India Via Gujarat

Devdutt Pattanaik explores Gujarat through the ages and its cultures and histories, a microcosm of the multi layered finds, in its archaeology, its myths and legends, country he loves.

Where does history begin? With Krishna? Or the dinosaurs? The mythologist in me seeks Krishna, but the scientist sought out India’s very own Jurassic Park. This is where history begins. Not with gods or humans, certainly not with kings and their palaces, but in nature. So I took that long drive to the village of Raiyoli, near Balasinor, and spent a few hours identifying the outlines of shells of eggs laid maybe 100 million years ago by dinosaurs. Circle after circle after circle after circle. I even held a dinosaur egg and a dinosaur bone in my hand. All thanks to the well-trained local guide. If not for him, no one would guess that this flat, barren, rocky land was, in fact, once the graveyard of dinosaurs and the world’s largest hatchery.

On a hill overlooking this spot, I found a tiny shrine dedicated to Shiva and a nath jogi—mendicants who trace their spiritual ancestry to the medieval yogis, Matsyendranath and Gorakhnath, and seek immortality. Invariably they build shrines in places linked to death, unlike today’s Hindus, who shun such places. Which is why Prabhas Patan in south Gujarat, where Krishna died, is not as popular with pilgrims as it should be. They prefer the Somnath temple, where the moon, Soma, cured of wasting disease by Shiva, built a temple in his honour. Perhaps this is because in their minds, the Somnath temple is proof that even a place associated with a near-death experience can become a wellspring of immortality. Or perhaps it’s because of the temple’s reputation of rising like a phoenix despite repeated plundering.