India Travel

The earliest records of Diu date from 1298, when it was controlled by the Chudasana dynasty. Soon after, like most of Gujarat, it fell into the hands of invading Muslims and by 1349 was ruled by Mohammed bin Tughluq who successfully boosted the shipbuilding industry. Diu prospered as a Gujarati harbour, and in 1510 came under the government of the Ottoman Malik Ayaz, who repelled besieging Portuguese forces in 1520 and 1521. Well aware of Diu’s strategic position for trade with Arabia and the Persian Gulf, and having already gained a toehold in Daman on the eastern edge of the Gulf of Cambay. the Portuguese did not relent. Under the leadership of Nuno da Cunha, they once more tried, but failed, to take the island in 1531. In 1535 Sultan Bahadur of Gujarat agreed to sign a peace accord with Nuno da Cunha, but when the two leaders met, Bahadur was murdered and the Portuguese took control of Diu, immediately building the fort and a strong wall around the town.

While local traders and merchants thrived under the new rule, many resented paying taxes to boost Portuguese coffers already full with profits from customs duties levied on all vessels using the port. In defiance, local seamen made a series of unsuccessful raids on Portuguese ships. Moghul and Arab attacks were courageously resisted, too, but the Portuguese were finally forced out in 1961 by the Indian government which, after a swift bombing campaign, declared Diu part of India.

Set a little off the southern tip of Saurashtra, the island of DIU, less than 12km long and just 3km wide, was still under Portuguese control only forty years ago.Today, governed as a Union Territory from Delhi along with Daman, it has a relaxed atmosphere quite different from anywhere in central Saurashtra.

Though irs smallish beaches are nowhere near as idyllic as Goa’s, most visitors stay longer than intended, idling in cafes, cycling around the island or strolling along the cliffs. The leisurely pace is also due in part to the lack of alcohol restrictions: the island’s many bars can ply you with a vast array of beers and various hard liquors.

The island is easy to explore by bike. DiuTown in the east is the focus, where a maze of alleys lined with distinctive Portuguese buildings form the hub of the old town, where the fort stands on the easternmost tip of the island, looking out into the Gulf of Cambay. Along the northern coast the island’s main road runs past salt pans that give way to mud flats sheltering flocks of water birds, including flamingoes that stop to feed in early spring,The route skirting the south coast passes rocky cliffs and beaches, the most popular of which is Nagoa Beach, before reaching the tiny fishing village of Vanakbara in the very west of the island.

One bus a day from Bhuj makes the journey to the craft centres of KHAV-DA, HODKO and DHORDO, where clusters of grass-roofed mud huts are decorated with traditional clay and whitewash patterns. You’ll need to stay the night. Another popular craft centre, and an easy day-trip, is the village of LUDIA, though the painted mud huts are more attractive than the local embroidery, which is better at Bhirendiara and Sumeraser on the way. The area around Ludia has adopted a fairly commercial attitude towards tourists, so expect insistent sales pitches.

West of Khavda, the temple community of THAN is home to a small group of Hindu sadhus known as Khanpata ("split-ear") because of the heavy ornaments they wear in their ears. The order was founded by the twelfth-century saint Dharamnath who travelled to Kutch from Saurashtra and practised severe austerities for years on a nearby hill. A temple marking the spot is visited by sadluts year round, and may have been converted from an earlier sun temple by the Kathi tribe.The single daily bus currently leaves Bhuj at 5.15pm (3hr);you can stay overnight at Than’s dharamshttla in return for a donation.

Near Than, the village of BIBER has a temple to Rama decorated with friezes depicting scenes from the Ramayana, executed using a long-forgotten technique known as kamagar. At neighbouring NIRONA you can see cloth painted in the ancient rogan style (though only one family there still does it). There are nine daily buses between Bhuj and Nirona (lhr 30min), In the easternmost part of Kutch, it’s also possible to stay overnight in a dharamshala at the Gandhi Ashram in Lilpur, or beyond that at Rahpur. enabling you to visit the archeological excavations at DHOLAVIRA, an island in the Rann where traces of the ancient Harappan civilization have been discovered. The bus from Bhuj to Dholavira (7hr) leaves in the morning.

The fifty-kilometre journey southeast from Bhuj to KANDLA, India’s busiest port, takes you past dry scrubland. In the small village of Bhujodi. less than 10km out of Bhuj, Rabari men weave thick shawls and blankets on pit looms dug into the floors of squat mud houses decorated with gargomati. You can buy their products from a small shop run by the Bhujodi Handweaving Co-op Society.

The first main town beyond Bhuj, ANJAR, was the capital of Kutch until 1548. It’s an important centre of bright and intricate Ahir embroidery, bandhani, batik and nut-cracker making, and holds busy markets once or twice a week. Further east is GANDHIDHAM. the city planned for Sind refugees who came to Kutch after Partition, An industrial centre, supporting the modern port of Kandla at the mouth of the Gulf of Kutch, Gandhidham holds little attraction for tourists, though it’s convenient for road and rail connections to Rajasthan and Gujarat. Both towns suffered extensive damage in the earthquake. Buses run hourly between Bhuj and Gandhidham (lhr), and there are five trains a day, two continuing to Kandla.

The small, lively fishing port of MUNDRA. 20km east of Mandvi, has tew sights of particular note of its own, but it’s a pleasant place to catch the sea-breeze and buy local crafts. These include batik prints, heavy silver jewellery and unusual woollen namadas, as well as floor coverings, wall-hangings and camel saddles dyed in earthy maroons, blues, yellows and black. A bus ride and a short walk will get you to several small Rabari and Jat villages nearby and, to the east, the Jain temples at Bhadreswar. decorated with immaculate white sculpture, are a focus for pilgrims from all over Gujarat.

Mundra is served by slow buses from Mandvi (8 daily; lhr 30min), but it’s best reached direct from Bhuj, 30km north, by bus (hourly; lhr).The road from Bhuj runs through a dry red-brown rocky landscape, past broad fields of wheat and sunflowers, before approaching the thick walls that circle the town. Basic rooms are available at the Saheb (02838/22356; O and the Eshant (02838/22737; O-O). both near the central crossroads. The main reason to come to Mundra is to take advantage of the new ferry crossing (3-4hr; Rsi55, Rs210 a/c) to Sikka for Jamnagar. Tickets can be booked at Rajchamunda Travels (02838/22511), not far from the bus stand; the boat leaves at 5pm daily and there are transfers at each end of the trip for Rs10.

Hourly buses run between Bhuj and Mandvi (lhr 30min); taxis crammed with as many people as possible make the journey when full, for Rs25 a head. Of the town’s few guesthouses, the clean, modern Sahara, adjoining the city wall some 300m west of the bus stand (02834/20272; 0-6) is the best, and has a dorm (Rs50); the Maiiri Guest House in a smartly painted building 200m further west (02834/20183) is also good; the Shital, near the bridge (02834/21160; 0), is cheap and cheerful. A few kilometres east of town the GTDC Toran Beach Resort (02834/30516) has tents and more luxurious cabins. You can also stay in one of two guesthouses at Vijay Vilas Palace (02834/20043), which although characterful are not very good value by Indian standards; meals (Rs100) are served in the aristocratic dining room. Otherwise the best bet for food is Zorba the Buddha Restaurant on KT Shah Road, west of the bus stand behind an old town gate (1 lam—2pm & 6-10pm), where the renowned thalis have over ten dishes, plus fresh chutneys, pickles and sweets.

Kutch has the most significant and conspicuous population of tribal communities in Gujarat, most of whom migrated from east and west from the seventh century onwards. Each tribe can be identified from its costume, and gains its income from pastoral farming or crafts such as weaving, painting, woodcarving and dyeing. Traditionally, each has concentrated on different crafts, although the distinctions today .ire far less clear-cut.

The Rabari is the largest group in the Kutchi pastoral community, with three main tribes hailing from Marwad in Rajasthan. They rear cattle, buffalo, goats, sheep and camels, sell ghee, weave, and arc known for fine embroidery, The men, most of whom sport a white turban, wear white cotton trousers tight at the ankle and in baggy pleats above the knee, a white jacket (kehdiyun) with multiple folds tucked around chest level and overlong sleeves, and a blanket thrown over one shoulder. Rabari women dress in black pleated jackets or open-backed blouses, full black skirts and tie-dyed head cloths, usually black and red, and always deck themselves with heavy silver jewellery and ivory bangles around the upper arms. Typical houses made of mud or brick are decorated inside with gatgtonctti - a raised pattern of whitewashed mud and dung inlaid with mirrors. Child marriages, customary among the Rabari, are performed over a four- or five-day period in the summer; immediately upon the birth of a daughter, a mother starts embroidering cloth to form the most valuable basis of her dowry. In Bhujodi, near Bhuj, the Rabari weave camel wool on pit looms into blankets and shawls.

Claiming descent from Krishna, the Bharvad tribes infiltrated Gujarat from Vrmdavan, close to Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. Their dress is similar to that of the Rabaris, though the men are distinguishable by the peacock, parrot and flower motifs sewn into their khediyun, and the women by their bright backless shirts, kapaduii, rarely covered by veils. Both men and women wear a thick bori cloth around the waist. Mass marriages take place among the Bharvad every few years, a custom originating as a form of protection in the Muslim period when single girls were frequently victims of abduction (the kidnapping of married girls was heavily punished). In the first week of each September the Bharvads gather at the Trinetresvar temple in Tarnetar, 65km from Rajkot, celebrating with dances and songs and sheltering undeT the shade of embroidered umbrellas made especially for the occasion.

The wandering Ahir cattle-breeders came to Gujarat from Sind, and settled as farmers in Kutch and at Morvi in Saurashtra, where they mixed with other tribes. Baggy trousers and khediyun are worn by the men, together with a white loosely wound head-cloth; the women dress like the Rabaris, with additional heavy silver nose rings.The children’s bright topis, or skull-caps, overlaid with neat fragments of mirrors, are like those common in Pakistan, During Diwali,Ahirs lead their cattle through the streets to be fed by other local communities, which bestows merit on the giver and is good for karma.

The Charans. the long-established bards of Gujarat, encompass in their clans the Maldharis, who raise prize cattle in southern Kutch and the Gir Forest, and the leather-workers known as Meghavals. They claim descent from a celestial union between Charan and a maiden created by Parvati, and many gain almost divine status after death. The women are often worshipped by Other tribes, since their connection with Parvati links them closely to the mother goddess, Ashpura, who is popular in Kutch. The men’s curses were once considered so powerful that they drove their opponents to kill themselves in the hope that the curse would be deflected upon the Charans: such “heroes” are remembered by stone monuments around Kutch depicting a man piercing his neck with a dagger.

Said to have migrated from Pakistan, the Kutchi Jats can be identified by their black dress. Young Jat girls have dainty plaits curving round the sides of their faces, and wear heavy nose rings. Tradition ally semmomadic camel- and cattle-rearers, with houses made of reed (pakha) that aie easily folded and carried from place to place, they have recently begun to settle more permanently.

ing port; few remained, but they left behind grand mansions, imaginatively painted and carved in a style clearly influenced by European tastes.

Mandvi has a leisurely feel, with several chai stalls set among the old houses and cluttered shops stretching west of the estuary. The markets are stocked with bandhani and silver, and one street crashes and clanks with the noise from the iron-forgers’ blackened stalls. The estuary is blocked on the south side by shifting sands, forming a long, uncrowded beach offering good swimming, although camel and horse rides are more popular with Indian tourists. The beach is also the site of the tall windmills that power an electricity plant. Beside the estuary you can see the dhows being hand-built from long wooden planks, with nails up to lm long forged by local blacksmiths. Fifty men spend two years building each ship, many of which still make the long journey to ports in the west, often carrying Muslims to Mecca for the Haj pilgrimage. Flamingoes and other wader birds frequent the mud flats when the tide is out.

Mandvi’s neglected and little-visited Vijay Vilas Palace (daily 8am-lpm & 2-6pm; Rs10, Rs25 extra with camera, Rs100 extra with video), 8km west of town (turn left after 4km), is a sandy-white domed building set in almost 700 acres of land, built as a summer retreat by Kutch’s maharao in the 1940s. Inside, Belgian, British and Italian furniture fills the high-ceilinged carpeted rooms, hunting trophies deck the walls, and a grand stairway leads to the ladies’ quarters on the first floor. Small apartments and cool marble courtyards lie open to the sky, and a pavilion projecting from the roof catches fresh sea breezes and commands excellent views.

The compact town of MANDVI, on the west bank of a wide tidal estuary 60km south of Bhuj, faces the Arabian Sea to the south and supports a dwindling dhow-building industry. In the late eighteenth century it was the docking point for a fleet of four hundred vessels exporting goods from a hinterland that encompassed Gujarat and the lands to the north as far as Jaisalmer. Merchants, seamen and later the British were all keen to settle in this flourish

Bhuj is a useful base for visiting the outlying villages, whether by bus or taxi. If you go by bus, you will have to do some walking to reach some of the most interesting Kutchi settlements, which lie a few kilometres from the nearest roads. There are regular shared taxis for Mandvi, Mundra and Gandhidham, but for most other Kutchi destinations you will have to charter one.

In November 2000 access to the villages of northern Kutch became unrestricted on a trial basis; prior to that, due to the sensitive Pakistani border, you needed a $30 permit. Many trips in this area are best made by taxi as accommodation cannot be guaranteed and bus services are infrequent. At the time of writing it was impossible to verify the extent of earthquake damage in many places around Kutch, including whether the accommodation listed below was stiil viable, so you are advised to check the current situation in advance with Gujarati Tourism.

On the morning of Friday January 26, 201)1, Gujaratis, like their compatriots all over India, were preparing to celebrate Republic Day with parades and family gatherings, when the world caved in on them. At 9.15am, an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Kichter scale rocked the state and. within minute- entire towns were reduced to heaps of fallen masonry.

The epicentre was near Bhachau, east of tthuj, which, along with other Kutchi towns, bore the brunt of devastation.The earthquake was unusually shallow and the impact movement of plates was particularly severe. In Bhachau alone, only 5000 of 25,000 inhabitants survived the immediate collapse of nearly all its buildings. Anjar was also flattened and, in more populous Bhuj. the historic old town was levelled along with its hospitals, leaving the injured nowhere to go for treatment. Gujarat’s biggest city, Ahmedabad, did not escape unscathed, with well over one hundred mostly residential suburban blocks destroyed. Fatalities ran into the hundreds in Rajkot, Jamnagar and as far afield as Sum, while tremors were felt in Delhi and even parts of south India. Although the exact number of deaths is never likely to be known, it is estimated at 30,000-40,000.

In the immediate aftermath, the only people to be seen in the old town of Bhuj - previously home to thousands of families - were parties of security personal pulling out the dead and injured and protecting property from looters. These magnificent buildings had survived quakes in the past, but the sheer velocity and power of this one reduced them to piles of stones in seconds, in the following days, Gujarat is began to arrive from all over India to search for missing relatives and reclaim belongings. Army engineers deemed it too dangerous to enter the more precarious structures, even when bodies were thought to be still inside. Amid these scenes of trauma and desolation, some individuals undertook extremely hazardous but highly paid missions into buildings to retrieve other people’s family treasures.

Unlike other natural disasters on the subcontinent, such as the Orissa cyclone, this earthquake affected every social group, meaning that those responsible for organizing help in the hardest-hit areas were either killed, injured or dealing with personal tragedy themselves. Around 25(1,000 homeless survivors slept out in makeshift camps as winter temperatures dipped to freezing at night; others who had family members outside Gujarat simply gathered whatever they could and left immediately.

Despite the speedy reaction of international aid organizations and the heroic work on the ground by non government groups such as SEWA and Abiyan, the scale of tragedy could have been minimized had there been an effective disaster plan in place. Rescue teams found themselves hampered by officials who were unable to direct them quickly enough to the critical areas. As the situation stabilized in the following months, questions were asked about what could be done at the national level to make better provision in the future. Meanwhile, the cost of rebuilding and lost revenue in the crucial areas of trade and the textile industry was still being assessed. Many handlooms were destroyed in the villages, bringing local production to a standstill, while the big textile factories also suffered damage. The government in Delhi moved quickly in announcing a one-year two-percent tax levy on higher-bracket private earnings and on companies to assist Gujarat’s recovery. In addition, a huge amount of foreign aid poured into special programmes for the long and painful process of reconstruction.

Although the networks of transport and communication were restored very quickly - phone lines were up within two weeks and rail and bus services restored - visitors to the worst-affected areas are advised to contact Gujarati Tourism in Ahmedabad (079/658 9683, 658 2183) for an update on what tourist facilities are currently available.

Before the earthquake, Bhuj’s old city was made up of an intricate maze of streets and alleyways leading to the palace complex, guarded by sturdy walls and high heavy gates, which enclosed the Aina and Prag Mahals. The more attractive Aina Mahal was built in the eighteenth century during the reign of Maharao Lakho, and after Independence turned into the Maharao Madansinji Museum, in which the opulence of the royal dynasty was showcased.

Although parts of the building survived the earthquake, it is uncertain whether restoration is possible or how much of the collection including furniture, costumes, jewellery, European glasswork and manuscripts, was salvaged. Also undecided is the fate of the damaged Prag Mahal. builr nearby in the 1860s, combining Moghul, British, Kutchi and Italian architectural styles. Sadly, the Kutch Museum, which used to occupy the southeast corner of Hamirsar Tank, was completely destroyed along with all its treasures.

One building only to have suffered minimal damage is the Sharad Bagh Palace (daily except Fri 9am-noon & 3-6pm; Rs10, Rs20 extra with camera, Rs100 extra with video) at the southwest corner of Hamirsar Tank. Built in 1867 and the retreat of the last maharao, the small porticoed buildings are delicately proportioned and include a plush drawing room, decked with hunting trophies, photographs and old clocks, and the dining room which contains Maharao Madansinjhi’s coffin, shipped over from England after his death in 1991. The palace’s most appealing feature, however, is its well-tended garden, complete with pretty flower beds, giant bamboo trees, lofty palms and tennis courts.

Just south of Hamirsar Tank and west of College Road, a path leads to the 250-year-old Ramkund tank, which is made of hard grey stone and shaded by trees. Decorated with skilfully crafted images of Kali, Vishnu, Nag and Ganesh, die tank also has small niches in the walls where oil lamps would glitter in the dusk as devotees prayed at the evening puja. Nearby is a set of sixteenth-century sdti stones.