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Indus valley - Dholavira - 01 Introduction
Identifier
022626
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
Dholavira in Kutch is one of the five largest Harappan sites in the world and the biggest in India. The other prominent site in India is Lothal, which is close to Ahmedabad. It is located in the Kutch region of Gujarat, in a monsoon island called Khadir island. During monsoon, the sea comes in and the entire Khadir region is cut off from the rest of the world by surrounding water; as the water flows back it leaves behind a pure white sheet of salt which covers the region until the next monsoon.
The entire area is stunningly beautiful and a better site for a spiritually inspired city could not have been chosen. It is on an island, sometimes surrounded by water, connected by an isthmus, has salt and is surrounded by Light of a stunning intensity. It is perfect as a means of sensory deprivation – quiet, and featureless but with colours so overwhelming it can leave you gasping, brilliant white and deep deep blue. The sensory deprivation achieved here has none of the terrifying prospects of three days underground!
The area has seen successive settlements over 1500 years, and the fourteen excavations here over the past few decades have revealed much about the people and their lives here. The most recent has been the discovery of a 5000 years step-well here which is a matter of great pride for all those working on the site.
"This is almost three times bigger than the Great Bath of Mohenjo Daro that's 12m in length, 7m in width, and 2.4m in depth," said V N Prabhakar, visiting faculty at IIT and superintending archaeologist, ASI.
Dholavira (Gujarati: ધોળાવીરા) is located on Khadir bet island in the Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary in the Great Rann of Kutch. The 47 ha (120 acres) quadrangular city lay between two seasonal streams, the Mansar in the north and Manhar in the south. The site was occupied from c.2650 BCE, declining slowly after about 2100 BCE. It was briefly abandoned then reoccupied until c.1450 BCE.
The source of the experience
ShaivismConcepts, symbols and science items
Concepts
Symbols
Science Items
Sacred geographySacred geography - citadel
Sacred geography - islands
Sacred geography - isthmus
Sacred geography - ley lines
Sacred geography - natural hills
Sacred geography - rivers and streams
Sacred geography - water sites