RANN UTSAV – THE DESERT FESTIVAL

The Great Rann of Kutch in Gujarat is known not only for its contrasting and awe-inspiring landscape but also for its 4-month long desert festivity – Rann Utsav – that glorifies the colorful culture and traditions, aesthetic art and crafts and generous Kutchi hospitality of the region. The desert plains of Rann of Kutch transform into an oasis of domestic and foreign tourists during Rann Utsav, which is organized by Gujarat Tourism every year during winter. Rann Utsav, the carnival of music, dance and folklore, offers an excellent opportunity to the tourists to indulge in leisure, pleasure, and merriment. This year, the festival of Rann Utsav is organized with an enlarged scale and scope from 24th October, 2022 to 28th February, 2023. The wholesome package of nature’s splendor, fun, entertainment, adventure, leisure, sightseeing, and cultural ecstasy is waiting to be explored.

One of the largest districts in India, Kutch offers a variety of attractions in addition to the famous Rann Utsav festival. If a trip to Rann Utsav 2022-2023 is on the cards, let’s explore the places of interest in Kutch.

Around 290 km from the popular Rann Utsavsite i.e. Dhordo,the archaeological site at Dholavira offers an insight into the 5000-year old Indus Valley Civilisation, the palaces of Bhuj house incredible art treasures, and scores of fortified villages are worth-visiting for their heritage. The northern and eastern areas of Rann of Kutch comprise a vast white rann called the Great Rann of Kutch, while the southwest is fringed by lovely beaches like Mandvi with soft sands and calm waters. Birds abound at White Rann, lakes and grasslands, while endangered mammals like the wild ass, caracal, wolf and chinkara gazelle can be seen in the Rann and the Banni grassland.

Most of all, Rann ofKutch is famous for its rich living heritage of handicrafts – embroideries, bandhani tie-dye, block printings, metal crafts, woodwork, pottery and some rare arts thrive in the district, which makes the festival of Rann Utsav so colourful.

CENTRAL KUTCH

Approx. 80 km from the Rann Utsav site, the district capital, Bhuj, offers an introduction to Rann of Kutch in its monuments, museums, markets and craft parks. The Bhujia Fort rises up from a hill overlooking Bhuj, while the Hamirsar Lake to the west and Desalsar to the east flank the town attracting birds when they contain enough water.

The Darbargadh or walled palace complex is an imposing sight, rising up beside the lake. Inside this complex, you can see ornate balconies and carvings on the wall. Among the old buildings in this complex, the Aina Mahal was the old palace built during the reign of the flamboyant 18th century Jadeja Rajput ruler, Rao Lakha. The palace exhibits the craftsmanship of Ram Singh, who was rescued from a shipwreck and spent many years in the Netherlands learning arts like tile making, enameling, clock making, stone carving, glass blowing and metal casting. When he returned to Gujarat, he found a willing patron in Rao Lakha who commissioned him to build palaces at Bhuj and Mandvi. The palace has ivory inlaid doors, Delft blue tiles, chandeliers, enameled silver utensils and objects, chiming clocks and marble walls covered with mirrors and gilt. It also exhibits high quality crafts of Kutch like embroidery, scroll painting and jeweled weaponry. The Fuvara Mahal, where the Maharao listened to music, is a showpiece of the palace. Unfortunately, many areas of this palace are not accessible, due to earthquake damage, at the time of writing.

The Pragmahal Palace, which is currently undergoing a major renovation, is an impressive building across the courtyard. Built in 1865 during the reign of Maharao Pragmalji, this elaborate palace was designed by Colonel Wilkins. The highlight of the palace is the opulent Durbar Hall, which is decorated with Shakespearan figures, Minton tiles, carving, gilding and statues. The veranda, the Zanana for women and corner towers are equally elaborately decorated.

To the southwest of Hamirsar Lake, the Sharad Bagh Palace was built in the 19th century. It was a favoured garden retreat of the Maharaos and its appealing features include its garden. The small porticoed buildings are delicately proportioned. It has a beautifully appointed drawing room and collections of the Maharao’s heirlooms, including stuffed animals and tennis trophies. Just south of Hamirsar, a path leads to the 250-year old Ramkund tank, decorated with skillfully crafted religious images. You can see the niches in the walls where oil lamps would glitter in the dusk during the evening puja.

From here, you can continue east to the Kutch Museum, which is known for its outstanding collection of Saka inscriptions, a coin collection including Kutch koris, an excellent section dedicated to musical instruments, a shipping display, sculptures and handicrafts. The Chhatardi complex includes the cenotaphs of successive Maharaos or rulers of Kutch. Though badly earthquake-damaged, they still reflect the high quality of sandstone sculpture that existed inRann of Kutch.

Take the Mandvi Road to visit Bharatiya Sanskruti Darshan, the folk museum of Kutch designed by a scholar named Ramsinhji K Rathod. This museum showcases the architecture of the bhungas (the earthen roundhouses of Rann of Kutch), the rich handicraft heritage of the region and literature of Rann of Kutch.

From Bhuj, a drive of about 15 minutes will bring you to Bhujodi, known for its award winning weavers. Called Vankars, the weaver families produce colourful shawls, traditional blankets like dhablas and floor coverings like woolen durries. The shawls and other products are distinguished by their intricate woven patterns, tight weaving and embellishments with tie-dye or embroidery. Many of the weavers of this village have won prestigious national awards for their work. The weavers work on a throw shuttle or a fly shuttle pit loom, or occasionally frame looms. The colourful shawls and durries of Bhujodi are usually woven with motifs, which have been passed down through generations of artisan communities. While wool was sourced from the pastoral communities like the Rabaris, the weavers today also use cottons, Merino wools, acrylics and silks. The shawls may be embellished further with tie-dye, mirror work embroidery and other handwork.

Bhujodi is also known for Rabari and Marwada embroidery. You will also find Marwadas working on carving wood in Bhujodi. In the village, you may find Dhebaria Rabari women and girls doing their distinctive embroidery.

From Bhujodi, it is a short drive to the villages of Dhaneti and Paddhar, which have substantial Ahir populations. Ahirs are traditionally a pastoral group that identifies itself with the Gope Culture of Lord Krishna, but today many of the Ahir men are in businesses like truck transportation. Several Ahir women in villages of Kutch, like Dhaneti, Paddhar, Tappar, Lodai, Ratnal, etc. continue to do embroidery for their own use and for a second source of household income. Ahir embroidery is known to be largely in a flowing style, with peacock, floral and other motifs, and circular patterns. They use ladder chain stitch, herringbone stitch and round mirrors. Paddhar is also home to the Dhebaria Rabari, a pastoral group that also lives in villages like Makhiyan, Bhardoi, Mamuara, Nadapa, Raydhanpar, Varnora and Dudhai. The Dheberia Rabari embroidery is known for its highly-skilled work and accent stitches, but many of them no longer do embroidery because of a ban imposed by elders in the community. You may still be able to get some fine work with detailing in these villages. Some of their border motifs derive from Sindh and the princely courts of Rann of Kutch.

A short distance from these villages, Dhamadka and Ajrakhpur are well-known centres of Ajrakh, richly-printed fabrics. Predominantly blue with red and white accents, the Ajrakh is said to be well-suited to the extremes of the desert – the combination of colours makes them cooling in summer and warming in winter. The rich prints on the surface of the Ajrakh fabric is achieved through a highly-evolved process, which includes different stages of mordant-dyeing and resist-printing. This elaborate process can take weeks to complete and uses a large number of engraved printed blocks for selective dyeing. Indigo, madder and other mineral & earth colours are used for Ajrakh painting.

Near these villages, the Khamir Craft Resource Centre on Kukma Road is working on interventions to upgrade handloom weaving, ajrakh block printing, leather craft, lac turned wood, metal bell, pottery, and silver jewelry craft sectors in Kutch. They are also promoting declining skills like namada or felt-making in Kutch.

From Kukma, you can travel onward to Anjar, which is known for its bandhani and metal crafts. Anjar’s markets are excellent places to look for ornamented knives, nutcrackers and other metal handicrafts.

NORTH TO THE DESERT

Travelling north on the Bhuj-Khavda highway, you pass grasslands dotted with villages of Muslim pastoral groups who graze their livestock here, and also villages of Sodha Rajputs and Meghwals who are mostly migrants from Sindh. The women of each of the different communities, whether they are Hindu pastoralists like the Rabaris, Muslim pastoralists like the Jats and the Mutwas, or artisans like the Meghwals, specialise in a distinctive style of embroidery. Sumrasar Shaikh is an important centre for the Soof embroidery of the Sodha Rajputs, as are villages like Kuran, Loriya, Bibbar, etc. on this route. The Meghwal Harijan is an artisanal group spread across a number of villages like Bhirandiara, Sadai, Dumado, Dhrobana, Kuran, Tuga, Andhau, Gorewali, Dhordo, etc, and practices embroidery styles like Soof, Paako, Kharek, Kambira and Kudi, which vary with the village. Garasia Jat women, in villages like Sumrasar Jathwali, stitch an array of geometric patterns in counted work based on cross stitch studded with minute mirrors. They are known for their superbly embroidered yokes. Dhaneta and Fakiriani Jaths embroider tiny bars of tight satin stitch with radiating circles of a couched stitch. The villages of Bhirandiara, Hodka, Gorewali, Dhordo and Dumado are known for their appliqué or patchwork. The Jadeja Rajput women of villages like Bibbar also do applique work. Dhordo and Gorewali are excellent places for the minutely detailed embroidery of the Mutwas. Hodka, Dhordo and other villages produce embroidered leather products. As the women of these groups do embroidery for their personal use and a second income, this is one of the highest concentration areas of craftswomen in the world. Khavda and Kuran are villages known for weaving, pottery and other handicrafts. Continuing from Khavda towards the border, you find traditional weavers of goat hair and camel hair products.

From Khavda, drive to the Dattatreya Temple atop Kala Dungar, which is called the Black Hill of Kutch.The Kala Dungar and Goro Dungar hills are covered with grassland, scrubland, rocks and ponds that support faunal populations. These hills can be good to see some typical birds of the scrubby and barren habitats. The Dattatreya Temple on Kala Dungar is the site for a unique daily event – when the priests of this temple offer food and call Lo-aang, jackals and other animals come to feed!

From the hill, you can get a panoramic view of the salt-encrusted Rann of Kutch.

Make a base at Dhordo to visit theWhite Rann. A vehicle, camel or camel cart, can take you from one of the tent camps or ethnic resorts here to the white expanse of White Rann, most beautiful on a full moon night.

WEST KUTCH

Around 70 km west of Rann Utsav site, you come to the village of Nirona, which is the centre for the rare art of Rogan, now practiced only by the family of Khatri Abdulgafoor Daud, who has won national awards for this art. Rogan is the art of painting fabrics using castor oil-based colours. Much work goes into creating the castor-oil based paint, which is then rubbed between palms to create a stringy gooey paste from which the colour can come off on an iron rod or wooden stick like threads. He and his nephews create rogan masterpieces for wall hangings and decorations, sarees, tablecloths, wall hangings, skirts, etc. in silk and cotton cloths. At Nirona and nearby villages like Zura, it is possible to see `Vada-kaam’, the work of carpenters who create wooden products which they lacquer in various colours, and the making of melodic bells, cast in iron and covered with copper.

At the edge of the Banni grasslands, a patch of ‘salvadora persica’ trees near Fulay village is extremely interesting for specialty birdwatchers. This patch is one of the few sites in India, where the grey hypocolius is seen.This slender and long-tailed bird is found in the dry semi-desert region of northern Africa, Arabia and Afghanistan, and visits Rann of Kutch in winter.

From Fulay, you can drive to the Charri Dhand, a depression that is a prominent feature of the extensive grasslands of Banni. When this depression fills with water in a year of good rainfall, it becomes a paradise for birdwatchers, attracting countless birds. A winter tour of the Banni grasslands, covering Chhari Dhand and other wetlands, is extremely rewarding for viewing birds. Vast flocks of common cranes can be seen and the lakes are full of ducks and waders. A viewing tower offers a panoramic view of the Chhari Dhand. The grasslands are important areas for watching raptors, including Greater Spotted Eagle, Imperial Eagle, Bonneli’s Eagle, Laggar Falcon and Red Headed Falcon. Chinkara or Indian Gazelle, Wolf, Striped Hyena and other mammals are seen here as well as some interesting reptiles. From the grasslands, you can see Dhinodhar Hills.

Nearby, Mohan Singh Sodha has created a private fossil museum with a standout collection of fossils found in Kutch and a camp. Continuing from here, the road leads to the ancient Buddhist site of Siyot and the fortified town of Lakhpat best known for its historic Gurdvara, associated with Guru Nanak. The Lakhpat Gurudwara has won a UNESCO conservation award.

COASTAL KUTCH

From Lakhpat (around 185 km from the Rann Utsav site), you can travel down to the holy lake of Narayan Sarovar and the shore temple at Koteshwar. Further south, the heritage village of Tera has exquisitely carved havelis, a historic fort, temples and mosques, and an interesting water-harvesting system. Tera Fort has fascinating Ramayana folk murals. Naliya near Tera has a popular Jain temple. Near Naliya is the Lala Sanctuary, home to endangered birds like the great indian bustard, black-naped tit, stolikza’s bushchat, white-backed and long-billed vultures, and the lesser florican. The Narayan Sarovar and Lala Sanctuary also support endangered mammals like wolf and gazelle, while the beaches are used by sea turtles for breeding.

From here, you can continue along the coast to some fine stretches of beach, fruit and palm grove, and bird-rich creeks. The key destination is Mandvi, about 50km from Bhuj airport, which has the majestic Vijay Vilas Palace and beautiful beaches. Once a major port, Mandvi still supports a thriving dhow-building industry at its creeks. It is a market for the handicrafts produced in nearby villages like bandhani and the rare mashru. There is a deluxe tented beach resort in the palace estate.

East of Mandvi are the modern developments of Rann of Kutch like the Mundra Port, Kandla Port, the planned city of Gandhidham and industrial estates.

EASTERN KUTCH

The main focal point of Eastern Kutch is Dholavira (Approx 290 km from the popular Rann Utsav site), the excavations that provide an insight into the Indus Valley or Harappan Civilisation, which was specially mature about 2500-1900 BC. This site shows the town planning of the period, especially the sanitary that was surprisingly sophisticated for the period. The smoothed stone columns, signboard and microbeads are some of the unique finds at Dholavira. There is also a large public area of the kind seen at few Indus sites. A trip to Dholavira can be combined with visiting the Vaghadia Rabari villages nearby to see their embroidery.

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