One desert, divided by a line on the map
The same land: the Thar of western Rajasthan runs down into the salt marshes of the Rann and the grasslands of Banni. Borders came long after the people.
The same people: the Rabari herders in black and white, the Meghwal leatherworkers and embroiderers, and Muslim pastoral families of Banni all have cousins in Barmer and Jaisalmer.
- Kutch
- Gujarat's north-west, India's largest district
- Old rulers
- The Jadeja Rajputs, with the title Rao
- Old capital
- Bhuj
- Languages
- Kutchi, close to Sindhi, and Gujarati
- Shared with Rajasthan
- Herders, crafts, songs, mud houses
- Sindh in between: across the Rann lies Sindh, now in Pakistan. Before 1947, many herding families moved freely between Sindh, Kutch and the Thar.
- A kingdom of its own: Kutch was ruled for centuries by the Jadeja Rajputs from Bhuj. Like the Bhatis of Jaisalmer, the Jadejas trace their line to the moon and to Krishna.
- A coast our desert never had: Kutch faced the sea. Its sailors traded with Arabia, East Africa and the Persian Gulf, and Mandvi still builds wooden ships by hand.
- Why it matters to you: this is not two holidays stuck together. It is one cultural world, seen from both ends.
The communities you meet on both sides
The Rabari
Who they are: herders of camels, sheep and goats, whose women wear black wool and men wear white.
- Their work: bold chain stitch, mirrors and appliqué, made for dowries and family use long before it was sold.
- Where you meet them: around Jawai in Rajasthan and across Kutch. Read with the Rabari herders of Jawai.
The Meghwal
Who they are: traditionally leatherworkers and weavers, with famously fine embroidery.
- Where: the villages of Barmer and the Banni grassland, including Hodka.
- Their houses: round bhungas, mud houses with conical thatched roofs, often decorated inside with mud relief and tiny mirrors.
The Khatri printers and dyers
Who they are: families who print and dye cloth by hand, in Barmer and in Kutch.
- Their great cloth: ajrakh, resist-printed in indigo and madder red through many stages of printing and washing.
- Where: Barmer in Rajasthan, and Ajrakhpur near Bhuj, founded by printing families after the 2001 earthquake.
The pastoral families of Banni
Who they are: Muslim herding communities, called maldharis, who keep the hardy Banni buffalo.
- Their pride: milk and ghee famous across Gujarat, and embroidery of extraordinary fineness.
- How to visit: with a local host, slowly, with time for tea in the courtyard.
The craft thread, from Bagru to Bhuj
Block printing in Bagru: near Jaipur, families print cotton by hand with wooden blocks and natural dyes. Our block printing in Bagru page explains the craft.
Tie-dye in Jodhpur: bandhani, cloth tied in thousands of tiny knots before dyeing, and leheriya, the wave pattern of the monsoon. See leheriya and bandhani.
- Durries near Jodhpur: flat-woven cotton rugs made on looms in the villages just south of the city.
- Embroidery and appliqué in Barmer: women's groups and cooperatives sell their work directly, with the money going back to the makers.
- Ajrakh at both ends: printed in Barmer and in Ajrakhpur near Bhuj, with the same indigo and madder.
- Weaving in Bhujodi: Vankar weavers on pit looms in their homes, making shawls and blankets of wool and cotton.
- Rogan in Nirona: castor-oil paste drawn onto cloth with a metal stylus. Only a few families still practise it.
- Bells, lacquer and pottery: copper-coated bells tuned by hand in Nirona, turned lacquerwork, and painted pots in Khavda.
Two Harappan cities, one at each end
Kalibangan in Rajasthan: in the far north, near the dried bed of the Ghaggar, excavations revealed a Harappan town with a citadel, streets and fire altars. Our short history of Rajasthan starts there.
Dholavira in Kutch: one of the largest Harappan cities ever found, on an island in the Great Rann, excavated from 1990.
- Kalibangan
- Harappan town, Hanumangarh district, Rajasthan
- Dholavira
- Harappan city on Khadir Bet, Kutch
- Dholavira UNESCO
- Listed 2021
- Famous find
- Ten large Indus script signs at Dholavira
- Masters of water: Dholavira's people cut great reservoirs and channels into the rock to store every drop of the monsoon. Kutch's farmers still face the same dry land.
- The oldest signboard: near the north gate, archaeologists found ten large signs in the Indus script, made of inlaid white stone. Nobody has read them yet.
- How to visit: Dholavira is several hours from Bhuj. Go early, as there is no shade, and stay a night nearby if you can.
Three ways to cross from Rajasthan into Kutch
Through the desert, from Jaisalmer and Barmer
The route: south from Jaisalmer to Barmer, about four hours with a desert night on the way, then south-east into Gujarat around the edge of the Rann.
- The long day: Barmer to the Little Rann is six to seven hours by road. We leave early and carry a picnic.
- Why choose it: you follow the craft and the communities across the border, exactly as they travelled.
- Read more: the full route is our Rajasthan and Kutch journey.
Through Udaipur, Mount Abu and Ahmedabad
The route: from Udaipur or Mount Abu down into Gujarat, with two nights in Ahmedabad, then on to Kutch by way of the Little Rann.
- On the way: the great stepwell of Rani ki Vav at Patan and the Modhera Sun Temple.
- Why choose it: shorter drives, more cities, and the old walled city of Ahmedabad. See Mount Abu and Gujarat's heritage.
By air, for those short of time
The route: fly from Jaipur to Ahmedabad and drive on, about six to seven hours to Bhuj, or reach Bhuj by air via Mumbai.
- Why choose it: it saves days, at the cost of the desert crossing.
- What to know: Bhuj Airport's flights are limited, so we plan the rest of the journey around them.
A fourteen-night shape through the desert
Nights 1 to 3, Jaipur
- Settle in: palaces, the walled city and a day with the printers of Bagru to begin the textile thread.
Nights 4 and 5, Jodhpur
- The drive: about five to six hours west.
- The days: Mehrangarh at opening time, the blue lanes, and a bandhani workshop.
Nights 6 and 7, Jaisalmer
- The drive: about five hours into the Thar.
- The days: the living fort, the carved havelis and sunset from the royal chhatris.
Night 8, Khuri
- The dunes: quieter than Sam, about an hour from Jaisalmer, with dinner by a fire under the stars. Read Khuri.
Night 9, Barmer
- The women's work: an afternoon with embroiderers, and the carved Kiradu temples at dusk.
- Honestly: Barmer has no hotel we would call luxurious. We choose a clean, comfortable stay for one night.
Night 10, the Little Rann
- The long day: six to seven hours into Gujarat, ending at a family-run camp on the edge of the salt.
Nights 11 to 14, Bhuj and the White Rann
- Bhuj: the Aina Mahal, Prag Mahal and the craft villages of Bhujodi and Ajrakhpur.
- The White Rann: two nights at Dhordo, with Nirona, Hodka and Kala Dungar on the way, and the salt under the moon.
The White Rann, and why the moon decides your dates
How the salt forms: every monsoon, seawater and rain flood the low Rann. As the water evaporates in autumn, it leaves a crust of salt cracked into great plates.
The full moon nights: the most memorable night in western India. The tents fill fast around them, so we plan the whole journey backwards from the moon.
- Where
- Dhordo, about two hours north of Bhuj
- When it is white
- About November to the heat of April
- Floods
- In the monsoon, July to September
- Festival
- Rann Utsav, roughly November to February
- Permit
- Needed, close to the border
- Rann Utsav: a winter festival with a tent city at Dhordo, folk music, craft stalls and trips onto the salt. Dates change each year, so we confirm them. Read about Rann Utsav.
- Kala Dungar: the highest point in Kutch, a black hill with a view over the whole Rann. Its temple priests feed the jackals every evening.
- The permit: the White Rann lies close to the international border. We arrange the permit with your other papers.
When to go
November: the Rann dries and turns white, Rajasthan is golden and the Pushkar Camel Fair falls around the Kartik full moon.
December and January: the peak. Warm days, cold desert nights, and Christmas and New Year book out early in both states.
- February: our favourite month for this journey, with the Jaisalmer Desert Festival often falling in it and the salt still bright.
- March: possible, but the heat is building in Kutch.
- April to September: we would not go. The heat is severe, then the monsoon floods the Rann and the White Rann cannot be visited.
- Month by month: see our best time to visit Kutch guide.
Where you stay, and what you trade for place
Palace nights in Rajasthan
Jaipur: Rambagh Palace or the Samode Haveli inside the walled city.
- Jodhpur: Umaid Bhawan Palace or RAAS Jodhpur under the fort.
- Jaisalmer: Suryagarh, a fortress-style hotel on the edge of the desert.
Simple and honest in Barmer and the Little Rann
- Barmer: a clean local stay, chosen for an easy start the next morning.
- The Little Rann: a family-run camp or resort with naturalists who know the wild ass.
Inside the landscape in Kutch
The White Rann: the better tents of the Rann Utsav tent city are heated, comfortable and well run.
- Hodka: a community-run village resort where you sleep in a bhunga among embroiderers and herders.
- Bhuj: comfortable modern hotels for the town and craft villages. Our luxury stays in Kutch page compares them.
Millet, buttermilk and mawa
Bajra on both sides: millet bread, called rotla in Kutch, eaten with white butter, jaggery and buttermilk, is the cousin of the bajra roti of a Marwar village.
Ker sangri: desert berries and beans, the pride of Rajasthan's kitchens. Read ker sangri explained.
- Chhaas: spiced buttermilk, the drink that keeps both deserts cool.
- Dabeli: a soft bun of spiced potato, pomegranate and peanuts, born in Mandvi and now eaten across India.
- Mawa of Bhirandiyara: a rich sweet of slowly reduced buffalo milk, made fresh each day on the road to the White Rann.
- Mostly vegetarian: much of Kutch is vegetarian, though Muslim and pastoral families cook fine meat dishes at home.
- A dry state: Gujarat controls alcohol by permit. Our guide to alcohol and dry days explains what that means.
What most visitors miss
Smritivan in Bhuj: a memorial park and museum to the people who died in the earthquake of 26 January 2001. Many guests say it changed how they saw the whole region.
The royal chhatris of Bhuj: sandstone memorials of the Jadeja rulers, some restored and some still broken, quiet in the late afternoon.
- Mandvi's shipyards: great wooden hulls built by hand on the riverbank, on the coast south of Bhuj.
- Lakhpat: a walled port town in the far north-west that emptied when the river changed course. A gurdwara inside marks a place linked to Guru Nanak.
- The Living and Learning Design Centre: near Ajrakhpur, a superb museum of Kutch embroidery and crafts, founded by the craft organisation Shrujan.
- Winter birds: Chhari Dhand, a seasonal lake on the edge of Banni, fills with cranes, pelicans and flamingos. See our birding page.
- The Kiradu temples near Barmer: carved walls of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, in the same tradition as Ranakpur, and almost always empty.
Before you go
Keep ID with you: Barmer and Kutch are border districts, and checks on the road are routine.
Protect your eyes and skin: the salt reflects the sun fiercely, even in December.
- Carry
- Passport or identity card at all times
- Permit
- For the White Rann, arranged by us
- Bring
- Sunglasses, hat, lip balm, warm layers
- Greetings
- Ram ram in Hindu villages, salaam in Muslim ones
- Pack for cold nights: the desert drops sharply after dark in winter.
- Ask before photographs: especially of women, and accept a no gracefully.
- Dress modestly: long sleeves and loose clothes are comfortable and respectful in the villages.
- Leave room in your bag: almost nobody leaves Kutch without an embroidered piece they had not planned to buy.
How we look after you on the long roads
One chauffeur all the way: the same driver from Jaipur to Bhuj, so you are never handed between companies at the state border.
A guide from the region in Kutch: someone who knows the families in the villages and the hours they can receive you.
- Daylight only: every drive starts after something worth seeing and ends before dark. We never cross the open Rann at night.
- The papers in hand: the White Rann permit arranged in advance, with copies in the car.
- The moon booked first: we hold the tent city around the full moon before we fix anything else.
- A planner on WhatsApp: the same person throughout. We quote after one conversation, because the season, the moon and your rooms change everything.
Who will love it, and who should choose another journey
Textile lovers: no route in India shows you more techniques, from more communities, in their own homes.
Photographers: the dunes of Khuri, the fort of Jaisalmer and the White Rann at dusk are three of the great landscapes of India.
- Second-time visitors: if you have seen the Golden Triangle, this shows you a different India.
- Not for palace-every-night travellers: Barmer and the Little Rann are simple. Choose The Royal Rajputana instead.
- Not for a first trip to India: there is no Taj Mahal on this route.
- Not for those who dislike long drives: two days are six hours or more in the car.