We entered kachch via Jamnagar and Bhachau by late October. Not the ideal season for Kachch though, as the days were still pretty hot. By the time we had gone around Saurashtra and reached Jamnagar the landscape had changed. Trees were sparse, lesser water bodies and as soon as we reached Bhachau there were just the thorny bushes for miles.
 |
| Mosquito graveyard |
The journey entering Kachch was eventful. At 2:30 pm in the afternoon somewhere around Bhachau we were melting in the heat, 3 lts of chaas down, tempers and temperature through the roof we realised that our elastic ropes holding our luggage secured had burnt off somewhere along the way. We were missing a sleeping bag and a small haversack with almost anything that was of value in it. Panicking we took the torturous journey back... after almost 20 odd kms @ 10 km/hr .. we were ready to give up but we pushed ourselves for the last 5 km and to our surprise found them exactly where they would have fallen off the bike. The sleeping bag was burnt (due to the exhaust pipe we believe) beyond use but the shoes inside were intact and so was our haversack with absolutely nothing missing. We estimated that it should have been lying that way for more than an hour.
 |
| concrete replicas |
A week to ten days in Kachch is also not enough. It is a country of its own. Fishing and merchant towns in the south along the coast, the fortified cities of kot lakhpat on the western most tip of the country, narayan sarovar - a sea of sweet water in south west and the beautiful Banni region in the north with its colourful tribes.
Bhuj is like any other city but just few km outside the city limits, Kachch welcomes you with open arms. The earthquake was a boon for most of the people (post facto). Infrastructure in the form of electricity, houses, water supply(however limited), roads have flooded the region. The quake has put it on the tourist map too along with the Gujarat government initiatives no doubt. Along with the boon there is a downside. The new architecture flooding the region has wiped away the traditional earth 'bhungas' except for the banni region and has replaced them with cheap concrete blocks and mangalore tiled replicas. Few people still prefer to build a small earth-thatch roof home next to this concrete 'gift' where they retreat during monsoons(as the concrete homes leak and mangalore tiles make too much noise) and extreme winter or summers.
 |
| Migratory birds |
The Rann of Kachch is actually Arabian sea for 5 months of the year, from June to October, and becomes a white salty stretch from November on. We caught the sloshy phase of the desert with millions of migratory birds. The road to Dholavira in the northern Banni region is literally a bridge on ocean for 12 -16 km that connects the dholavira 'island' to the mainland. Post November 4x4s can actually go from Khavda to Dholavira through the rann but we had to make a painful journey around for about 200 kms. Further from Dholavira are four other islands with India bridge being the last one on this side of the boundary (of the movie 'Refugee' fame) then lies about 80 km of no man's land. Military officials actually travel all the way to Jaisalmer from the Rann of Kachch via their 4x4s. The archeological findings in dholavira are any historian's dream site but much more remain to be excavated. The architectural perfection achieved 5000 years back still remains unparalleled in today's world.
 |
| Mud work in banni |
 |
| Metal work at Nani Reha |
 |
| Meghwals of Banni region |
Kachch is a land of crafts. The traditional mud art is now a skill possessed by 80+ old ladies but it is being modernised by few artists from the Banni region. Ajrakhpur is a new town established by the uprooted Ajrakh print workers close to Bhuj. Ajrakh printing is a beautiful art where a cloth is block printed by vegetable dyes into a 'negative' and finally converted into a 'positive' by dipping it into Indigo. Depending on the kinds of colours required, various dyes are used, and the actual colors are revealed only at the end by the blue dye. The famous Kachchi embroidery is the forte of few distinct tribes. The ahirs, rabaris, harijans (meghwals) all have their distinct style and stitch. All of these are nomadic tribes and embroidery is closely linked to their culture. The quality of embroidery and its density was the currency of the past. The more delicate, colourful and detailed one's embroidered clothes, the richer they are. Slowly the craft is detached from its original context and has become a product for the urban fashionistas. For the tribes, cheaper polyesters have taken over at most places. Copper bells of Nirona are exported all over Europe. Nani reha which is still a complete stone and earth village, supplies knives, daggers to a large indian market. Wood work, leather work and many other textile crafts are seen in abundance in tiny hamlets.
By all means Banni region is the heart of Kachch - still untouched by the homogeneity of today's world and still virgin of the commercial tourism - though the desert festival that started this year had a great response. The journey from Kot Lakhpat to Hodko through the desert was one of the best journeys of the trip. Guided purely by the tyre marks in sand and few verbal directions of a nomadic shepherd along the way - you submit yourself completely to the landscape. A distance of two hours would take you almost six hours if guided well so a stock of petrol, water and a compass is a must. Further from hodko to dholavira via khavda would also be a similarly thrilling journey that we hope to make some day in future in a season when the sea dries up to give way to the white desert.
 |
| Mundra |
 |
| bhunga under construction |
 |
| Kot Lakhpat - western tip of the country |
Mandvi and Mundra in south are mainly fishing, port and boat building towns. Mandvi has a beautiful beach front with the prominent Marwadi architecture in the form of Jai Vilas Palace (of Hum dil de chuke fame). Mundra on the other hand is literally a town on a cross street within fort walls. Mundra is recently being modernised with huge SEZ coming up in the vicinity. Kot Lakhpat on the western tip of the country is a ghost town within a robust fort... Beautiful architecture lies derelict in this ghost town with a few handful people surviving purely on tourism. The fort (kot) marks the boundary between 'civilisation' and barren desert beyond into the no man's land and further beyond into Pakistan. Narayan Sarovar is a pilgrimage stop for many devotees and a good dip for the tired travellers. The local temple provides accomodation and food for free for lakhs of people travelling through. Here we met a group of 60+ retired men from Ahmedabad travelling on motorcycles through Gujarat.
 |
| Jain derasar at Tera |
 |
| Mangalor tiled compound wall |
 |
| earthern bhungas in hodko |
The landscape, crafts, culture and above all the people is what makes this region so special. Hope its innocence and genuineness remains untouched for many generations to come.
Kachch is a land of crafts. The traditional mud art is now a skill possessed by 80+ old ladies but it is being modernised by few artists from the Banni region. Ajrakhpur is a new town established by the uprooted Ajrakh print workers close to Bhuj. Ajrakh printing is a beautiful art where a cloth is block printed by vegetable dyes into a 'negative' and finally converted into a 'positive' by dipping it into Indigo. Depending on the kinds of colours required, various dyes are used, and the actual colors are revealed only at the end by the blue dye. The famous Kachchi embroidery is the forte of few distinct tribes. The ahirs, rabaris, harijans (meghwals) all have their distinct style and stitch. All of these are nomadic tribes and embroidery is closely linked to their culture. The quality of embroidery and its density was the currency of the past. The more delicate, colourful and detailed one's embroidered clothes, the richer they are. Slowly the craft is detached from its original context and has become a product for the urban fashionistas. For the tribes, cheaper polyesters have taken over at most places. Copper bells of Nirona are exported all over Europe. Nani reha which is still a complete stone and earth village, supplies knives, daggers to a large indian market. Wood work, leather work and many other textile crafts are seen in abundance in tiny hamlets.
