Visit to Breathtaking Rann Utsav, Gujarat

About Rann Utsav:

In the year 2005 when our current PM Mr Narendra Modi was a RSS Pracharak, he had visited Kutch district of Gujarat. Here, he came to know about a white desert where the local people were scared to go. He decided to go there and see it himself. He was so fascinated with the beauty of this desert that when he later became CM of Gujarat, he decided to commercialize it and developed an idea of celebrating an annual festival to celebrate its beauty.

My Experience:

We reached Dhordo (which is where Rann is located) in the morning at around 11:00 AM, had some delicious food and took some rest. At 4:00 PM we went to see the stalls where the festival is arranged. There were some amazing sand art frames, handmade jewelry by household ladies, some colorful textile work like dupattas, pure cotton dresses, shawls, etc. As a very normal girl I too did some shopping ;) Post this, at around 5:00 PM, we had bus arranged by our resort to go to the Rann. (Rann was located at about 3-4 kms from our resort). As this is located near Pakistan border we could see many BSF people around us, but it is extremely safe here. Once we reached here, I was amazed by the unique beauty of this desert. Once the sea has retreated, it leaves behind a vast spread of dried salt crystals. I could see snow-white salt everywhere when I turn my eyes around. Nature has blessed us with one of her best views here. We saw some people performing traditional folk dance and music here. We were here for quite a long time. Then after coming back, we had a delicious dinner at our resort and at 10pm, we again went to see Rann under moonlight. Trust me, it’s once in a lifetime experience to see these crystals of salt that shine like diamonds under moonlight. I loved it from the bottom of my heart and captured this beauty in my eyes forever. Post this; we got an amazing experience to stay in beautiful tent and Tradition Bagga (mud house) which are uniquely designed with all the modern facilities and amenities. I usually like to experience the authentic culture of the place which I visit. Hence, one night we spent in a tent and one night in the mud house.

How to reach:

You can get a train named Bhuj-Kutch SF express which will take you to Bhuj. We had boarded the train from Mumbai. From Bhuj railway station, you can get a bus to go to Dhordo which is 80 kms from Bhuj station. We had done the booking through a travel company so they provided us a car to reach Dhordo.

Place to Stay:

When you reach Dhordo, you can get a tent, traditional Bagga or a normal hotel room to stay in. We had a booking in White Rann Resort ( https://whiterannresort.com/ ). We chose this resort because apart from being a good resort, this resort provides their own bus service to go to Rann of Kutch every 15 minutes in morning, evening and night (to see the Rann during sunrise, sunset and under moonlight). They have tents as well as Baggas, so we experienced the stay in both for one night each. They also arrange cultural programs like folk dance and dramas for their guests in the evening. We had a good stay and experience in this resort.

Best Season to go:

Festival is open for tourists from the month of November to February every year. However, if you go at the time of full moon night you can see the true beauty of this crystal clear salt desert. We decided to go in the month of February on full moon night.

Expenditure per person:

The train ticket per person will be about INR 3000 (including both to and fro journeys) and for stay, it will depend upon the hotel you choose, however, it can be anywhere around INR 2,000-5,000 per night with/without food.

We have done a booking for the festival with the package of INR 10,000 per person (all inclusive) in the year 2018