Exotic Gujrat

Day 02

After breakfast visit the villages of Bhuj. Amidst the desert land of infinite dimensions, are suspended, quaint little villages. These are the last villages on the India-Pakistan border. Here you will come across master craft people' exposing their traditional art, turning our master pieces every day. Their ornaments, clothes, utensils, everything they use - will make you feel as if you have stepped into lifestyle museum leaving you spellbound.



Visit the villages of Bhirandiyara: Bhirandiyara is a favourite Tea stop for locals and visitors alike on the road to Khavda. The village boasts of a delicious sweet – fresh Maavo. This milk-based sweet is best when eaten hot. Most of the roadside stalls sell Maavo. The local Meghwal Community has exquisite embroideries and skilfully decorated, colourful Mud Bhungas. Mud-Mirror work - Lippan kam is a decorative art done by common people mainly women. Lippan kam is done inside Bhungas / mud huts in villages of Kutch; sometimes you can find it on outer walls too. Generally, women make birds, trees, animals, and peacock, human figures etc in Lippan kam. It is done with a mixture of clay and camel dung. Then gum is used to stick mirrors. Originality of lippan kam lies in adding no colour or only whites. Small round, diamond-shaped or triangle mirror pieces are essential to lippan kam.



Nirona: The village of Nirona is the only place in the world where the tradition of Rogan art is still practiced (a method of producing dyes from natural resources and castor oil and creating intricate and long-lasting designs on silk and cotton). Nirona also offers the chance to see artisans making copper bells and practicing wood lacquering.



Khavda (90 Km. Approx.) – a town of Pachcham Region. One can find a tiny market and a few stalls serving up Kutchi snacks & tea. One can visit to Khatrivas to see artisans printing & selling Ajrakh. The town also has skilled Leather Craftsmen and there are some shops retailing local crafts, including Leather Slippers. Off the main road is a clinic run by Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan (KMVS), Federation of Kutchi Women's groups. KMVS has trained local midwives in modern and locally suitable healthcare practices. The KMVS Office in Khavda is run almost entirely by local women and has a small retail outlet selling wonderfully intricate embroideries under the producer group's brand name “QASAB” which means “Craft Skill”.



Ludiya: Ludiya Village is comprised of several hamlets belonging to the Meghwal & Samma Communities. The latter community, primarily herdsmen, is more conservative when it comes to tourists. Gandhi nu Gam, populated by the Meghwal community, features beautifully Painted Bhungas. The Kanjari (Blouses) of the women and the Bhunga decoration of this village are especially colourful. To curb exploitation & experiment with community marketing, the hamlet has set up an “Otlo” or a roofed platform next to the Temple, where each household brings out their embroidered goods for selling.



Later visit the Rann of Kutch is a salt marshy land in the Thar Desert in the Kutch district of western Gujarat. The Rann of Kutch is famous for its white salty desert sand and is reputed to be the largest salt desert in the world. ‘Rann’ means desert in Hindi which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Irina’ which also means desert. The inhabitants of Kutch are called Kutchi and have a language of their own with the same name. Most of the population in Rann of Kutch comprises of Hindus, Muslims, Jains and Sikhs. Overnight in Hotel.