A Trip To Dholavira

A magical experience of the largest salt desert in the world and the road to heaven made my journey to Dholavira more memorable.

A 30 km long stretch, the road to heaven, that connects Khavda to Dholavira, is the newest scenic road in India. The road passes through a landscape that features an endless salt marsh on its both sides. Fabulous images shared by tourists expressing their heavenly experience, earned it the name Road to Heaven. This road opened in 2023 coinciding with the G 20 summit, significantly reducing the distance and travel time between Bhuj and Dholavira. 

It was indeed a mystical feel when I traveled through the road to heaven and walked on the salt flats of the world’s largest salt desert. 

An ancient Harappan site, Dholavira is situated on the Khadir island in Kutch. Spread over 120 acres, Dholavira is one of the well preserved urban settlements of the Harappan civilization. 

Occupied between 3000 and 1500 BCE, Dholavira is a great example of an advanced urban planning. An intricate network of structures shows a well planned unban layout. It comprises a heavily fortified castle with a well protected bailey, a citadel, a religious complex, a middle town, a lower town along with a series of reservoirs. Dholavira site also includes a large cemetery with cenotaphs of different types that offer a glimpse into the burial practices of that time.
The city of Dholavira lies between two seasonal streams, the Mansar in the north and Manhar in the south. These streams provided water to the walled city, a scarce resource in the region. A sophisticated water management system demonstrates the ingenuity of the Dholavira people in their struggle to survive and thrive in harsh environment. Finding of beads processing unit, jewellery and artifacts of various kinds such as shell, stone, copper, terracotta, gold, ivory and other materials reveal the artistic and technological accomplishments of the Harappan culture. Evidence of their inter regional trade with other Harappan cities, Mesopotamia region and Oman has also been discovered at the site. The development of Dholavira has also left behind a mystery script on a signboard that remains one of the unsolved puzzles of the ancient world. Despite the weathered surface of the signboard, the inscriptions have retained their form. 

There is a museum as well on the site that exhibits the artefacts found during the excavations of Dholavira. Archaeological sites like Dholavira remind us of the remarkable achievements of ancient civilizations.