The Rann of Kutch is truly a land of breath-taking landscapes. It also has some unique locations and sightseeing spots in the vicinity to enchant us. Kalo Dungar is one such picturesque destination that offers great panoramic views of vast expanse of The White Rann. It was our first sightseeing destination at Rann Utsav.
Kala Dungar or popularly known as Kalo Dungar is the highest point in the Kutch district – situated at a height of 1516 feet above sea-level. The most famous attraction here is the 400- year-old highly revered Datatreya temple. Lord Datatreya is the main deity of this region who is considered to be an incarnation of the Hindu holy trinity – Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh. Our taxi driver told us about the age-old legend associated to this temple. It is said that Lord Datatreya walked on earth and decided to rest on these black hills. On encountering a bunch of hungry jackals, Lord Datatreya decided to offer his body as food. As these jackals started feeding on the lord, the Lord’s body kept regenerating on its own. The temple was built to mark and honour this sacrifice of Lord Dattatreya. This practice is continued even today, the temple priests feed the jackals every day at noon. We were a little scared at the mention of jackals but our driver assured us that there has never been a single incident of these jackals harming anyone near the temple area.
Watching sunset at Kala Dungar was a beautiful experience. We enjoyed watching the sun change its colours before it finally bid adieu!
On our way back to the Tent City we visited the India Bridge. We chatted up with few army officers there. They patiently answered all our curious questions and also shared few stories of Indo-Pak border that was about 70 km away.After meeting this troop of invincible people and listening to all their hardship stories, we understood one thing – that being tough is not just the nature of their job but a way of life for them.
