Dholavira
About the Dholavira
At the height of our civilization, our technological development, our social and material complexity, all signs point to progress, we often think. And yet, all is not as it seems and once in a while it occurs to us to look into the past to discover our future.
Dholavira is the larger of the two most remarkable excavations of the Indus Valley Civilization or Harappan culture, dating back to 4500 years ago. While the other site, Lothal, is more exhaustively educated and easier to reach, a visit to Lothal only complements, rather than replaces, a visit to Dholavira. What this site offers you, in the intense environment that comes with being surrounded by the Great Rann of Kutch, is a unique insight into the pioneering Harappan mind, with one of the world’s earliest and best planned water conservation systems and what might be the world’s first signboards, written in ancient Indus script.
The excavation also tells the story of the 7 stages of the civilization, from development to maturity to decay, the last of which hints at a strange piece of history, with more questions than answers. After the peak of the civilization Dholavira was temporarily abandoned, after which it seems that the settlers returned with a markedly de-urbanized culture. There are hints that they willingly chose to simplify their lives, rather than try to ride the collapse of their once glorified civilization. Here, on the ruins, you will have a chance to contemplate what progress and civilization mean and what, if anything, is truly permanent.
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Known as a remarkable excavation site during the Indus Valley Civilization, Dholavira was one of the most developed cities roughly 4500 years ago. It was a flourishing Harappan site between 2650 and 1450 BCE.
Presently an archaeological site in Khadirbet of Kutch Gujarat, the village is also locally known as Kotada Timba. The location not only holds evident pieces of architecture but also of the Harappan lifestyle. Divided into three main architectural layouts, the town also had a vast open stadium.
Many remains such as earthen pots, beads, jewellery and other materials were excavated as well. The town of Dholavira had an exceptional water conservation system. Two of its most important water channels were the Mansar and the Manha
Dholavira Architecture
The ancient city of Dholavira that housed human inhabitation thousands of years ago still sites lifestyle bits of the time. Starting from societal layouts divided into the center, the middle town and the outskirts, Dholavira still showcases clearcut segments of homes, wells and canals.
This antique town also unearthed remnants of everyday items such as utensils, jewellery, pots, terracotta items, bronze relics. Dholavira is said to have had one of the best water conservatory systems of the time, with the northern Mansar and the southern Manhar being the city's two main canals.
Excavations in Dholavira
A century-old walled - stretching for miles with images scratched to the very bottom of the desert, the excavations in Dholavira has revealed landmarks such as the ground of desert and stones arranged circularly.
The excavations reveal the significance of successive settlements in there at the site for over 1500 years. The striking revelations of the Indus valley civilisations in Harappan cities have proved that the holes drilled into past in Dholavira has provided a perspective to present day ideologies.
The ancient site lies on the island of Khadir which is surrounded by the salt waste of Rann of Kutch. As most of the excavations discovered constructions related to water, 100 hectares of land were found with the remains of it.
The cityscape consisted of a bipartite 'citadel', 'middle town' and 'lower town', two 'stadia', an 'annex', which hosts a series of reservoirs all set within a fortification that runs on all the four sides. Interestingly, in the inner parts of the city, too, there was a system of fortifications.
The results of excavations concluded that the city was constructed like a parallelogram boldly outlined by massive walls with their longer axis stretching from the east to west. The sites are still being studied and explored by archaeologists and indeed has added a personality to the Indus and Harappan civilisations.
Local Language
There are tons of coded symbols and signs that were unearthed in the city of Dholavira. Language inscriptions have been found on various elements including copper, bronze, terracotta and sandstone.
The Dholavira Signboard is one such famous linguistic remnant of the time. It is a wooden board siting large letters mostly written from the right to the left. Although the wooden surface decayed, the gypsum engravings remained. Another sandstone etching of four large sized letters is said to be the first of its kind in the Harappan civilisation.
How to get there :-
By Road :- Ahmedabad is 335 ilometers from bhuj approx. driving time is 7 hours . Dholavira is 250 km from Bhuj and is reached via Bhachau and Rapar. A bus leaves from Bhuj at 14:00 and arrives at Dholavira at 20:30. It leaves at 05:00 the next morning and returns to Bhuj by 11:30. It is also possible to rent a vehicle.
By Train :- The closest railway station to Dholavira is Samakhiali, just 137 kms away. Major railway stations nearby are Bhachau, Gandhidham and Anjar, which are 152, 187 and 191 Kms away respectively.
By Air :- Major airports nearby are Kandla and Bhuj. Kandla airport stands at a distance of 191Kms, whereas Bhuj is around 215 kms away.
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