Page 434 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - India

432  WESTERN INDIA

Africa and the an opportunity to display
Persian Gulf ports. these skills. The Aina Mahal
African slaves were was thus decorated with
an important part Venetian-style chandeliers,
of Kutch’s maritime Delft blue tiles, enamelled
trade, and their silver objects and chiming
many descendants clocks – all made locally under
still live in the city. Ramsinh’s supervision. At the
The town’s main same time, local crafts of
attraction was the the highest quality were also
Darbargadh Palace displayed, such as a superb
complex, which ivory-inlaid door, jewelled
Rabari women, bringing water home, near Bhuj houses the fabulous shields and swords, and a
Aina Mahal or marvellously detailed 15-m
s Bhuj “Palace of Mirrors”. Built in (49-ft) long scroll painting of
1752, it was damaged in the a royal procession, complete
Kutch district. 217 km (135 miles)
W of Ahmedabad. * 121,100. 2001 earthquake but has now with African pageboys. All
~ 7 km (4 miles) N of city centre. been extensively renovated. these form a part of the
£ @ n Gujarat Tourism, Toran The palace and its contents palace museum.
Rann Resort, Mirzapur Bhuj, (02832) are linked to the remarkable The royal cenotaphs, the
224 910. _ Ashadhi Bij (Jul/Aug). life of its Gujarati architect, Swaminarayan Temple and
Ramsinh Malam. Shipwrecked the bazaar are now unfor-
Until the earthquake of off the East African coast as a tunately in ruins, but the
January 2001 reduced much 12-year-old, he was rescued by excellent Folk Arts Museum
of Bhuj to rubble, this was a a Dutch ship and taken to the still stands. It has a choice
fascinating walled city, with Netherlands, where he spent collection of Kutch textiles
beautiful palaces and havelis, the next 17 years. There, he and local crafts, and a
and a bazaar famous for its blossomed as a craftsman, reconstructed village of
rich handicrafts and jewellery. mastering Delft tile-making, Rabari bhoongas (see p434).
Bhuj was the capital of the glass-blowing, enamelling
prosperous princely state of and clock-making. When he E Folk Arts Museum
Kutch, whose wealth derived returned home, the ruler of Mandvi Rd. Tel (02832) 220 541.
from its sea trade with East Kutch, Rao Lakha, gave him Open Mon–Sat. & =
Earthquake in Gujarat
On 26 January 2001, at 8:46am, as India celebrated its Republic Day, a devastating earthquake struck
Gujarat. Its epicentre was in Kutch. Measuring 7.7 on the Richter Scale, it destroyed most of Bhuj,
the headquarters of Kutch district, as well as Anjar, the second largest town in Kutch, and razed
450 villages in the district to the ground. Among the 20,000 people killed in the earthquake were
400 schoolchildren of Anjar, who were crushed under the rubble of falling buildings in a narrow street
as they marched jauntily through town in the Republic Day Parade. In the state capital, Ahmedabad,
most of those killed were trapped in recently built high-rise apartment buildings, which collapsed
like houses of cards, while, ironically, centuries-old historic monuments throughout the state suffered
relatively little damage. An exception was the spectacular 18th-century Darbargadh Palace in Bhuj, with
its richly decorated interiors showcasing the finest Gujarati craftsmanship. Much of the damage it suffered
is irreparable. After some renovation, it is now open to visitors again. In contrast, the traditional, round
mud bhoongas of the semi-nomadic Rabaris of Kutch withstood the earthquake remarkably well. Gujarat,
and in particular Kutch, has always been an
area of seismic activity, and some historians
believe this is one reason that cities of the
Indus Valley Civilization (see p45), such as
Dholavira and Lothal, declined around
1900 BC. In more recent times, 1,100 people
died in the 1819 earthquake and 7,000 in
the 1956 earthquake. The disaster of 2001
made more than 250,000 people homeless.
A massive rehabilitation effort began
almost immediately. Besides the Gujarat
government and the Indian Union, over
150 countries readily came forward to
provide assistance. Above all, it was the
resilience of the residents that brought life
back to normal. Labourers at an earthquake relocation center, Bhuj

For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp699–700 and pp713–14

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