Dholavira is 260 plus kms from Rajkot and google maps showed 5 and a half hours. Our cab owner, the highly efficient and likeable, Yuvrajsinh felt we could do Bhuj and go. Just turned out that the road was so bad and narrow that it took us seven and a half hours.
Bhuj is the Head Quarters of Kutch district, and an earthquake prone areas, which suffered massive earthquakes in 1829, 1956 and 2001 that killed thousands. The seven gallery museum called Smritivan Earthquake Memorial which showcases the earthquake and it's aftermath, how it was rebuilt etc is a major attraction. We went there but were told there was a two hour waiting list and that the tour would take two hours by itself.
So we just walked about, took some pics and saw one check dam. They have put the names of all those who died in this disaster in each of these check dams. A thoughtful way to remember them.
There was a lovely fort on top of the hill and its called Fort Bhujia, apparently built by Rajput Parmar kings of the area. The city is founded by Rao Hamirji Jadeja in the 1500s and remained a princely state. It saw battles between the Rajput kings and the Sultans of Gujarat and the Mughals until they finally accepted the British sovereignty. There is also a legend about Nagas protecting the area, and there is a temple in the fort where Bhujanga the snake god is worshipped. We didn't go up to the fort though it looked inviting.
Out on the road waiting for Yuvraj who had gone to fill gas, we saw a couple of statues, one Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi and another one of a Raja.
Interestingly the Rani Jhansi Lakshmi statue has a plaque that prominently mentions Smriti Irani as the one who inaugurated it - made me double check if it was Smriti Iranis statue. Some other interesting sights i would have loved to look at are the Prag Mahal, Aina Mahal, Kutch museum but didn't have the time.
Ate a Dabeli for 20 bucks which is a local snack apparently. Worked well.
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