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HISTORY OF DHOLAVIRA The remains of Dholavira, a major city of the Harappan civilization, were discovered in 1967-68 by J. Joshi. Excavation was initiated in 1989 by the Archaeological Survey of India under the direction of Dr. R. S. Bisht. The excavation brought to light the sophisticated urban planning and architecture, and unearthed large numbers of antiquities such as seals, beads, animal bones, gold, silver, terracotta ornaments and vessels linked to Mesopotamia.Archaeologists believe that Dholavira was an important centre of trade between settlements in south Gujarat, Sindh and Punjab and Western Asia. BACK
LOCATION OF DHOLAVIRA The ancient site at Dholavira (230 53' 10" N; 700 13'E), taluka Bhachau, district Kachchh in state Gujarat, lies in the island of Khadir which, in turn, is surrounded by the salt waste of the Great Rann of Kutch. The ancient settlement of Dholavira is embraced by two monsoon channels, namely, the Manhar and Mansar. BACK
HOW DHOLAVIRA IS CONNECTED : By Air - The nearest airport is in Gandhidham about 250 km away from Dholavira, where a daily flight between Mumbai and Gandhidham is available. Another airport close to Dholavira is Bhuj airport about 300 km away, where daily two flights between Bhuj and Mumbai are available. By Rail - Samakhyali (160 km from Dholavira) on the Palanpur-Gandhidham BG line. By Road - The Dholavira is approachable from Bhuj via Rapar by good road on which plies regular bus service is 240 km from Bhuj. Another root from Bhuj is via Khavda which is 140 km from Dholavira. One can reach Dholavira from Ahmedabad via Radhanpur which is 440km. BACK
CLIMATE OF DHOLAVIRA: Dholavira Climate / Weather - Summers 23°- 44°C. Winters 10°-36°C. Summer is dry & hot. Winter is also dry but it is cold. The best time to visit is November to March BACK
WHERE TO STAY IN DHOLAVIRA
Overnight halt at any quality in Ghandhidham, a bustling port town in western Gujarat. Overnight stay in any good hotel (a lots available) in Bhuj. At hotel TORAN run by TCGL at Dholavira. BACK
WHAT ARE ACHIEVMENTS OF DHOLAVIRA Dholavira is a metropolis of older civilization which is estimated to have encompassed a staggering 1.5 million square kilometers—an area larger than Western Europe! In size Dholavira diminished contemporary civilizations in the Nile Valley in Egypt and in the Tigris and Euphrates Valleys in Sumer (modern Iraq). Dholavira geographical boundaries are now believed to extend up to the Iranian border in the west, Turkmenistan and Kashmir in the north, Delhi in the east, and the Godavari valley in the south. Application is currently being made to UNESCO to register and protect Dholavira as a World Heritage site. BACK WHAT ARE FEATURES OF DHOLAVIRA
Dholavira is a walled Indus Valley city that dates to the middle of the third millennium B.C and spans 123.5 acres, and locally known as Kotada Timba Prachin Mahanagar. Dholavira, is one of the largest and most prominent archaeological sites in India, belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization. This site of Dholavira was occupied from about 2900 BCE for about a millennium, declining slowly after about 2100 BCE, Dholavira is a model city which is remarkable for its exquisite planning, monumental structures, aesthetic architecture, amazing water harvesting system and a variety in funerary architecture. The salient components of the full-grown cityscape consisted of a bipartite 'citadel', a 'middle town' and a 'lower town', two 'stadia', an 'annexe', a series of reservoirs all set within an enormous fortification running on all four sides. Interestingly, inside the city, too, there was an intricate system of fortifications. The city was, perhaps, configured like a large parallelogram boldly outlined by massive walls with their longer axis being from the east to west. On the bases of their relative location, planning, defences and architecture, the three principal divisions are designed tentatively as 'citadel', 'middle town', and 'lower town'. The citadel at Dholavira had two conjoined subdivisions, tentatively christened at Dholavira as 'castle' and 'bailey', located on the east and west respectively, both are fortified ones. The former is the most zealously guarded by impregnable defences and aesthetically furnished with impressive gates, towers, salients and drainage. The towering "castle" stands majestically in fair insulation and defended by double ramparts. Next to this stands a place called 'bailey' where important officials lived. To the north of the citadel a broad and long ground, probably used for multiple purposes such as community gathering on festive or ceremonial occasions, a stadium and a marketing place for exchanging merchandise during trading seasons (s). Further north, there was laid out the enwalled middle town while to its east was founded the lower town. The last -mentioned one did not have an appurtenant fortification though, it was set within the general circumvallation. . The most striking feature of the Dholavira city is that all of its buildings, at least in their present state of preservation, are built out of stone, whereas most other Harappan sites, including Harappa itself and Mohenjo-Daro, are almost exclusively built out of brick. Besides to the south of the castle, across the adjoining reservoir, there was raised another built-up area running along the city wall, perhaps, designated as annexe or a warehouse meant for housing the retainers and menials. The city was a colorful place. Most walls, roads, floors, and possibly even building roofs were likely constructed of a pink-and-white clay. To the casual visitor, the most notable feature of this metropolis of the 3rd millennium BC is its water management The ancient city of Dholavira had a sophisticated water management system, giant reservoirs (the largest measuring 263 feet by 39 feet and 24 feet in depth) that together held more than 325,000 cubic yards of water. To conserve rainwater that would have been lost to streams, the people of Dholavira built dams and collected the water in reservoirs. These reservoirs were connected to wells that filled cisterns for drinking and bathing. This gives example of using using simple hydraulic engineering. Sixteen reservoirs of various sizes have been identified, of which five have been excavated fairly well. The ingenuity in handling water is evident in the waterways and channels that crisscross the site. The most fascinating discovery of Dholavira is the large inscription, comprising of ten letters in the Indus script. Each letter has been engraved on slices of crystalline material. It is reminiscent of their picture like script called `pictographs' which unfortunately have not been deciphered. It is considered as ``the oldest signboards of the world'' Excavations in the cemetery west of the city have uncovered tombs, idols, and ritual objects belonging to ethnic groups that practiced a variety of religious rituals. The cemetery's ethnic diversity indicates a thriving trading community that likely attracted merchants from as far as Mesopotamia, Persia, and southern Arabia. Amongst the most curious finds in the cemetery is a huge brick masonry tumulus, or a circular grave built in with 10 radial walls of mud bricks almost assuming the shape of a `spoked wheel' perhaps personifying, ``life, rebirth or the kalchakra'' at this ancient sepulchral site. Interestingly, all the funerary structures except one were devoid of skeletons. These were perhaps a ``symbolic gesture'' of recalling the dead. The grave sites typically have an assortment of supple pots and curvaceous jars. A soft sandstone sculpture of a male with phallus erectus with its head and feet below the ankle truncated was found in the passage way of the eastern gate. It is not known which language the Harappan people spoke, and their script cannot be read. It had about 400 basic signs, with many variations. The signs may have stood both for words and for syllables. The direction of the writing was generally from right to left. Most of the inscriptions are found on seals (mostly made out of stone) and sealings (pieces of clay on which the seal was pressed down to leave its impression). Some inscriptions are also found on copper tablets, bronze implements, and small objects made of terracotta, stone and faience. The seals may have been used in trade and also for official administrative work. A lot of inscribed material was found at Mohenjo Daro. The excavations conducted at dholavira came up with a number of ancient artifacts, like seals, beads, animal bones, gold, silver, terracotta ornaments and vessels linked to Mesopotamia. There is even evidence that the town was an important trade center between other settlements in Sind, Punjab and Western Asia. BACK HOW TO PLAN TOUR FOR DHOLAVIRA
Start early in wee hours from any of your location viz. in BHUJ, GANDHIDHAM, or SAMAKHIYARI railway station. The road to Dholavira goes through a dazzling white landscape of salty mudflats. The desert monotones are interrupted only by the striking attire worn by the women of the nomadic and semi-nomadic pastoral tribes that still inhabit this land: Ahir, Rabari, Jat, Meghwal, and others.You can stop a bit to take the glimpse of union of dull landscape & its colorful inhabitants in shades of reds, blues, and oranges & enjoy a cup of tea made in Kutchi style and then resume your journey on the Rann of Kutch.” As you move towards Dholavira, the hinterland will become scantier in both plants and populace. But nature will present myriad pleasant distractions and soon the barrenness will cease to bother you. On either side of the glistening snake of the road lay the sea reduced to great slates of salt. Salt had collected into tall conical mountains; the white of the salt lent the whole place a strange arctic look. As you will reach close o Dholavira, you will find ASI museum where you will be greated by ASI employees. Here you can see & marvel incredible artifacts like pottery; terracotta figurines; bead, shell and copper jewelry; seals; and weights and measures. A set of chessmen there suggest that a chess-like game had been in vogue then! Gold bangles and various shapes and sizes of grinding stones suggested that the ancients took their cooking seriously. After visiting museum you come to main site. You must divide your visit in threeparts. In first part you must visit the town area & see its architecture - the citadel , middle town & so on as given in features above. You can find artifacts like broken bangle on town streets and can imagine how they wer worn 4000 years ago. A must visit point is three-meter wide signboard of ten mysterious symbols at citadel's north gate & try to decipher what it says which nobody able to do so far. In second part visit the incredible graveyard And try to locare rhe sites mentioned in features. In the last phase marvel Dholavira's water harvesting acumen. Mean time You can also visit the Mansar River that bounds Dholavira and have a relaxing rest in between exploring the archeological ruins. At night you must visit to nearby village Kotada and enjoy the culture & cuisine of kutch. You can also unearth the secrets of Dholovira through listening LOK-KATHA (tribal stories). The period of visit can be between a single day to a week depending upon your interest in ancient history BACK
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Take tour of Dholavira in slide show below |
