Breaking Knowledge: The Rann Festival of Gujarat

The Rann Festival of Gujarat| A Great Desert Festival of India | Its Feature and Glory


Rann Tent City

The Rann festival is a desert festival celebrated in Kutch/Kachchha district of Gujarat in India each year from end week of December to the end of February in next year. The name behind the festival is familiar to local language ie 'Rann' means Desert. The local people often called it as 'Rann Utsav' which literally means desert festival. The very familiar peculiarity of celebrating this festival is its seasonal natural glory which often attracts spectators to draw the beauty posture of a rude nature where lives were not easy.

The Desert Festival History

Rann Location

If we go back to the history, before the starting of this festival the place was full of anxiety and fear that a few person were interested in it and that also for occasionally on business purpose but now a days the place is getting crowd day to day as travel has been renamed to adventurous activity and people choosing travel as their essential part of life. The first 'Rann Utsav' started in December 2005 for a 3 days event only, now it has been changed to a three months festival starting from December to February. It was Mr. Narendra Modi (Hon-able Prime Minister of India) under whose Chief Ministerial Term the festival development model was created and its success pave the way to become Prime Ministerial Candidate of India in May 2014 for him.

The Desert Festival Features and Glories

The Main Attraction

Snow white Rann

The main attraction of the place is white snow like flat soil which covered with salt and blazes in the sun shine as the rain water has dried up, in the winters every year and create an illusionary lake that fills the dry Rann till the eye can see. It's best on full moon nights to see the moon shining on the salt. (December 25, January 24, and February 22)

Chir Batti

At night, an unexplained strange dancing light phenomena known locally as Chir Batti(ghost lights) occurs in the Rann, the adjoining Banni grasslands and the seasonal wetlands.

Mirages

Since the Rann is flat like a sheet of paper in the afternoons with bright sunshine a shimmering mirage forms which is like an illusionary lake that fills the dry Rann till the eye can see.

Culture and Heritage

A lot of women and young girls make their living by selling different types of embroidered cloths. The embroidery is of various styles such as Rabari, Ahir, Sindhi, Banni, Mutwa, Ari and Soof - and some styles include mirror or bead inlay.

Although it's becoming commercial and overcrowded day to day, the days are filled with folk dances and music, adventure sports, handicrafts, food stalls, and excursions to surrounding destinations. Hundreds of luxury tents are set up on the fringe of the white salt desert to accommodate visitors.

Amitabh Bachchan in his promotions for Gujarat Tourism titled Khushboo Gujarat Ki has also extensively shot in the Rann of kutch.

Several scenes in Salman Rushdie Booker Prize winning novel 'Midnight's Children' take place in the Rann of Kutch, including a scene where the protagonist faints from heat stroke in the Rann's brutal climate

Traditional 'Bugga' style cottages

Traditional Bugga House

Traditional Bugga Interiors

Traditional 'Bugga Style Cottages' are very famous here. These are very suitable for the desert climate and having different economy prices for different class of people.

Places most to visit nearby

Flamingo City

It encompasses a true saline desert where thousands of greater flamingo(Phoenicopterus roseus) nest in the world famous 'Flamingo City’ located in the mud flats of the Rann, about 10 km from Nir outpost on Kala Dungar hill. It is the only area where flamingos congregate to breed regularly,

Gandhidham

Gandhidham is a very small place and to reach a destination you need just a few minutes, so it was easy to go around .Gandhidham is a city and a municipality in the Kutch District. The town was created in the early 1950s for the resettlement of the refugees from Sindh in the aftermath of the partition of India.

Indo-Pakistan International Border

The northern boundary of this sanctuary forms the international border between India and Pakistan and is heavily patrolled by the Border Security Force in India with much of this sanctuary being closed to civilians after the India Bridge at Kala dungar (Black hill), Khavda. Tourists and researchers can only enter here with special permission from the BSF.

Excavated city of Dholavira from the Harappan civilization

Buried nearby to where the flamingoes breed is the ancient excavated city of Dholavira from the Harappan civilization,attracting archeologists from all over the world.

Wildlife Sanctuaries and Reserves of Kutch

From the city of Bhuj various ecologically rich and wildlife conservation areas of the Kutch / Kachchh district can be visited such as Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary, Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary, Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary, Kutch Bustard Sanctuary, Banni Grasslands Reserve and Chari-Dhand Wetland Conservation Reserve etc. On the opposite side of the border in Pakistan, the Rann of Kutch Wildlife Sanctuary preserves 566,375 hectares.