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 destruction 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 Jadeja 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 Fuvara 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.
