Exploring Kutch by Jayant Doshi

On my annual trip to Mumbai I decided

to explore Kutch – the largest district of Gujarat

and north of my ancestral homeland -

Saurastra. Instead of taking the fast route by

air we decided to take the leisurely trip by

train. Instead of the rush to the airport, check

in, going through security and all that hassle,

the train journey was peaceful and relaxing.

Accompanied by my nephew and his wife from

Poona, who booked and planned the whole

trip, we left Bandra soon after lunch and

arrived at Bhuj, main city of Kutch, at

breakfast time next morning. Our time was

occupied by playing cards. Sleeping in the air conditioned coach, with the rollicking of the carriages

and the noise of the rails gave a reminder of our train journeys in childhood in Kenya. We had a

cabin of four for us with cushioned berths and

bedding provided.

Unlike most places in India, where

swarm of porters would scramble for your

baggage, we could not find any porters in Bhuj

and had to carry our baggage over the bridge

to the other side of the station. Bhij seemed

like a dusty small town with mostly single

storey buildings. But after the devastating

earthquake of 2001 I am told that lot of new

buildings have sprung up in this town. The

town was surrounded by low lying hills.

Kutch is basically a salt marsh – it submerges

in water during rainy season and when water dries the ground becomes snow white and it is

famous for that. Unlike other deserts it does not have loose sand. While there are some grains,

vegetables and cotton are grown in Kutch, most arid areas have thorny bushes. Underground

water in most parts when brought out is salty. As such Kutch has severe water shortage but that

issue will be resolved in the near future with waters of Narmada dam coming to Kutch. In spite of

its huge land mass it has a population of only

1.5 million though I am told that after the

earthquake the numbers have reached this but

before that it had dropped to half that figure

due to large scale migration of population.

Just like Suarastra, Kutch was barren

and economic prospects were not too bright

which led to many of its people migrating to

other big cities or migrating to Africa and

further afield. Those migrants prospered,

specially large numbers of Jains who left

Kutch, but they kept their ties to their

motherland. Today, those prosperous Kutchis

are doing lot of charity work and helping

Kutch to prosper. Many of these migrants

have maintained and built homes in their

place of birth. Jains have built lots of new

Derasars or renovated and refurnished old

Derasars. I am told that people of Kutch, even

if they have migrated, have great loyalty and

love for their homeland. I can vouch this from

my experience on this trip.

We have relatives in Mumbai whose

parents came to Mumbai long time back. The

person arranged hotel for us, booked a taxi,

drew up a plan and gave all instructions.

During our week stay he phoned several times to ensure that everything was going well and

checking on what we had seen. He phoned the hotel everyday to ensure that we were properly

looked after. He phoned the taxi driver to ensure that he took care of us. As if this all was not

enough he flew to Bhuj for a day, took us to his home village where they are rebuilding their family

home, accompanied us to a few derasars and spent the evening with us which was wonderful.

What he did for us cannot be described in words but it made our trip successful and so wonderful,

but it also showed his love and loyalty to his homeland even though he himself was born in

Mumbai and has spent his life in Mumbai.

After arriving in Bhuj we arrived at

Hotel Prince, had breakfast and freshened up

before we left for our sightseeing at 11.00.

While the hotel was old, it had been

refurbished to a very high standard. The

rooms were very spacious, and the

furnishing, the decor and workmanship was

of exceptionally high standard. I was amazed

to see such a good hotel in a small town like

Bhuj. We had our breakfast and dinners at

the hotel and found the food also of very high

standard.

Our first visit was to the village of Bhadreshwar where we visited the Vasai Jain Temple. It

is said that 45 years after Lord Mahavir’s Nirvana, one of his disciples came to this place and built

this derasar. Over the centuries the temple must have built and rebuilt several times. In 2001

earthquake the hundred year temple was badly damaged but with generous donations from the

rich Jain community, who had migrated decades

before, the temple is now in immaculate

condition. I was informed that one idol in the

temple was 900 years old while rest were new

ones.

Our next stop was at Mundra which has

an ultra modern sea port but visitors were not

permitted to visit the port. The town is famous

for its bandhni sarees. Obviously the ladies

could not forego the chance to do some buying.

After lunch we visited 72 Jinalaya Derasar in

Kodai near the beach resort of Mandvi. The

temple has hundreds of idols. These include

idols of previous 24 tirthankars, 24 of the

present tirthankars as known by Jains today

and 24 of the future tirthankars – and hence

the name 72 Jinalayas. There was a board

naming all these 72 tirthankars, the period

when they lived, name of their parents, their

height (in bow length) and how long each one did or would live. To a non-Jain or a non-believer, the

heights and the ages mentioned would seem incredulous.

In the same compound a new temple had been built for a sadhu who managed to do 44

varsitaps (alternate day fasting for 44 years) and whose 100th birthday was being celebrated

during our visit. The statute of the sadhu also had sunglasses which I assume he wore during his

life time.

While walking around the compound of the Derasar I saw some sadhvis walking down led

by two young sadhvis carrying the fans – and

they were not even 12 years old at the most. I

was shocked to see such young sadhvis.

When I commented on this I was told that in

Palitana, the most important pilgrimage

destination for Jains, it was common to see

children as young as 10 years being made

into sadhu and sadhvi. How a child that

young can make the big decision to renounce

life and accept a life as sadhu for life was

beyond my comprehension. A few cases of

abuse of young boys by sadhus have come

out in the recent years – and those boys were

not even sadhus. If young children are

persuaded to become sadus, what is there to stop their abuse? To renounce life without knowing

its implications is something a child cannot visualise or decide. The question came to my mind –

who is to blame? Are those who convince them to become sadhus are guilty or those who follow the

religion and allow this to happen?

As a visit to Mundra port was refused

for security reasons, we went to see Mandvi

beach. The beach had a few people around

with games for children, camel ride etc. While

the beach was nice, swimming in the sea was

prohibited because it was dangerous.

Next morning we visited Kothara – a

sleepy little village and dusty like most of

Kutch. Like other villages we visited to

worship at Jain Derasars, the number of Jains

remaining had dwindled in this place. Most

Jains from Kutch have migrated and very few

families are left to take care of Derasars,

Dharamsalas and kitchens operated by them.

Instead of hundreds of Jain families most

villages now had dozen or so Jain families left.

The Derasar in Kothara was painted in silver

colour to preserve the particular type of stone

with which it was built. A huge bell was made

in London (1860) and the Derasar was 151

years old. One crore rupees (approx.

£120,000.00) was spent on the Derasar after

the earthquake damage. Even if a small

proportion of that amount was to be spent on

the village the difference it would have made would been great.

Our next stop was at the village of Suthri. The derasar was well made and the finish looked

expensive. It had residential facilities also. All these were maintained by generous donations from

Kutchi Jains who migrated and had done well in life. Most of these facilities were not much used

as number of visitors was limited. After this we visited Derasars in Sandhan, Tera and Lakkho.

Lakkho Derasar was 164 years old. I was told that the Jain population had dwindled from 750

families to 22 families. The last Derasar for the

day was in the village of Naliya. This Derasar I

was told could be anywhere between 160 and

400 years old. We passed the village of

Madhavpur which is considered as the richest

village in Kutch with posh bungalows and

houses built by rich Kutchis who could afford to

build these in their home town, and use them

when they visit their home town. In the evening

we went to Bhujodi which was destroyed in the

earthquake and has been totally rebuilt. A

wonderful shopping park has been built to

display and sell handloom products.

There is not much economy to look forwards to in Kutch though since the earthquake new

developments and investment in industries has improved the prospects. One can see influx of

people from poorer states of India flocking to Kutch. All the staff at our hotel was from Nepal. We

also met people from Bihar, Rajasthan and others during out stay.

While we visited only Jain Derasars, it must be remembered there are lots of Hindus and Muslims

in Kutch and we passed their temples and mosques during our travel. But there were enough

Derasars to see to give us any time to visit any other place.

Next morning we had a surprise by the arrival of our relative and friend from Mumbai. He

took us to his home village of Dohn where the family home was being completed and decorated.

While the house was made to a high

standard, our friend was frank to admit that

he was not very sure if it was a good idea to

build the house as he was very doubtful if he

and his wife would really come much to this

place, and that he was sure children would

hardly ever visit it. But sentimental

attachment overtook logical decision. After

that we visited the home village of his in-laws,

Dedhia where a huge Derasar also had a

replica of Samet Sikhar (the holiest pilgrimage

site for Jains) built in its compound. The

replica was big enough for one to actually

walk over the small mountains and get the

satisfaction of having done Samet Sikher jatra.

Kutch is part of the State of Gujarat. Gujarat has the fastest growing economy in India and

has been promoting tourism in a big way. As a part of this it has Rann Utsav (literally translated

“Desert Festival”) which is being held for the

last seven years. Because of its success it has

been extended to 45 days this year. While most

of the year Kutch is unbearably hot, it gets quite

cool during winter and that is when Kutchis

who have migrated visit Kutch. As such the

Rann Utsav is held in December and January.

After breakfast in the hotel we went to

the pickup point to travel to the Rann Utsav

which was about two hours drive from Bhuj to

Dhondo where the Utsav was being held. We

reached the location of Rann Utsav, had our

breakfast and then went to our tents where

our baggage was delivered. We settled own in

our tents, had a few games of cards and it

was time for lunch.

The arrangements for the Utsav were

very impressive. Our tent was large with two

beds, side lamp, main light, air conditioner,

fan, heater, torch, fire extinguisher, towels and

good quilt and blanket. At the back was a sink, toilet and shower tray where we had boiling hot

water. There was accommodation for roughly 600 guests. Some tents were without air conditioning

while some tents were for VIPs. There were also huge tents for dining, film, library, arts and crafts,

games, etc. The ground was covered with

plastic sheets to avoid dust. Each group of

tents had a “help” tent, sitting facilities and

swings. A place was reserved for yoga.

Transport for elderly and disabled was

provided.

After lunch we were taken to visit

handicrafts in a nearby village. There was not

much to see. After that we were taken to see

the sunset and white sands of Kutch desert. It

had rained two days earlier and as such the

grounds had puddles of water and had

become slushy. A road had been built on the

desert grounds to allow coaches to go as far as

possible. We saw the sunset which was nice but for the white sands the buses could not go any

further as the ground was water logged. The brave ones removed their shoes and walked to see

the white sands. When the grounds are wet, the salt in the sand comes out and gives white look to

the desert. I am told that in dry weather the same grounds look almost black.

The Rann Utsav normally covers two

nights three day periods but it has two slots of

three nights and four days which we had

selected. The next morning, soon after breakfast,

we left to see the Indo-Pakistan border which

has more a fever of nationalism attached to it

rather than a site worth visiting. The border with

Pakistan near Amritsar was a very exciting

affair so this was a huge disappointment. When

we reached the end of our journey we found out

that we were not allowed near the border - the

coach stopped at least a kilometre before the

border. So all we could see from a very long

distance was some buildings and some fence.

After this disappointment lunch came as a pleasant surprise. Lunch was organised in tents which

were brought in the morning from our abode,

and our delicious hot meal was cooked on site.

But it became a long day sitting in the coach

and seeing nothing to remember. Almost

twelve hours in the coach over roads which

were good but still had pot holes and bumps,

was tiring long day for all.

Next day we left at 8.00 soon after our

breakfast. Today we had the choice of either

Mandvi beach or Narayan Sarovar. And as we

had been to the former we opted for the later.

Adjoining Narayan Lake is Koteshwar Temple

and Mata Madh Ashapura. Each one is

surrounded by certain myths and that is why they are important pilgrimage sites. We got a poor

coach and the trip lasted for almost 14 hours making it a very tiring day. Narayan Lake, no bigger

than a large pond, was green with moss. Unless the visit was out of religious fervour, it was a

wasted day.

Arrangements for Rann Utsav were

fabulous. The food arrangements were perfect.

Food was served hot and varieties over the

four day period were mouth watering. With

almost 600 people to feed, even rotis were

served one at a time straight from the fire.

With so many tents the organisers could have

arranged for some sort of entertainment during

daytime so those who do not wish to go on a

long ride could stay and enjoy. Rann Utsav

would have become memorable if it had been

made enjoyable also. Instead of hours of

travelling to see some places it would have

been better if participants were given a

glimpse of Kutch life and culture.But our two days spent on the coach did not give us much, if any,

enjoyment.

Every evening, after dinner, there was cultural program depicting ras, garba and dandia ras

of Gujarat. The program was from one and

half to two hour duration. Compereing was of

poor standard – the compere was not sure

whether to speak in Gujarati, Hindi or

English and mixed all and made a mess of it.

I was hoping to see cultural program that

reflected the local life style but I was

disappointed. The performance was given by

a professional group from Bhavnagar.

Naturally the performance was of a high

standard and we enjoyed the same. Some

Kutch cultural performances with a touch of

Kutch costumes would have been icing on the

cake but I guess they did what they thought

was best - or they had their limitations.

Rann Utsav was over and after

breakfast we packed and boarded our coach.

On the way back to Bhuj we were taken to

Kala Dungar (Black Mountain) which is

surrounded by hills and a disappearing jungle

with wild animals. A fox appears twice a day

at arti time at the temple which has been built

on the mountain. I assume the fox has got

used to the fact that food will be available at

that time and it appears – though to the devout

pilgrims it is a miracle they see. Kutch overall

is very flat. Only Bhuj has some hills

surrounding it. I was told that Kala Dungar

was the highest point in Kutch at 458 metres. From this mountain one can see the white desert at

a distance.

We arrived in Bhuj, had our lunch and then we embarked on sightseeing in Bhuj. We visited

the museum which was quite interesting as it showed the rich culture, the range of arts and

handicrafts and its glorious past. Rajasthan

was prosperous when the silk route to Middle

East and Europe was buzzing. But with the

discovery of sea route from Europe to India,

the silk route faded and people moved on in

search of a living and that is when many

moved to Gujarat and Kutch. Kutch museum

gave a glance at the clothing and arts of Kutch

which were a reflection of Rajashthan and a

glimpse at its rich culture and past. After that

we visited the impressive and huge

Swaminarayan Temple. No expense was

spared in making this huge temple complex.

Our next stop was at the Queen’s Palace

which gave a glance at the past glory of the kingdom of Kutch. We did some shopping, went to our

hotel, collected our luggage and left to take our train back to Mumbai.

Our tour was over. Kutch has not much to offer except lots of Derasars who wish to do a

pilgrimage but for us it became a memorable trip thanks to our friends in Mumbai who put all the

efforts and their heart in making our trip so successful.

(email : jubhai@aol.com and website www.jayantdoshi.yolasite.com)