Gujarat Day 1 - Bhuj

Christmas season and it was shutdown time at our HP office.  Gujarat – it was to be and I reached Mumbai from where my friend, Sumit and I boarded the Sayaji Nagari Express bound for New Bhuj in the Kutch district of Gujarat.  The train left at 2 50 PM and reached New Bhuj station at around 7 30 AM the next day.  The sun was still not out yet and it was pretty cold outside.  Right time for a morning snack and we feasted on the fafda, jalebi and khaman that were on offer at a roadside vendor just outside the station premises.  Bhuj was a dusty town and we hired an auto to drop us at the bus station.  After booking our bus tickets for the night's trip to Dwarka, we headed to find a backpacker's inn, just to drop our luggage and refresh before we began our sight-seeing.

The places of interest in Bhuj are located close to each other and the best way to see them is by walk.  We started from the guest house after refreshing and made our way to the Kutch museum to start off.  The Kutch museum is a two-storeyed old building that houses lot of antiques.  With an entry fee of Rs 10, the museum houses maps describing the area of Kutch and models depicting the various tribes in the region.  Also, available are antiques retained from the period when kingdoms ruled over the area.  The museum takes you back in time as you wonder at the various handicraft arts that co-existed at those times.  Each tribe specialized in a particular handicraft type and even today you could go to their villages to see in person the creation of those art pieces.  The Rann Utsav aims at showcasing the work of these tribes and hence there is lot of focus on art and culture.  You would need atleast three days to move around the villages and have a peek into their art work.  We were on a tight schedule and could only catch glimpses of their work in the museum. 

From the museum, a straight walk along the Hamirsar lake takes you to the twin palaces of Prag Mahal and Aina Mahal.  Entry ticket for each palace is Rs 20 and camera fee is Rs 50.  The Prag Mahal palace built sometime in the 19^th century housed some antiques used in those times.  Of interest was the huge storage boxes, weaving equipments, clubs and palanquins – all of these were made of wood.  A path through a flight of curving stairs led us to the top of the clock tower.  At various levels of the clock tower, we could see the pulley mechanism operating the huge clock.  

The top of the tower provided wonderful views of the entire town.  One could spot the Hamirsar Lake on one side and the railway station on the other.  We learnt that palace was used to shoot scenes in some Bollywood movies.

The Aina Mahal palace stands next to the Prag Mahal palace, however, smaller in size.  “Aina” means mirror and the palace was aptly decorated with mirror exhibits.  From old paintings to huge clocks to rare objects used by the emperors of those times, the palace caught the eye of every visitor.  There was a room where the musicians would perform for the king.  The room had a center stage and a corridor surrounding it.  The corridor was provided with lamps for lighting. 

The palaces were busy with visitors, mostly kids who were being brought from their schools on excursions.  Once out of the palace area, we saw the Old Swaminarayan temple.  A medium-sized structure, the temple in the interior was ornately decorated with paintings and sculptures.  My friend enquired about the history of the temple and the priest obliged.  There were paintings on the ceiling and walls – each one as charming as the other.  The priest also informed us about the huge New Swaminarayan temple that had been built a few years back.  The New Swaminarayan temple was located on the other side of the Kutch museum.

We walked along the Kutch museum and the white marble structures at a distance immediately caught our eye.  The New Swaminarayan temple was a huge complex, mostly made out of marble.  The decorated doorway led us to the interior of the complex.  With plenty of open space, the temple had lawns and a pathway leading to the main shrine.  The exteriors of the complex were bounded by buildings dedicated to people involved in service for the temple.  Construction of a new assembly hall was in progress.  The temple structure had many pillars decorated with splendid sculptures.  The ceiling also had plenty of sculpted pieces of male and female Gods.  The sanctum sanctorum was closed since it was afternoon.  We decided to return back later in the evening to catch a glimpse of the idols that adorned this lovely place. 

We were hungry and returned back to the bus stand.  An air-conditioned restaurant on the first floor of a complex surrounding the bus stand served hot Gujarati meal.  It was my first taste of an entire course of authentic Gujarati food.  Gujarati restaurants are mostly vegetarian.  The Gujarati thali usually consists of rotis, daal, two/three curries, kadi, a sweet, some snacks, rice, papad and buttermilk.  This restaurant served us some vadas and khaman for snack.  The daal was a little sweet but very tasty.  The meal cost Rs 90 and was very filling.

From the restaurant, we went back to our rooms and took a well-needed nap.  We woke up by 4 PM in the evening and refreshed ourselves before we left to see the other places in Bhuj.  At around 2 kms from the Kutch museum stands the Sharad Baug Palace.  A modest palace structure with exhibits showcasing the daring hunting experiences of the erstwhile ruler welcomed us.  Around the palace area was variety of flora – a delight for anyone interested in plants and flowers.  We saw a peacock that was enjoying its day in the garden.  The garden was well maintained.

We walked to the Rajendra Baug, that was located right in the center of Hamirsar Lake.  The garden was unimpressive and there seemed to be some infrastructure work in progress.  The Ram temple nearby had an attached step-well but it was not well maintained.  

Through the lanes, we walked to the New Swaminarayan temple, this time to see the idols.  It was evening, and time for aarti.  There was a good crowd at the temple.  The idols were impressive and charming.

Late in the evening, we returned back to the bus stand area.  We had dahi vada, kutchi dhabeli and faluda.  

It was time for us to leave the guest house.  We took our belongings and left for the bus stand.  Our bus to Dwarka came at 8 30 PM.  We got seats in a sleeper and the seats were comfortable for the night’s sleep.  We were left with memories of the colorful town as the bus travelled out of Bhuj towards Dwarka.