Vast salt plains shimmer like mirages in the distance - the flatness broken only by small hills or ‘bets’. Both the Great and Little Ranns of Kutch are, in fact, vast saline deserts that cover almost half of the district of Kutch. During heavy monsoons the Ranns are covered in water turning Kutch into a series of islands. Waterfowl arrive in their thousands and for a short time the land becomes green and filled with the promise of life. In high summer the temperatures soar and can reach fifty degrees, the waters dry up and the surface once again bakes into a hard crust where only the hardy such as camel herders, soldiers on patrol or salt workers dare to venture.
Shaped over eons by the unpredictable forces of nature the Ranns hold many clues to the past. Indus valley sites reveal human habitation 5,000 years ago and fossils indicate that Kutch may have been one of the three cradles of civilisation. During its long history Kutch has attracted explorers, invaders, migrants, scholars and pilgrims from many parts of the world and it is their descendents that now populate Kutch.
Today, more than one thousand villages lie scattered on the edges of the Ranns. Although Kutch is mineral-rich with deposits of bentonite, coal and of course salt, pastoral farming and textiles are the main source of income for local communities.
From early morning when the sun first touches the land until it sinks redly beyond the horizon and the moon rises, the Ranns of Kutch hold their own special and mysterious beauty.
