Wander through India : NORTHERN EXPEDITION 2014 : Path leads me to the era of the lost civilization ; Dholavira

# DAY III : Zainabad-Dholavira

22. Today I was going to move further into the Rann and my destination for the day was the island of Khadir Bet surrounded by the salt plains of the Rann, Dholavira the site of the Harappan excavations ; fifth largest exhibit of the erstwhile Harappan civilization , discovered in 1968.

23. The State Highway was a pleasure to drive upon and I left Zainabad by 0700 hours . I always love early morning departures, somehow an early start definitely eases up a lot of stuff and mentally is most relaxing. The first main town coming up was Radhanpur. I caught up on NH 15 out here and was soon cruising towards Adesar. The scenic vistas spread all along till Radhanpur shone with an array of early morning freshness that was extremely rejuvenating. From Radhanpur till adesar, the highway cut through the arid landscape of Gujrat interspersed with pockets of fresh water which were filled with various aquatic birds and at one place I was in awe with the swarm of Pelicans who had covered the entire water surface.

24. At Adesar I left the NH 15 and turned right towards Bhimasar from where I took the route to the next big town called Rapar. The roads were quite respectable considering that these were remote state highways and not much traffic was seen. Rapar is the last stop where one can get decent food or fuel prior to the run till Dholavira. Dholavira is around 85 km from Rapar itself. At Rapar I turned right onto SH 51 and continued ahead on a lonely road in the afternoon heat.

25. After a small village called Balasar one has to cross the white desert which stretched across on both sides of the road as far as the eye can see and it truly is a magnificent sight to the eyes especially for a newbie. I just stopped the INDOMITABLE and in the silence of the afternoon day looked in awe at the sight spread out in front of me, the white desert coupled with the blue sky and the black tarred road cutting in between , it was a portrait worthy of appreciation.

26. I reached Dholavira village by 1400 hrs and soon checked into Toran GH where I was the only one it looks like. After a delicious lunch I met my guide Mr Jamal who was to take me on a guided tour of the excavation site and of I trooped off with him .

27. The excavation site , 5000 years old is something that is to be seen even by people like me who have very little knowledge in this subject. In the afternoon I had the entire place to myself as I met no other soul in the vast site. The knowledge of Mr Jamal was excellent and he explained to me each and every aspect of the lost city built at the time of early civilization. The walled city was atleast seven generations old and the greatest feat of those who conceptualized this city was availability of water all round the year in the absence of any river. There was no river which was a source of water for those who stayed in this city and one can see the vast network of tanks and wells coupled with innovative canals that were built to store rain water and utilize them all through the year.

28. It remains a mystery as to why was this city was abandoned, for it is established that it was abandoned and not conquered for everything is intact, no signs of destruction, what caused the people to just abandon what they built for generations, if one just sits back and thinks on what could have been the compelling reason it sends shivers within.

29. Anyways after the detailed tour I said good bye to my guide and turned towards Border Outpost Karni built on the edge of the great Rann which forms the gateway to our neighboring country. There is also a temple dedicated to Lord Datttatrey who walked on this earth even befoe the Ramayana and Mahabharata. After a visit to the temple I was directed to visit an astonishing miracle of nature, an old tree whose age has been established with radioactive dating and which has transformed into a fossilized creation with time. The age is around.. and remarkably the tree has not self destructed with the passage of time but converted in something that will remain for ages to come. I was appalled to see that there was no major efforts to showcase such a unique creation in nature and it was existing in solitude at the edge of the white desert away from prying or interested eyes.

30. Evening dusk was approaching and I wanted to capture the sunset over the Rann , hence I quickly made my way back to the BOP post and settled down to capture the glory of a sun set over the white desert , there was no other soul in that barrenness other than the BSF jawans and it was definitely a moment to remember in a series of moments J

31. A perfect end to a day as I bid adieu to the sun sitting on the edge of a barren white desert in the presence of a powerful civization of the bygone era.

ODO for the day 82250