Next morning, after breakfast, first I went with Colonel uncle to the local market to get fish. We purchased local fish and got it cleaned and
packed for dinner. We also purchased dhokla and ate gujarati snacks for
the first time in this trip. Today our destination is Little Rann of Kutch (yes, we didn't go to the Greater Rann of Kutch, but settled for the Little One). We reached Desert Courses resort in kutch in Zainabad District around
2.30 pm. It has a very rustic and camp like environment. The environment friendly cottages are locally known as Koobas, they have a traditional design and are ethnic and comfortable. Koobas are equipped with all modern amenities, air-conditioning and have attached bathrooms with hot and cold showers. Swings are present outside. We handed our purchased fish to the hotel staff for serving during dinner.
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| Adjacent Cottages with ethnic design and swings outside |
The dining area has an array of salads, traditional gujarati food and desserts. After lunch, we started for our safari to the rann in their vehicle. We saw a lot of wild ass and few nilgais (male and female) during the safari. We also saw a flock of flamingos on a lake nearby.
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| Nilgai's at the Rann |
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| Wild Ass at the Rann - A well behaved group |
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| Flock of Flamingos at the lake |
The
land was so dry that it looked like a famine hit area. It was very dusty as
well and there was no way to escape this as the jeeps are open. Then we saw the salt pan which are spread across the Rann. Here salt is extracted by traditional very less energy intensive methods which are unimaginable in today's day and age, and collected
before the big businesses pick it up for refinement.
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| Salt Pan at the Rann |
We waited on the Rann till
the sun set on the horizon and the moon came up. It was a full moon night and it was a beautiful sight. However, I could not capture the sun and the moon in the same frame (limitation of an amateur photographer and the foolishness of not carrying a tripod). After that it became freezing cold,
we left and came back to the resort.
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| Sunset at the Salt pan in Rann |
There was a bonfire set up and dinner was excellent. The chef had fried our fishes to perfection and we ate it to our heart's content. It was a happy and content day for all of us.
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| Dining area at the Desert Coursers |
Like every other day, our day began
early. After hot bath and breakfast, we began our journey to Modhera for
the famous Sun Temple. The temple was built in 11th century by the
Maharaj of Patan. The structure is divided into three parts - Surya Kund, Sabha
Mandap and Guda Mandap. In the Surya Kund, there are innumerable stone
steps leading devotees down to its base. 108 miniature shrines are carved in
between the steps inside the tank. Interesting thing was the interlocking
structure of the stones that protected the temple during the 2002 earthquake.
The main temple is on a lotus base. There are 365 elephants for each day
of the year. There are 53 intricately carved pillars on the Sabha
representing 52 weeks of the year. The carvings depicts episodes from Ramayan
and Mahabharat. The exterior wall has 12 statues of the Sun God along
with dikpals, agni, ganesh and vishwakarma. There are also erotic
sculptures just like Khajuraho. We hired a guide who gave us a tour of the
temple and helped click some nice group pictures. It is a beautiful piece of
architecture that left me spellbound.
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| Modera Sun Temple |
Then we started for Rani ni vav and had
lunch on the way. This is a 11th century 7 storeyed well constructed by Queen
Bhanumati, wife of Bhimdev Solanki, ruler of Patan in 11th century. The
idea of stories is to avoid the problem of pulling water through rope.
Instead residents could climb down the stairs to the level where water is
and collect it. The water comes from the underground and rises up the
levels. This is a unesco world heritage site - archaeological survey
excavated the site in 1958. The main attraction is the uniquely designed
pillars depicting idols of brahma, yama and 12 avatars of Vishnu. The water now
can be seen in the ground level and is extremely dirty. The structure also had
been renovated and has been given the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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| Rani ni Vav |
We completed the tour in an hour and started for
Akshardham. On the way, Rajani fed us custard jellies which she purchased
from Pondicherry. We reached Akshardham around 6.30pm. It is a huge
structure constructed in the name of Swaminarayan. The idol inside is
golden and his hair, teeth, hair and other articles are kept in a
museum. Due to the massive crowd, we couldn't get tickets for light
and sound show, and the water show. I had heard amazing stories of the
Delhi Akshardham Temple, however, this was not so amazing. Also, photography was not allowed, hence, couldn't get any pictures.
While I continue describing my Gujarat trip, to view more photos, visit Flickr Gujarat
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