Dholavira

Dholavira sits on Khadir, an island of higher ground in the Great Rann, and was one of the largest Harappan cities, occupied for roughly fifteen hundred years from about 3000 BC and inscribed by UNESCO in 2021. Its defining achievement is water management: sixteen reservoirs cut into rock and lined with stone, fed by dammed seasonal streams, holding enough to sustain a city in a place with almost no rainfall. The town divides into citadel, middle and lower town with a large stadium-like ground between. A row of ten large symbols in gypsum, found fallen at a gateway, is the earliest known signboard of the Indus script.

The main sights

• The reservoirs - sixteen stone-cut water tanks across the site.
• The three-part plan - citadel, middle town and lower town.
• The signboard - the row of ten Indus script symbols from the gateway.
• The Rann setting - the white salt flat surrounding the island.

When to go

November to February; Kutch is extremely hot from March to June and the site is entirely exposed. The Rann Utsav season brings more visitors and better road transport.

Good to know

Dholavira is remote, five hours or more from Bhuj on slow roads. There is no shade and little accommodation nearby. The Indus script remains undeciphered, so the signboard cannot be read.

Nearby

The Great Rann surrounds it; Bhuj lies southwest.

Key facts