houses.  The streets were arranged in a grid, with a main road, and side streets.  This divided the town into "sectors".

Probably the remnants of a gate hinge?  

We sat around next to this Meswak tree and had some tea which magically appeared with Aravind!  it was very welcome as the sun slowly began to say more than a warm hello to all of us.

Hydration was on my mind for sure, and water was on the mind of the Dholavirans up and centre, definitely. We saw examples of their water arrangements - including channels like this.

Pankaj and Meera spoke about the intricate system of what seem to be stormwater drains, all interconnected, with slopes to allow for water flow, manholes...the works.  Rainwater harvesting of the highest order.  And here we are, some 4,000 years later, and the Chennai Corporation still hasn't figured it out.  It was astonishing and bewildering to say the least, and for many a moment I wondered if the archeologists were letting their imagination go wild and maybe these were just piles of stone... then why did the piles of stone create these reservoirs, why the channels?  

These pictures at the museum had me convinced!

Here is the text below the pictures - 

The castle has yielded an interesting network of drains, both small and large, coming from different areas. and ultimately connected to an arterial drain that runs underground in the broadway, The larger ones are high and broad enough to allow a person to walk through them easily. All these drains usually vielded remnants of fresh water deposits, and not sewage nor household waste. They were not connected to house drains. It was only during Stage Vi that a house drain seems to be discharging in to one of the storm water drains, when the urbanism and the control over it, was declined or had already become defunct. The purpose of these drains was surely to let out the monsoon run-off, which is why these are found furnished with air ducts at short intervats. There are two large drains in the castle. One originates from the bastion beside the east gate and the other from the area close to the north gate. The former is connected to a stone-paved platform provided a top the eastern fortification wall near the east gate.

And to add to the general shock and awe, was this HUGE 'ceremonial' ground in the midst of the town.  Stadiums?  Large trading markets? There were remnants of tiered seating and a massive drainage system underneath it as well, we were told.  (I believe many a time, discoveries are re-buried to keep them safe and to allow for further excavations and study later, when better technologies emerge.  isn't that interesting?)

We crossed the ground and entered what was referred to as the Bailey.  Bailey and Citadel - very British I thought.  These are terms used by archeologists (schooled in British terminology I suppose).  So, the Citadel is the highest point and most fortified, and the Bailey is the outer courtyard , or an annexe of some sort.

In this area, we came across these circular structures - very un-Harappan .  Surmised to be  Stage VII - Decline of the city period - new influences, after migrations, the last of the Mohicans type thing I presumed.  How much can be inferred from all these stones, I wondered! Archeologists would make fine detectives.

The Bailey also had this bead workshop.  Why is it a bead workshop?  Read below, and then zoom in to see the said stone with grooves..

From the board on site - 

"The presence of a bead workshop is noticed on the northern arm of Bailey, to the west of North Gate. This bead workshop was specialized in bead polishing as indicated by the presence of bead polishers in two rooms. One of the rooms has a large rectangular bead polisher, with multiple grooves on all sides, with a slight depression at the centre. The central depression could have been used for water to cool the beads while rubbing hard on the stone.  This bead workshop belongs to Stage. VI (late Harappans) at Dholavira."

The South Gate and the mystery inscription

The South Gate of the Castle through the city wall provided access via a concealed passageway leading one through open stairs to an exquisite rock cut reservoir, see the broad and deep passageway and stairs, at the base of which a board with inscription that's below was found!

The mystery inscription.  Whatever did it mean?  This is a recreation of  what was found at the base of the passageway - it was actually the impression left on the ground from the board, with some gypsum pieces inlaid.  The original is not available for public viewing.  We all had our own guesses - from the name of the city, to a Welcome sign, to a date of foundation...and Google also cannot help...Very frustrating indeed!

I wondered why with all these LLM models and AI and everything else, this script has not been figured.  

It was time to head out now.  It was close to 11 in the morning, and even the February sun felt too strong.

As we left we saw this frantic efforts at laying a lawn!  Sod beds just being placed - ahead of the President's visit on March 1st. Really - why we do we need exotic, water hungry grass, dear ASI?

After some water and refreshments, one group went off to the Fossil Park while some of us wandered around the museum.  The museum was filled with boards and models, but no excavated artefacts.  The place was buzzing with happy school children and harassed teachers.

One very interesting board in the museum was about the Harappan pillars.

This is what the Museum board said about these pillars  that we saw and photographed - 

"At least six examples of freestanding columns were discovered from the excavations. These freestanding columns are tall and slender pillars with circular cross-section and with a top resembling a phallus or they are phallic in nature. That is why most of them were found in an intentionally damaged and smashed condition.

The phallus is depicted. realistically with even the drawing of foreskin shown clearly. Two of these freestanding columns are found near eastern end of high street of Castle. These columns measure nearly 1.5 m in height and are found at the strategic location of entering into the high street from the east gate of Castle. These two columns are placed in such a manner at the. beginning of high street that divides the street into three equal parts. The other freestanding columns of the same variety and typology, numbering into four was found in a completely smashed and broken condition. 

Two of such columns were found in a secondary condition,  fitted as a masonry/ subsequent structure. One such column was found embedded in a masonry of Tank A while the other one was found in a masonry in a later period structure near the western fortification o Castle. 

Two more examples, completely smashed and destroyed ones were also found, one near the western end of Ceremonial Ground and the second one near the north gate of Castle. 

The destruction and desecration of these columns can be equated with that of the damage caused to the stone statue, which clearly indicates a change in ideology and traditions, customs after the Harappan phase. The exact nature of the two free standing columns to the east of high street is also not ascertainable and it is also difficult to determine whether they are in their primary or secondary context.   

Interestingly all these stone columns have a roughened and irregularly chipped bottom which is a clear indication of burying them up to the irregular portion so that polished and highly finished upper portion can remain above the ground."  

(I actually did not have time to read the board while at the museum, taking these pictures for later reading)

Some of the other interesting displays - 

I was disappoined not to see an original "seal".  Between walking the site and the museum, it was a history told like no other.  Most times I was mute, as I listened and absorbed all that was around, held potsherds in my hand, took pictures ad nauseum.

This was our lunch stop, a very nice lunch indeed, off a buffet table, serve yoursef style place. with nice chaas.  We used the restrooms and then we set off for our journey to Bhuj, across the new Road to Heaven!

I found these patches of coloured salt most interesting - there was copper sulphate blue and this potassium oermanganate sort of pink.  The road was good in bits nd pieces, still a lot of roadwork going on. Turning south at Khavda, it was slow going.

 

We reached Bhuj 120 kms away around 6pm - 4 hours later, having stopped for pictures along the way. and we went directly to Ajrakhpur.  Can you imagine visiting the heart  of the Kutchi art of ajrakh?  

 

We visited the workshop and studio of the Khatris, who are quite an institution, and I was struck by the quiet humour of the Sr Khatri, who still sits at his desk.  He told us that this studio - which had a contemporary ethnic Fabinida-like aesthetic - was designed by an architect from Ahmedabad.  

 

I loved the doors, so well photographed by Ramesh Dasary - which had these used and probably discarded blocks - the heart of the technique. 

The block printing technique is arguably as old as the Dholaviran site.

We saw a short film about Ajrakh printing, the vats of indigo dye, the washing and the drying.  

One of the workers was creating this Dholaviran tapestry - I thought this was very cool.  I would have loved to have got one of these, but they were for a specific order.  I noticed the flamingoes in flight and by the waters, and I even saw the blocks which made those prints.  Notice - the border is the mystery inscription!

 The store had some lovely ajrakh worh, but I did not buy anything, others did - stoles, dupattas and sets and home linen.  

We headed back into our bus, and a tired group arrived at The Fern Residency for our night halt.  Dinner was a noisy and cheerful affair, as we kind of took over the restaurant, and for some reason found everything amusing.  From Lokesh bringing us sweet mango pickle, to Sekar and me saying enough to local food and ordering Chinese - it was very good - to Anuja being given all our dinners to sample, to the menu card which had some strange momos - chocolate and paan or some such and Anupama attempting to convince the waiter that she needed a flask full of ice.

More of Kutchi history awaited us.