by Aline Dobbie
We then made our way to Velavadar and Blackbuck Lodge. The Velavadar National Park is quite close to Bhavnagar. Blackbucks were protected by the Bishnoi community and they are seen and revered in the region around Jodhpur and Rohet Garh in Rajasthan of which I wrote in full in my book India: The Peacock’s Call. Now that the state has assumed responsibility for conserving the blackbuck this pleasant little park with its savannah-like grasslands provides a home for over 1,000 blackbuck and also nilgai, the blue cow which is India’s largest antelope, wild boar and a few wolves. My gallery shows the blackbuck in all their glory and the other inhabitants of the park. This park is apparently the world’s largest harrier roost and breeding ground in winter. We actually saw the Indian Fox as well. Blackbuck Lodge is a very pleasant place and we enjoyed our visit. Each cottage is very well equipped with comfortable air conditioned bedroom and huge ensuite bathroom and outside shower. There is a verandah on which to sit and the most charming experience of all was that in the evening when setting out to walk from our cottage to the restaurant building in the dark we became aware of a commotion which was the blackbuck leaping up and running away from us; they come and shelter very close to the cottages to avoid the predatory wolves at night. We did see a wolf during our afternoon visit to the actual park along with a host of other animals and birds. It was memorable watching the sun set over the little pond with the drongos singing in the nearby tree. The resort has a pet nilgai which must have been orphaned young and this amiable beast comes along to investigate one…as Graham found he is heavy and one just needs to be careful as they are as big as cows.
The following morning we resumed our journey to Sasan Gir. It is quite a long drive and Gujarat has not yet reached the sophistication of good roadside cafes with washroom facilities. The public latrines were quite simply awful for females and not maintained. It is that sort of neglect or oversight that makes Gujarat more of a challenge in my opinion. The other negative is that alcohol is banned officially so no hotel or restaurant has a bar or is able to serve liquor. That does not mean that the locals do not drink. What we discovered is that Indian tourists travel with their own liquor – mostly whisky and drink in their rooms or suites. The choice of cool drinks at resorts is also somewhat limited which I simply fail to understand and frequently the request for ice is met with a negative. Many of the hotels and resorts actually do not have outstanding cuisine and so one finds oneself eating home cooking on a large scale. That can be attractive but actually can also be rather boring. The lack of a bar or lounge in which people congregate to have drinks leads to an air of dullness and so nowhere does one find that ‘buzz’ of a good hotel with a good ambience…even in Ahmedabad.
We finally reached Sasan Gir and the Lion Safari Camp just outside Gir National Park. I have wanted to see India’s lions for so long and was not disappointed. Until a century ago the Asiatic lion roamed in vast areas of India as far as Bihar apparently. I spoke of Gir earlier in the book but as I had written I had not actually visited and used the report of two other people. Now I was here and loving it. Asiatic lions are smaller than African lions with a fold of skin along the belly. The males have shorter manes. About 360 lions now live in Gir’s 1412 sq km of dry scrub forest along with about 300 leopards. Their remarkable resurgence is attributed to the Nawab of Junagadh once he realized the full horror of the near extinction and now of course to the Gujarat State Government. The Maldhari tribe coexists with the endangered lions and we were able to see both lions and the Maldhari. The Lion Safari Camp is situated in a private mango orchard overlooking the Hiran River. I had never ever before seen the mango flower in such abundance and its heady fragrance can be almost overwhelming. There is apparently a particular mango for which this part of Gujarat is famous. I can tell you the trees seemed almost covered in snow and early in the morning the fragrance combined with the wild jasmine was amazing in the cold dry air. Surely there must have been a record mango crop in 2012? The tents are comfortably equipped with good beds in a spacious tent with some heating available and the ensuite bathroom is good with hot water and flushing wcs. The service was attentive and the food was fine but not inspiring. The naturalists took great care to ensure we were in jeeps and able to see as much as possible….this was a pleasant contrast to the debacle that now ensues in Karnataka with their Conservator of Forests having a dictatorial attitude which seems to despise all foreign tourists…quite racist and discriminatory we all observed. Here at least in Gujarat they appear to respect all their wildlife enthusiasts at Gir.
On the first afternoon finally we were shown a huge male lion; he was magnificent and I was able to photograph him quite well. The forest was in spring colours of beautiful red, orange, pink, yellow blossoms on the various trees and it was a most splendid experience. Naturally we spied other fauna but let me be honest I had come to see lion and if possible leopard as well. Early the next morning we were again fortunate though at the very end of the drive; our guide realized something was happening and there was a young male lion ambling through the forest and he decided to come out in front of our jeep and walk in front of us… it was sensational and we were so delighted and appreciative.
We took the afternoon off and drove to Somnath to see the famous temple. Devotees of Shiva visit the Moon Temple at Somnath. It is popularly believed that the first temple existed even before the commencement of the Christian era. The second was built in the period 480-767CE by the Vallabhai kings. This was again replaced by the Pratihara King Nagabhattta II in 815CE. The Somnath temple which enshrines one of the twelve Jyotirlingas was so highly revered that followers of Shiva from the whole of India came to offer there prayers here. As many as 2000 Brahmin priests were engaged in temple activities and the revenue collected from ten thousand villages were used for its maintenance. In 1025 Muhammad of Ghazni invaded the city and in spite of the valiant resistance put up by fifty thousand Shaivites, the temple was looted and razed to the ground. What was regarded as an architectural masterpiece was demolished brutally. King Bhima of Gujarat and King Bhoja of Malwa then took upon themselves the task of renovating it. Once again however the temple was destroyed by Alaf Khan in 1300 A.D. This time King Mahipala belonging to the Chudasama dynasty renovated it. The history of Somnath is punctuated with episodes of destruction and reconstruction at various points of time in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. Finally the temple was once again ruined in 1706 by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. In the eighteenth century Rani Ahilya Bai of Indore also contributed to a rebuild but that too was destroyed. After that more than two hundred years passed before Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel one of India’s great freedom fighters and a proud man of Gujarat decided to construct a new temple in 1947. He did not live to see the completion which was dedicated by Dr Rajendra Prasad India’s first President. It is said that there is a clear sightline from the temple all the way to the Antarctic. It does not however have any great fascination for non Hindus and this is really a pilgrim town for devout followers of Shiva.
The following morning saw us re-enter Gir Park once last time and very soon we came upon a lioness with her cub. Well that was the cherry on the top for us but I should emphasise that this fine park has 38 species of mammals, around 300 species of birds, 37 species of reptiles and more than 2000 species of insects. We certainly had the great pleasure of seeing a ‘plethora of peacocks’ which gave us such a thrill.
The following day we set out for Junagadh which we did explore a little but it proved to be dirty and decayed with grumpy people, disobliging state officials in a dirty museum of royal furniture and paintings and curiously forward young people who poked one in the chest. For a young Indian girl of school age to actually accost me is so unusual and I spoke to her in Hindi which left her speechless and looking foolish in front of her friends…..our driver said with a resigned air that we were reacting in the same way as countless people whom he had brought there. The one historical item we respected was the 3rd century BCE Ashokan Edict carved on a stone boulder quite near our hot
el. The hotel was dirty, with paan stains on the stairs and they had difficulty finding a clean room; there was no hot water it appeared and all of the buildings were neglected and displayed the worst of Indian tourism – Leo Resorts should be struck off the tourism map for foreigners. This whole town needs careful restoration and a big clean up.
Moving swiftly on to Gondal where we set off for breakfast it was however a different story and we were welcomed at the Gondal heritage Orchard Palace mansion and breakfast was provided. I would have liked to stay there instead and there is a lovely well maintained classic car collection that had us both enthusiastic and recalling our childhoods. The old retainer was so pleased that we were enjoying ourselves and appreciative of ‘his’ cars. Gondal was a typical small princely state with palaces and mansions and though a great deal of the heritage buildings is in slight decay it nevertheless is interesting to visit and one is welcomed and encouraged to look around and the place should be encouraged. Maharajah Bhagwat Sinhji was accorded an 11 gun salute and he introduced wide ranging economic and social reforms in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The current prince is HH Jyotendra Sinhji the great grandson of Bhagwat Sinhji. Gondal is also excellent for birding and the nearby lakes of Gondal attract large flocks of winter migratory birds which are seen at their best from October to February annually.
We drove on to Morvi. We spent a night at the heritage palace which has been restored by the Neemrana Group. Darbargarh Palace is on the banks of the local river and has some sumptuous rooms; it is however still quite new and the management has to consolidate and ensure that all the guests have a good time – strong management is the fundamental requirement to run a good hotel anywhere but in India it is essential that the staff understand the levels of service that are required. We had a most palatial suite but the shower did not provide any hot water in our huge ensuite the next morning which leads to vexation….particularly since we had already endured the awful hotel at Junagadh the previous day! When travelling there are some fundamentals: a clean safe comfortable room with good bed, an ensuite bathroom with a hot shower, facility to dry one’s hair, perhaps iron some clothes and then good food and well made tea…everything else becomes a plus in my book! Miss out on those requirements and I become a seriously unhappy travelling critic. This was the place in which other guests all holed up in their rooms to drink their private whisky and our dinner was delayed by almost two hours as a result….. not good at all.
However, looking on the bright side we went and visited the huge Hindu temple that is being restored and renovated close by. This is going to look beautiful once fully restored and the Morvi royal family who appear to live elsewhere as in Mumbai or even Dubai are funding this great restoration commitment.
The drive west towards Bhuj was unrelenting – flat lands with salt pans and heavy industry dotted here and there. As we approached Bhuj we came to Khamir. This organization was born out of collaboration between the Nehru Foundation for Development and Kachchh Nav Nirman Abhiyan who promoted it in 2005. The shop and weaving and dyeing rooms are all very nicely maintained with some good things to buy. The idea is that through Khamir the various textile crafts are being sustained and the locals can maintain craft livelihoods and support artisans who strive to keep their skill alive; ‘Khamir’ is the word for pride. We enjoyed looking at some wonderful examples of embroidered jackets and tribal festival clothes.
On 26th January 2001 the Kutch area of Gujarat experienced a devastating earthquake with its epicentre actually in Kutch measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale. It destroyed most of Bhuj the historic headquarters of Kutch district as well as Anjar the second largest town in Kutch and razed 450 villages in to the district to the ground. Among the 20,000 people killed in the earthquake were 400 schoolchildren who were crushed under the rubble of falling buildings in a narrow street as they marched jauntily towards the Republic Day parade. I recall how awful it was at the time and even now eleven years on the devastation is there to see. Bhuj has never recovered and its royal palace and other buildings all bear the scars of that terrible day. 250,000 people were made homeless and though there has been rehabilitation and the people have grit and determination it has hugely scarred this ancient part of Gujarat.
We visited the Darbargadh Palace; this was a prosperous princely state whose wealth derived from the sea trade with East Africa and the Gulf. African slaves were an important part of that trade in centuries past and their descendants still live in the city and indeed we saw evidence of them as far away as Sasan Gir. The Sidis are an African tribe who are famous for their ‘Dhamaal’ dance.” We had watched some of this tribal dancing at the Lion Camp. Earlier in the book I had spoken of our visit in 2003 to the Sindhudurg and Murud Janjira Forts off the Malvan Coast of Maharashtra where Sidi pirates had featured. These people in Gujarat have similar origins and it is interesting to observe how the genetic heritage has been continued.
Visiting the uninhabited ruined royal palace was surreal. There were pigeons flying in and out of large rooms furnished with decrepit relics of the past. A chipmunk had made a nest in a stuffed animal’s head and popped out from time to time and eyed one through its alert beady little eyes and one of the pigeons nearly landed on my own head.
One felt one had entered some curious film set. Guides were chattering away in French to some French tourists who looked on also with disbelief. Parts of the building looked downright dangerous and so many of the exhibits were laden with detritus and dust and looked as if the were in a war zone….well it had been in an earthquake.
We stayed at the Kutch Safari Lodge which is beautifully located some way from Bhuj on a small lake with glorious views of the hills and the sunset and sunrise. This little resort needs careful restoration to reach its potential and again it is management and quality standards that are not yet in evidence.
We visited the Banni. Known as a vast grassland Banni was originally home to 40 species of grass, many of which were rich with nutrients for animals and a few for humans too. Historically the communities had codified systems for management of forests and water resources. Non-agricultural wasteland and grassland were demarcated between groups of five to seven villages of a taluka. The communities never allowed their cattle to go in the grasslands after rains, lest they spoil the soil. Sometimes religious and medicinal symbolism was attached to trees and areas to protect them. The grasslands were by law declared to be a public property and no farming was allowed on it. The duty of responsible grazing was left to the community, who made sure that cattle from outside Banni were not allowed, so that there was no overgrazing. The natural flow of some rivers towards the Banni grasslands had always helped to keep it moist and recharged.
Sadly a prominent tree species in Banni is Prosopis Juliflora, a non indigenous Baawal which has destroyed the existence of several native species and has eroded huge tracks of the grassland. This has also caused the ground water level to do down. The weed has been unmanaged making the eco system fragile over the years. However, if managed scientifically, this wild shrub can prove to be advantageous since it can be used to make charcoal. Thus the ‘bad weed’ can generate a means of livelihood for the local population.
The residents of Banni are the Maldharis (cattle breeders of whom we heard around Sasan Gir as well) or Baniyaras who practice Islam. There are around 15-20 Maldhari Muslim castes in Banni who trace their roots back to Sindh and beyond. They speak Kachchhi, a dialect close to the Sindhi language. Banni is peopled by various Muslim sub communities named Jat, Raysipotra, Saiyads, Mutava, Node, Hingoria, Bambha, Kurar, Sumra, Juneja, Bhatti, Halepotra and Khatris. Hindu sub-communities here are the Meghwals and Vadhas.
There is a tradition of oral rendition of history. Some historians posit that the Maldhari Jats are believed to be from the farmers of Iran (as they greatly resemble them) and it is believed that they could have immigrated and settled in Banni having come through the North West entrance. German scholars believe that the Jats are originally natives of Germany.
My own late father Frank Rose who was an officer in the Jat Regiment of which I have written earlier in the book considered after his research that the Jat peoples travelled overland from northern India and settled in Europe in ‘Jat land’ - Jutland as we know it today.
We visited several of these villages and admired the wonderful intricate vibrant embroidery that the women undertake. It is sumptuous and eye catching and is their life’s work from a very young age. The women themselves have strong features that are not similar to others in Gujarat and are proud folk. It was a pleasure to visit them. Some of their enclaves are more attractive than others however which is all to do with cleanliness and sanitation. We watched a man make bells out of metal in a special but simple way; we bought some which now hang in the orchard area of our garden here at Rosewood. We watched the skilled craftsmen create Rogan art. The Persian name Rogan might suggest that this art form has its origins in Iran, but there are no historical records to suggest that. The Khatris have been practising Rogan art for generations. Natural dyes are used in this art. The colour is boiled in castor oil for two days in phases till it turns into a thick gooey paste. The artist takes this paste in lumps on his palm and then uses a steel pencil as a brush to paint on cloth. Floral motifs, animals and oriental architectural designs are the artist’s favourite. A wall piece can take up to three months to finish. A Rogan art wall hanging can fetch anything between Rs.8,000 and Rs.12,000, even more in some cases. A famous work of the Khatris, “Tree of Life”, was sold for Rs.18,000. We found this truly amazing work and bought a piece to show respect.
