We are busy muddling 500 years old history as it provides so many excuses to fight, but would you dare to explore 5,000 years old civilization at Dholavira? Caution, it may compel you to think of giving up all those conflicts.
Desert and pleasure, one cant' utter both these words in a single breath. But a human heart could store a desert and a sea both within it. A person could be plentiful even in the middle of the desert and could remain dry even in the middle of the sea. In that sense, the desert of the Kutch is just like a human heart. If you look at its surface, you will find just a white desert, but explore its geographical history and you will get to know that actually, it was a sea then. Yes, the desert has replaced the sea here. In other words, the desert is a successor of the sea. A sea is bound to unleash the physical and metaphysical horizon of mankind. As an heir of the sea, the desert of the Kutch is still preserving that tradition of expanding horizons for mankind.
Usually, one would like to escape from a desert. But the desert of the kutch is actually an escape destination during tourist season. People flock here, gaze at a never-ending white surface and excite to see the reflection on moonlight on the white mirror-like surface.
Wait, another kind of reflection opportunity is also available. That is the opportunity of self-reflection, not only as a person but also as a representative of past and present civilizations, as a citizen of a modern state, and as a resident of the modern urban habitat also. One can ponder about our old age practices of fighting for survival, about how we can challenge climate change, about how we could survive against any future natural calamity. Here is a place, posing so many questions and so many answers waiting to be excavated. An excavation of mind at an excavated city, that was flourished for not less than 1500 years and then suddenly abandoned. No one resettled here thereafter.
Though Gujarat is a highly urbanized state, people of present-day Kutch are not much used to with the term 'megacity'. It is quite amazing for them also that a megacity did exist in the ice land of Khadir. It is called Dholavira for the purpose of simplification as a tiny village of the same name nearby the excavated site.
Then what was the name of that ancient City? Or that region or civilization? No one knows the truth as the script of that age is yet to be deciphered.
Yes, but it is said with conformity that it was indeed a well-developed civilization, nurtured by very intelligent people including architects, artisans, sportspersons, fighters, water conservation experts, town planners, jewelers, and traders and so on. The citadel, water storage system, different residential colonies for various strata of the society, town planning, utensils, tools, and many other things certainly prove that our predecessors were actually more advanced beyond our imagination. Think of our modern messy affairs of towns, and you will realize that we have actually lost many things of our glorious past in run of modern-day progress.
Tourists usually visit a place called Dhordo in the desert of Kutch to take part in “Ran Utsav” literally means “the desert festival.” Dhordo and Dholavira are situated in the same desert but a vast pool of salt marshes divides them. It is quite difficult for a tourist to cover both places on the same trip as it will require altogether different route with a distance of roughly 150 km.
Now, a bridge is being constructed to reduce the distance between two destinations. But, even after the distance will shorten it is unlikely that Dholavira could be as popular as Dhordo as Dholavira requires so much of self-searching travel.
Dholavira just ignites our curiosity. Too many questions will arise in your mind. And you can try to excavate some answers also. Answers for our many modern-day conflicts It solely depends on a tourist if he or she is taking a tour to Dholavira only with camera selfie or for a selfie in a larger sense.
We are very much obsessed with the history of the past 500 years. Because it gets us enough ballistic to fight with each other. But Dholavira has an undeciphered five-thousand-year-old history. One needs to have some extra courage to dwell upon history because it may compel us to forget our present-day conflicts.
Be prepared for a salty desert wind that may irritate your ear and also edged questions that may rattle your soul. From where did those intelligent citizens of Harappan civilization come? Where did they go? What was their citizenship? What was their religion? What was their culture? How did they interact, communicate, trade with people at other centers of Harappan civilization? Were they part of a great empire? Or was it a decentralized urban governance system? Why it had been abandoned?
If strolling at the site causes you to think about our modern conflicts, our fanaticism for political boundaries, our arrogance for our language and culture and more than that ridicule for another language or culture or customs and also about denial of possibility of catastrophic impacts of climate change for the sake of our so-called developmental culture then marks this moment as enlightenment of the eternal fact that we are just a tiny player in the infinite game of time. That moment of realization should be celebrated as real Rann Utsav.
Largest signboard of the Harappan world.
A signboard has been found at the north gate of the Dholavira fort. It may be suggesting the name of the city or the fort or the kingdom or the polity or maybe just a public notice or a religious or community slogan or something else. What is it? We don’t know as the script is yet to be deciphered. There are ten signs or letters or figures or something earmarked on that. It was put at an arched gate, so the intention of drawing public intention is understandable.
Many Indian cities and villages face water shortage after 4-5 months of monsoon. Most towns and megacities have swallowed their water bodies in a mad rush towards development. But this ancient smart city had 16 reservoirs. Look at the design, level, water sourcing and storage, and sewage system, and you will be convinced that citizens of Dholavira were experts and very much concerned about water management.
They kept updating themselves.
No civilization could afford to be rigid. It has to move. It has to adopt changes to sustain. Various generations settled at Dholavira for 1500 long years. Generation after generation kept themselves updating in terms of construction techniques, water management, city fortification, and sustainable development. Earlier generations witnessed frequent earthquakes here so, later on, they tried to create earthquake-resistant structures. But, as the 7th generation deserted the place once, no one returned thereafter. Maybe they were witnesses or victims of some mega catastrophe. An evolving civilization put a full-stop mark here or it was forced upon them.
A sunset point at the desert
Every tourist place has its own sun-set point. So has Dholavira. But here the Sun looks to dissolve itself on the salty slurry of the desert. Reflecting sunlight on white porous salt crystals creates a surreal effect, which one needs to see to believe. When sunlight colors reflect on the salty and watery surface, it creates some mesmerizing lighting effects. Take as many photos as you can or just enjoy the moment.
Check the dinosaur age fossils.
A fossil park just 10 km away from the archeological site must not be missed. You will find age-old stone structures scattered here and there. It provides a beautiful backdrop. A fossil wood has been preserved here in a glass cabin. It is believed to be 1.8 million years old.
A stadium or an open-air theatre
A large stadium-like structure has been found near the north gate of the ancient city. A viewer's gallery with step-like, Amphi theatre-like design in the middle, separate seating arrangements for varied viewers, all make it a perfect stadium. Are they organizing a sports event here? Or it may be for a cultural program or for a parade? Whatever, but it tells a story about a well-developed civilization.
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