TBI Travel: 7 Fascinating Photos Of The Havelis Of Kheechan
The only time you might have heard of Kheechan before is when you appreciated the remarkable efforts of ONE man, Ratanlal Maloo, in bringing over 15,000 Demoiselle Cranes to his little hamlet in Rajasthan from their homes in Mongolia and Eurasia, year after year! Today, Gangadharan Menon takes you on a little trip down the lanes of history and shows you the beautiful havelis that form part of Kheechan's landscape.
Gangadharan Menon
The only time you might have heard of Kheechan before is when you appreciated the remarkable efforts of ONE man, Ratanlal Maloo, in bringing over 15,000 Demoiselle Cranes to his little hamlet in Rajasthan from their homes in Mongolia and Eurasia, year after year! Today, Gangadharan Menon takes you on a little trip down the lanes of history and shows you the beautiful havelis that form part of Kheechan’s landscape.
1. Five centuries ago, Western Rajasthan was ruled by the Rajputs, the valiant warrior clan of India. They believed in violence, and lived and died by the sword. So the peace-loving Jains were not very comfortable settling in these parts.2. The village of Kheechan was an exception. It was ruled by the Rajpurohits who were vegetarian and also non-violent. So the Jains during their Great Migration decided to settle here. Being traders and merchants, they migrated further leaving behind their families here.
3. When these Non-resident Jains became prosperous, they built exquisite havelis carved out of sandstone for their families. Eventually the families too migrated from Kheechan, leaving behind their ancestral homes. In fact, of the 250-odd havelis in Kheechan, only 18 are occupied, and mostly by senior citizens.4. The most famous of these havelis is the home of the first citizen of Kheechan, Ratanlal Maloo Jain, winner of the coveted Salim Ali Award of the BNHS. This award was conferred on him for four decades of selfless work that he put in for the conservation of Demoiselle Cranes that travel 7000 kms every year to reach here.5. When I went to meet him, he was sitting in the shade of an old Khejri tree. With a twinkle in his septuagenarian eye, he told me a secret. This tree had completely dried up and was taken for dead for two years. But during the unprecedented rains this year, the dead tree sprouted new leaves and was leading its second life.
6. As I gazed at the empty Jain havelis that form the distinct heritage of this dusty village, a thought crossed my mind. The migratory Jains make their annual trip here travelling thousands of kilometres, and so do the Demoiselle Cranes.7. Are the migratory cranes by any chance coming here every year to pay homage to the migratory spirit of the Jains?
All photographs by: Gangadharan Menon
After 28 years in advertising as a writer and creative director, Gangadharan Menon quit the profession to take up his first and second love: teaching and travel. He has over 90 published articles that recount the joy of travelling in this amazing country. A member of Bombay Natural History Society, he is an avid wildlife photographer too. Currently he is working on his first collection of travel writings titled Evergreen Leaves. He can be contacted on wildganges[at]gmail.com
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