Monday, April 17, 2017

Rann Of Kutch


Located in the plain lands of Gujarat, India this beautiful place is amalgamation of the cultural heritage, vivid landscapes and modern thoughts.

There are TWO Desserts in the area surrounded by Arabian Sea on one side and sharing borders with Pakistan and Rajasthan(India):
  •       Little Rann of Kutch
  •     Great Rann of Kutch

One needs a week to explore the Rann at the fullest, but can be accelerated to four days.
Here is the tourist maps for the Kutch region in Gujarat, India.

Travel Map:



Commute:

Direct:
  • Train from Mumbai to Bhuj. (Cheapest)
  •  Flight from Mumbai to Bhuj. (Fastest)
  •  Bus from Mumbai/Pune to Bhuj. (If Instant Plans)

Alternative:
  •     Mumbai to Ahemdabad/ Rajkot/ Surendranagar – Cab or Bus to Bhuj.
  •          Mumbai to Jamnagar – Ship to Mandvi / Kandla.




Places to Visit:

   Anjar
o   Jesal Toral Shrine
o   Shopping Center for Traditional Kutchi Items.
  Mandvi
o   Beach
o   Temples
o   Vijay Villas Palace

      Ports
o   Mundra
o   Kandla
o   GandhiDham

  Bhuj
o   Aina Mahal
o   Sharad Baug Palace
o   Kutch Museum
o   Bhuj Palace
o   Bhuj Mountain
o   Dadavadi Jain Temple
o   Bhuj Lake / Hamirsar Lake
o   Trimandir
o   AshapuraMa Madh (Temple)
o   Chariot Temple (Rath Derasar)
o   Hill Garden
o   SuralPith (Jaleshawar Mahadev)
o   Mahashri Chatardi

  Little Rann of Kutch

o   Wild Ass Sanctuary
o   Dholavira

  Greater Rann of Kutch
o   Black Mountain (Kalo Dungar)
o   Tropic of Cancer Line
o   India Bridge (Police permission required)
o   Dhorado ( Rann festival Area)
o   Hodka
o   Rudramata Mandir
o   Lakhpat Border/ fort (Police permission required)
o   Narayan Sarovar (Police permission required)
o   Indus Valley Site
o   Matano Madh (Police permission required)
o   Buddha Caves
o   Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary (Police permission required)
o   Naliya (Police permission required)
o   Koteshwar (Police permission required)
o   Charri Dandh

MY TRIP

This time the short trip lasted for 3 days with Family after taking a private vehicle from Rajkot.
Reached Rajkot from Pune via Bus.

Bhuj is the center connection to reach different places for the trip, atleast the most important ones.

Day1: Rajkot- Anjar

Started at 1:00pm in the afternoon for Anjar and reached there by evening 5:00pm passing by excellent State Highway and Windmill sites.

We relaxed in a Regional Jain Dharmasala, which is in the city center and enjoyed our Site seeing for Jesal toral Samadhi and Mata Madh of Anjar. We topped up our energy by shopping some traditional artifacts, Clothes, Purses, Shoes and Sweet preparation.
** Kutchi shopping is suggested at Anjar as it is more competitive in price and variety offered.

Inside of the Jesal-Toral Shrine


Day2: Anjar- Bhuj – White Dessert

Started at 9:00am morning for Bhuj and reached our destination by 10:30-11:00am. On the way you would come across the Bhujio Dungar (Bhuj Hills) with wide spread walls.

Bhujio Dungar



As soon as we reached Bhuj we reached Hamirsar lake and Kutch Museum. 

Stone Carving @ Kutch Museum


By 1:30pm we left for Kalo Dungar and reached there by 4:00 pm passing through the Tropic of Cancer.
The Drive was amazing seeing the plant less mountain and traditional colorful attired natives.
The Scene from Kalo Dungar is amazing, where we can see the manmade foldable India Bridge crossing the water logged white dessert with Military posts.

Way towards Kalo Dungar

View from Kalo Dungar


After spending sometime exploring the beauty with binoculars and sipping over hot tea with Bhaji and local fruits we moved ahead towards Dhordo, the place where the Rann Utsav is held.
Reaching Dhordo we can see walk and enjoy ourself in the Salt logged flat land, The White Dessert.
One needs to register and cannot go by private vehicle unless permitted before in the dessert. The counters can help you to register and then take a ticket to travel in the military protected dessert where you can go via camel ride or state transport or walk through the center pathway with white dessert on both the side.

Great Rann of Kutch Sunset

Great Rann of Kutch Sunset

Great Rann of Kutch

Salt of the Rann

Great Rann of Kutch Sunset


Tradition Kutch Home Architecture / Ticket Center for the Rann of Kutch



I would prefer one going to the place early morning or evening and enjoy the sunset.
One can prefer staying in the desert camps or hotels and enjoy the night sky gazing and market.
We left from Dhordo by 9pm and reached back to Bhuj around 10:30pm.

Day3: Bhuj - Mandvi

After morning breakfast we continued our sightseeing for the Aina Mahal and Bhuj Palace seeing the market.  From the bell tower of the Bhuj Palace one can see the whole city and the musical construction of Aina Mahal makes you flow into the memories of the old king likings with the impressions left behind by British visitors.


Kutch Palace



Left around 11:00 am for Vijay Villas Palace, Mandvi.

One of the well maintained palace of still ruling King of Kutch where there are number of Bollywood shootings done. The wonderful private space of the palace which starts with the lush green entrance with private temple and ends with the private beach for the royals. The private beach is now a heritage hotel for people to enjoy lavish time.

Vijay Villas Palace
 From Vijay villas palace we went to the Mandvi Beach to end the journey by the Arabian Sea.
It has clean water and quite a bit sports like other beach. The beach is quite calm but at time it is life taking so swim with caution and as per the directives by Beach attendants.

Beach


Cost:

The total trip costed : 3000 INR per person because of private vehicle and budget hotels from Rajkot - Rajkot :)


1 comment:

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