Hamirsar Lake

Our visit to the Kutch Museum enabled us to learn about the history of the tribal and folk tradition of the district. It also helped us to get to know the contemporary people and their lives.

Visiting a museum is always a great way to learn about history. But the tribal people are not merely part of history. They are a major part of the present population and cultural identity of Kutch as well as India.

Our teachers told us that a conversation with real people is also helpful over and above a visit to a museum, if we intend to learn about the culture of a place and tribe.

During my tour in and around Bhuj, I had visited a place called Bhujodi. It is a small town located only 8 kilometers southeast of Bhuj.

Bhujodi is a major textile center of Kutch. A vast majority of the 1200 inhabitants of this town are involved in textile handicraft production.

I remember meeting weavers, tie-dye artists and block printers, most of them belonging to the Vankar community. We watched them work and asked a lot of questions to pacify our interest.

We visited the Ashapura Crafts Park, which is a kilometer away from Bhujodi. This park has been set up by a corporate non-profit unit.

I have visited the Ashapura Crafts Park. It helps artisans display and sell their work. The Park also organizes dance and music events on weekends.

Shrujan is a local non-profit unit, which was set up forty years ago to enable women to market their work better and earn a better living from it. The Shrujan campus is an interesting place to visit. I liked the embroidery exhibits, the production center and the excellent examples of local architecture with environmental awareness in mind.

I have also visited a place called Dhamadka, which is about 50 kilometers east of Bhuj. It is a major center of the Ajrakh block printing technique.

Rajni, I have read somewhere that some artisans have now moved to Ajrakhpur, closer to the city, since the 2001 earthquake.

When we headed north, we reached Khavda. It is 66 kilometers along the principal road going north of Bhuj. It is a major stop. We were told that Khavda was the last place to get fruits and bottled drinking water before our journey to other destinations. Kutchi food is also available in the center of the town.

Khavda has excellent leather craftsmen and potters. The population of this town has a heavy Muslim presence.

Ajrakh block printing at “khatrivas” is very famous.

The KMVS office in Khavda sells embroidered handmade dolls. It also sells other textile products and is run by local women.

Khavda has a well-blended population of Meghwals(Hindus) and Muslims from Sindh. This mixed population results in interesting combinations of social traditions and work styles. Hindus are mostly woodcarvers and Muslims are mostly involved in leatherwork. They work side by side in the same village.

Khavda is the departure point to visit the largest flamingo colony of the world. This colony is at a lake in the desert, past Lamkundaliya. Half a million flamingos stop over this place every year, when they migrate.

The flamingo colony must have been very exciting. I have heard that it can be reached only by, a camel, and it is best visited between October and March.

My experience of traveling in and around North-West Kutch is priceless. Narayan Sarovar Lake holds a special place in my travel memories. In a land replete with pilgrimage sites, this lake is a different kind of a sacred experience. It is situated at almost the westernmost point of land in India. We had to travel over 100 kilometers from Bhuj, across the barren scrubland of Kutch to reach the Narayan Sarovar.

I remember the journey as well. The appearance of the vast lake after the long stretch of barren land surprised me. I could not believe that a lake like that could exist there, though I knew we had gone to visit that particular lake only. I felt that the spiritual significance of the lake was tangible.

The Narayan Sarovar Lake is one of the five most auspicious lakes of Hunduism, the other four being Mansarovar, Pampa, Bhuvaneshwar and Pushkar.

Narayan Sarovar is associated with a season of drought in the Puranic era, when Narayan (an avatar of Lord Vishnu) appeared in response to the ardent prayers of sages and touched the land with His toe.

Apart frm Hamirsar lake at bhuj nearby Mandvi is also very good destination, specially for its beach, and vijayvilas palace near by mandvi hardly 10km frm there. Aamir had shoot his famous Lagan at kutch in and around Bhuj. Traditional ship Building at mandvi is famous in the world over. looking at the white desert frm Black hill at Khavda is unforgettable. specialy on full moon day. Hiralaxmi park at Bhujodi is good one but you ve to take care now almost all weavers have become very smart and they are taking price like show room. without eating Dabeli at bus stand your visit of bhuj is incomplete. Anyway next time anyone visiting bhuj pls be in touch, i m staying at bhuj and near hamirsar Lake only. see the photo attech.

This touch of Lord Vishnu created the Narayan Sarovar, which is believed as sacred to bathe in. But we were told by a tourist guide that bathing in this lake was no longer recommended.

We visited temples of Shri Trikamraiji, Govardhannathji, Laxminarayan, Adinarayan, Dwarkanath, Laxmiji and Ranchhodraiji. We were told that visitors on a religious pilgrimage flocked to these temples. We also visited the Koteshwar Temple.

This temple is located at a place where the vastness of the dry land meets the incomprehensible infinity of the sea. After a journey through arid land, the sight of the sea awakened our spirits. The sea sobered our fatigue, even though it was even less hospitable.

Koteshwar was memorable. The only point that breaks the skyline from the flat brown horizon to the east and the wide blue horizon to the west is the point of the Koteshwar Temple. This temple is the last outpost of human construction at the westernmost border of India. Koteshwar is conducive to contemplating peace and purity. This temple is not overrun by, tourists, like the temple at Dwarka. Koteshwar helps one ponder about spirituality.

The legend of Koteshwar begins with Ravana, who won a boon from Lord Shiva for an outstanding display of piety. This boon was the gift of a “Shivalinga” of great spiritual power.