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Chapter 5 Description of the Site
Nani Rayan is a small village in Mandvi taluka in District Kutch of Gujarat state in India. Around three hundred Farmers and farm laborers inhabit it. The entire landscape is flat plain land with small and large cultivated fields. Its latitude is 220 52' 12 N and longitude is 160 21' 32 E (at Dada Dhoramnath Temple)
It is on the bank of river Rukmavati that embraces the village on western and Northern side. This river travels further down to Mandvi where it ends into the Gulf of Kutch, Arabian Sea. The river remains dry for most of the year and is flooded during active and heavy rains in monsoon. A check dam near Mandvi prevents the seawater going upstream in the river during the high tides. Due to silting and some unknown factors the sea has receded but in old days
Selim during the high tide the seawaters reached Nani Rayan and even beyond.
It is a about 5 kms away from Mandvi by road, but if one were to walk through the dry river bank, it is only 3.5 kms.
The village is about 2 kms in length and 1.5 kms in breadth. Major part is cultivated. A small portion is covered by a small hamlet of houses forming the core of Village. About half of the people live here while the rest live in the houses constructed in their farms.
The land close to river is a sandy loam and highly fertile, but as one goes away from the river it becomes harder and less fertile.
In the center there is a tall fort like structure on which is the Temple of Dada Dhoramnath, The Legendary Saint with whom, the story of the destruction of ancient Nani Rayan is attached (Please see the introduction). Standing on the corridor of the temple one can watch the entire landscape and the river on two sides of the village. This is a very strategic position from where the entire course of river can be visualized. The hamlet of houses is separated from the main land on the western side by a river let or a feeding channel, locally known as kappar. Standing in this kappar you can see, in the cut section, the brick wall structure buried 5 feet beneath the ground level. It is the most easily seen remnant of the buried civilization.
In one of the houses a large storage jar, unearthed from their field, lies broken, once a perfect piece of the marvelous potting work, this backed earth jar was 4 feet tall and 6 feet broad, having 2.5-inch thick walls. It could accommodate 300 kg. of grain. It had a large opening near the bottom from where the grain can be taken out. During the earthquake of Jan 2001, the roof of that room collapsed breaking this wonderful 2000 yrs old specimen.
The area from where the antiquities are found is about 1kms by lkms and is towards the riverside. The entire area has cultivated fields. These fields are strewn with potsherds unearthed during ploughing and other agricultural activities.
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