III
He
had built his dynasty, especially his palace with a love that knew no bounds.
Renowned
architects from all rich civilisations of the World were summoned to draw the
plan of a Palace that could stand out as a crown jewel of SaptaSindhu
civilisation;
A
palace that would be the finest in all of Bharatvarsh.
For
years thousands of masons were employed, thousands of artisans & sculptors
painstakingly brought to life the dream that their King had envisioned;
The
most learned engineers made this kingdom more than just an opulent palace;
They
made a city so well planned, so modern, that it had no equal to it far &
wide;
For
millennia generations would be awestruck at the planning of his city, the
Golden Crown of Harappa - DHOLAVIRA.
Trade
was flourishing in the King’s land, his empire was considered the best, he was
a benevolent monarch & his city was considered one of the most progressive
in the whole wide World.
…and
then came the curse of the White Demon – Swetasur.
The
demon that had ascended on that fateful day to the King’s Court;
A
day that the King still could not forget;
His
audacity knew no bounds; he demanded the King to accept his allegiance, or he
would ensure that the Golden City of Dholavira was shrouded with his curse;
A
curse that would make the city lose its valour & pride & reduce it to
rubble;
While
his ministers were wrought with rage; the King merely laughed at Swetasur &
dared him to try any trick in the book;
So
confident was he of his grand Empire;
But
destiny had other plans!!
Swetasur
slowly cast a deathly shroud of white all over the sea that surrounded
Dholavira;
The
very sea that was the source of life in city; the very roaring waters that were
the reason why trade flourished & made Dholavira the rich Golden City;
All
was getting lost!!
Swetasur’s
curse dried up the mighty untamed sea from all directions;
Trade
collapsed; economy collapsed;
The
King was now a Pauper!!
His
esteemed subjects, who were the Pride of his Court; left him one by one…to
settle in other Kingdoms.
His
medics, that were the best in seven kingdoms, left him too…
They
took with them the expertise, art & intelligence that was envied by many
Kings;
Horrible
epidemics broke out & devoured many in his Kingdom;
Even
his own son & Queen were not spared;
In
absence of any medic, they died a painful death; shrouded in White;
Today…The
King was standing on the Grand Ramparts of his empire alone…looking out
dolefully at effects of Swetasura’s curse;
His
kingdom was falling, his people dying, his valour & pride was lost; just
like the glory of his Kingdom;
But
he would never bend down; NEVER EVER!!!
He
was a good king…a good husband…a good man;
He
will not bow down to Swetasur’s arrogance!!
He
took in his Kingdom one last time….he may take many births in human life…but he
will never forget this palace, this city that was once his;
His
whole life flashed before his eyes….
And….”
- Hasina’s imagination running wild
(this story is just a fictional imagination; it is not
related the real history of Harappa or Dholavira in any way).
27th Dec: 6 am!!
After spending a lovely day at the Rannutsav, we slept like
logs. Hasina had put on an alarm of 5.45am…because no way (she was persistent),
were we missing “Sunrise at the Rann”.
So at 6am sharp…lock, stock & barrel (our cameras,
tripod, etc etc)…we were off to drive again to the ivory mass of sea…to see
what World we will be stepping into now!!
It was pitch dark at the Rann with few nerds like us out in
the freezing cold. We were then informed that sunrise happens in the Rann
around 6.45am!!!!!
We had no option but to wait in the car, during which both
Musafir & Raahgir dozed off promptly again. Hasina, hyperactive as usual,
could not sleep a wink. After all you do not come to the Rann everyday!!
By 6.30am…well, enough was enough. Hasina woke up the two
slumbering men & nudged them to at least start walking & positioning
the camera!! :)
It was a dark black Rann when we stepped on it & decided
to walk to quite a distance as sunrise catchers were increasing with the
passing minutes, & we were very desirous of leaving them behind.
The black Rann, miraculously started changing colors with
each step we took!! Sunrise was finally on its way!!! :) :)
Next few pics will show you what we felt in this endless
mass of ivory sea!!!
If this is not dreamland, what is?? If this is not paradise,
what is?? If this is not “Nirvana”…nothing is!!
When you are on the Rann, just look all around you once in a
slow motion :) Trust us!! You will
feel so small, like a smidgen, in front of God’s creation. You will feel
humbled. At that moment we had left our urban life in a big city far behind us,
and everything associated with it – pettiness, greed, deceit, jealousy, anger;
we were standing on a dried up sea and all we could see was complete
whiteout!!! At this time…all that mattered was God!! People might visit temples
to see God in a carved statue (their belief…not questioning)…we find God
here…in the beauty of this barren land!!
8.00am
Sadly, it was time to go further!!
With a heavy heart we bid adieu to Rann & headed for a
lovely breakfast at RannUtsav.
9.45am
Though, a little late by our aim, we kick started off to a further
adventure suggested to us by Yashodhara of Devpur Homestay. We had two options
in front of us:
·
Bhuj: Stay back & explore the historic city
& its palaces
·
Dholavira: A drive to ancient Indian History –
to the ruins of Harrappa.
Do we need to say which route we took?? Yes, it was a 2 hour
plus detour from our intended destination of the day (Palanpur)…but how many
times have we got an opportunity to see what we had only read about in the pages
of our History textbooks?? How many times do we get an opportunity to walk on
the same ground as our illustrious forefathers?? It was a part of our bucket
list…& off we went!! The palaces can stay…we had a date with the
pre-historic!! :) :)
12.30am:
We had travelled two hours via Bhuj Bhachau highway &
very carefully to not lose our way & therefore lose time again & again.
In 2 hours we were at the entrance of the village from where
Dholavira is another 1.3-hour drive farther.
This road was like driving through what we dream of
countryside driving. As though you are driving through the vast countryside of
Arizona. Full metal roads, stretching for miles, crests & troughs all
through the smooth road, giving you such an amazing feel…vast & barren
countryside on both sides…gorgeous in its wilderness!! Only this road lead to
something much more ancient & locked in the sands of time…the ancient city
of Harappa Civilisation.
For those who do not know, Mohenjo Daro & Harappa were
ancient civilsations near the Sapta Sindhu aka The Seven Sacred Rivers, namely,
Indus, Sutlej, Jhelum, Ravi, Chenab, Saraswati, Beas. Out of these, six sacred
rivers still remain in India flourishing life here…but one of them, Sarasvati,
is lost.
Both Mohen Jo Daro & Harappa were civilisations dating
back to 3000 BC approximately.
They are till date heralded as one the most modern,
progressive, civilisations across the World. The planning of these cities,
layout, infrastructure, etc. is still a landmark in the history of immaculate
township planning. Something our new age builders today can learn from.
Mohen Jo Daro today is in Pakistan…while parts of Harappa
reside in Gujarat, Punjab & Haryana. Going to the ruins of these
civilisations about which we have read in History books only was a bucket list
wish for all 3 of us…especially Hasina, who is a history aficionado.
On our way, we also saw a group of the Rudaalis
(professional mourners). A rudaali (one who cries or mourns), is a very strange
& oppressive custom practiced in Rajasthan & some belts of Gujarat,
where supposedly low-caste women are hired to wear black & weep copiously
(often very dramatically) on the demise of a high-caste (mostly affluent)
person. The idea is that the deceased’s own family members should not express
grief publicly due to their “social status”, thus it is ok to hire professional
mourner (especially women) to cry & beat their chest in a show of grief!!!
The thought also is that a high caste member of the village has died, he is the
“provider” & “protector” of low caste (actually most of them in reality are
oppressors), hence the low caste women must weep. These are some of the extremely
ridiculous & oppressive customs that need to be abolished immediately. We
could not click a picture of the rudaalis as we were in a moving car…but seeing
them resting under a huge tree, against a backdrop of absolute wilderness…all
covered in black…staring back at us with cool disdain...was a very daunting
sight. Yes, this is also how some of us earn money to afford a meal per day. So
we better not crib about some pitfalls in our jobs, or take our means of
earning for-granted!!
Anyways, moving on, rest of the drive was uneventful but
beautiful with smooth but undulating road stretching for miles.
After almost 1 hour…we came upon this!!!
A dream road to drive on!!! Flanked with milky white
Rann…spreading endlessly on both sides…and a black tarmac like road to drive
on!!! This is a driver’s heaven!!! We saw a club of motorcyclists driving
happily here. We saw an adventure cyclist peddling away…happy at his
discovery!!
After numerous photo ops….we finally drove off to Dholavira;
merely 20 mins away now.
 |
| Che Guevara's heart...Ibn Battuta's soul...Xuanxang's spirit!!! I might be a novice...but travel defines me!! |
By the time we reached the Harappan site, it was quite late
in the day…around 3pm. So we had to quickly take our tour of the ruins.
What we saw was jaw dropping!!!!
 |
| Grand Harrappan reservoirs!!! This the earliest & most scientific way of Rain Water harvesting...and Dholavira has Twelve such reservoirs!! |
 |
| Entry inside the Palace |
 |
| Remains of the Grand Pillars of the Grand Ramparts of the Palace!! Look at the precision with which the slab is cut & shaped!! |
 |
| Palace Entry into the Outer Sanctum |
 |
| Kitchen!! this was the place to grind Grains & Spices (no this is not a well)..we even saw remains of a stone grinder |
 |
| Secret Passageways into different part of the Palace |
 |
| Natural Refrigerator!! Are you seeing the stone slabs on the lower part of the walls? Well behind these slabs Harrappans stored Black Mud. Wet Black Mud has extremely cooling properties. The Stone Slab covering them is porous in nature. So the stored water would automatically become cool...just the right temperature to satisfy a parched throat to the soul!! |
 |
| This well was used for farming & miscellaneous odd jobs of the kingdom. A pair of strong bullocks were employed to churn out this water using wooden hull as a churner that they kept rotating!! |
 |
| More Water Reservoirs. These people prized water!! |
Unfortunately, since we had very less time on our hands, we
could not explore the ruins of this ancient township to the hilt. Still, we had
a fantastic guide, who took us through all finer points of the civilsation. It
felt surreal to walk on the same ground our forefathers, & needless to
mention much smarter forefathers, walked on.
Our guide also pointed out Kalo Dungar across the Rann to us
from where we were standing. It was surreal to register than we were at either
end of the Mighty Rann in just 24 hours!!!
The story of this particular kingdom was very sad indeed!!
Once the mightiest Kingdom in all of Harappa, with trade
flourishing in leaps & bounds thanks to being a port city, this Kingdom was
at the pinnacle of riches. In fact the Royal Ramparts of the palace entry gates
are made sea facing & are situated at a height. Imagine standing on those
ramparts to overlook the turquoise waters of the sea!!!
The Kingdom even had a colosseum by the sea-side, surrounded
by brambly bushes, to hold sporting events in the Kingdom!!
All these riches vanished one day…when due to climatic,
topographical changes, the sea water started receding, thus leaving behind a
layer of salty marsh…which we now call Rann of Kutch.
Hasina’s story (given at the beginning) was a simple fictionalized
imagination of that era…story teller that she is!! :)
Due to the sea drying up, trade crumbled & thus the
Kingdom fell down to a state of severe economic crisis. Their only mode of
income was Trade, as farming does not happen in a barren wasteland. Thus this
Kingdom perished in an untimely twist of fate.
It was 4.15 pm now & we had to start as driving in the
night in a barren stretch was not an appealing idea…especially since our mobile
networks were not working at all.
We ate a quick but hearty lunch at the Govt run guesthouse
of Dholavira (yes you can stay here)…and then off we went…our heart full of
happiness at having seen one of the oldest known civilisations of the World.
However, one thing that is disheartening, is the constant
treatment of such gems of our history. Modi govt. of Gujarat has still promoted
& made this place accessible for tourism & experience. But over the
years, these civilizations have just been ruined & ravaged by many,
especially by Britishers, pre-Independence.
The Brits used the bricks of these ancient heritage sites to
build ballast for their important train tracks that they were building in
India, to facilitate their governance.
Our Indian government, post independence, & for many
decades did not do anything either to preserve the traces of this rich
heritage. Neither did the Pakistani government do anything for Mohen Jo Daro.
Only a few archeologists in both nations have fought incessantly to preserve
this rich heritage.
On the drive back we listened to Sting’s Desert Rose in a
loop. After we hit the main highway, which was around 6.30-7pm, it was simply a
run to our destination for the day, Hotel Way Wait in Palanpur, the border town
of Gujarat. It is located on the highway & is a budget pit stop option. Do
not expect much here, and our idea was only to stay the night & be off
early next morning.
We reached the hotel by 9.30pm. We had earlier enquired from
the manager of the Hotel if it is safe to reach a small town like Palanpur late
in the night & his reply was “As long as you are in Gujarat, please do not
be afraid, any time is safe. I cannot comment on Rajasthan, or any other
state” :) :)
The food was good enough for a roadside hotel. We just ate
& crashed, as we were to start our journey back to Gurgaon next day. So,
basically, we had to cross Gujarat Border, whole of Rajasthan state, Haryana in
1 day flat!!! This was roughly 780 kms in 1 day!!!
At 5.30 am sharp next day we started our journey. Then it
was just a run to reach home.
The journey back, post Haryana was dreadful, replete with
bad roads, diversions, toll prices sky high for such bad roads. After coming
back from the land of road tourism, where toll price was maximum Rs.20, paying
100 bucks for such crappy roads was a pain!!
Anyways, thanks to bad roads & fog once we hit Haryana,
we reached home by 12am.
Digging into a quick Maggi dinner before crashing…we could
just reflect on one thing.
We covered 3050 kms in 5 days flat!!!! :) :) :)
…and we managed so much in just 5 days!!!
Definitely one of the BEST trips for Ek Musafir, Ek Hasina
& Ek Raahgir!!!
Till we meet again with a new adventure!! :) :) :)
