Thar: India's Heaviest Populated Desert | Deserts And Life | TRACKS

paper was light gold in medieval times [Music] i want tobacco sugar [Music] that everything we thought we knew about the world might turn out to be completely wrong [Music] deserts the driest places on earth covering more than a fifth of all the world's land mass as dangerous to life as the highest peak or the coldest glacier but in these harsh and barren wastelands nature endures people have lived in the desert since the beginning of time resilient and resourceful they have developed unique cultures and deep spiritual bonds with these arid lands [Music] but the modern world of commerce and industry is encroaching on the desert claiming its resources changing the delicate balance of life now more than ever desert people must adapt to survive this series tells their story of struggle and endeavor of humanity's continuing relationship with the most challenging places on earth [Music] [Music] empty inhospitable devoid of human life if that's how deserts are supposed to be this one breaks the mold [Music] straddling the border between india and pakistan it covers a quarter of a million square kilometers it can bloom with colorful trees and grasses and it nurtures its animal life in surprising ways it was conquered by humanity centuries ago despite the dearth of water here but it's an ancient desert that's moving with the times and that brings new pressures known as the land of death it's full of life in astonishing diversity today it's the most populated desert in the world home to nearly 30 million people [Music] this is the tile the teeming desert [Music] a desert city that stood the test of time for nearly a thousand years it has sat on the arid plains of western rajasthan but there's a reason why it's here it was the indian king rawal jasal who founded justlemir in the year 1156. he was said to be a descendant of lord krishna and legend has it that he chose to build here because of a miraculous sign sent by krishna himself [Music] clearly it was a wise choice jaisalmer sits on an ancient trading super highway between east and west as spices and silks and other luxuries passed through their hands traders and merchants built ornate homes and temples over the centuries the population here has risen as trade has prospered and fallen again with droughts and wars but jasomir has never seen change on the scale that's happening right now in the last decade it's grown by more than a third it's booming tourist industry is sucking people in in search of work and new opportunities more than 600 000 now call it home and the growing population demands more from this ancient desert city more space more power more water justlemir is crumbling under the pressure that pressure is most evident in the very place that draws the tourists here jasselmere fought rising straight out of the desert it dominates the landscape for miles around its sandstone walls give gesselmere its nickname the golden city for centuries this fort has protected the maharajas and the people of jasmine from raids and wars and the extremes of the desert climate [Music] thousands still make their homes inside the walls that's why it's called the only living fort in india but it's a living fort under deadly attack strangely here in the desert the culprit is water during the last 15 years the human demand for water inside the fort has multiplied 12 times over [Music] once the water is used it drains away through the soft sandstone causing the fort's foundations to sink into the hill beneath the fort is crumbling in dangerous and unpredictable ways six people were killed when one wall collapsed in 1998 bindu minchanda is one of those who's trying to save jasmir from dissolving back into the desert this section is being pulled away from the main section of the palace and if that collapses it's going to create a lot of havoc because there are people living under this they have their homes there also it will bring down with it the main palace [Music] 15 years with a whole team of craftsmen builders and conservationists they're fighting to save the ancient glories of this crumbling monument but they're battling against mistakes made in its recent history originally they had no water inside except the wells in the 70s water was got up to the fort the government did that to make life more comfortable for the people of the fort the need for maine's water was understandable but unfortunately proper drainage systems were not put in place at that crucial time some kind of drainage does exist but it's not adequate in the 70s tourism also started in a big way and a lot of people converted their homes into guest houses or small hotels so there was this double whammy there was a lot of tourism and there was free water the technical problems are complex and massive but this isn't just an exercise in building engineering the efforts to shore up the fort have to go ahead right in the middle of a living community five thousand residents and half a million visitors every year it's not a dead monument it's a living monument and therefore to preserve it and to preserve it in such a way that people can continue living here is very important much of the hard graft is done by a cooperative of local stonemasons they've inherited the traditional skills of building in this desert environment the very skills that are so evident in the fabric of the monument that they're laboring to save the fort is an architectural marvel its lattice work brings in cool air to control the temperature inside the modern conservationists are determined to be just as sympathetic to the environment they use traditional materials and one particular member of the team is accumulating a wealth of experience in working this way [Music] we produce our own lime because we only use lime for our work we started producing this lime 15 years back and this camel has been working for us for the last 15 years these are camel lime expert [Music] bindu and the team are rescuing the past and safeguarding it for future generations but their commitment to this huge project goes further than hard work and logistics [Music] gesselmere has captured their hearts too i love the fact that it's made all of one stone how hard people have worked to make this place you know in this desert they've created this beauty with whatever was available to them they didn't have greenery they didn't have trees they didn't have water but they created this beautiful place for them [Music] the intrinsic beauty has not been spoiled the core of the fort the soul of the fort exists and i i just love that [Music] gesselmere is not the only urban center in this desert that's growing and developing everywhere in the tower people are on the moon millions of them and as with so many other deserts around the world motorized transport is now the norm tractors and trucks cars and bikes are pushing out the traditional ship of the desert the camel [Music] the old nomadic way of life which depended on the camel is becoming less and less viable economically right across the top camel numbers are in steep decline some estimates suggest that in the last decade alone the camel population has been reduced by half [Music] the camel is a creature superbly well adapted to the desert [Music] it's played a central part in shaping how people have survived and thrived here in the tower for centuries it's been used not just as a means of transport but also as a draft animal for its strength and stamina and as a weapon in times of war [Music] but the loss of the camel could have implications not just here but much further afield in modern times scientists have begun to realize that the camel may hold a vital key in their search for answers to a whole range of human health problems dr nitin patil of the national research center for camels has a personal mission to reverse the fortunes of these ships of the desert he studied camels for two decades [Music] foreign protein is good for babies who are lactose intolerant and cannot digest cow or buffalo's milk [Music] camel milk has benefits for adults too [Music] dr patil's team is helping to establish the scientific basis for it foreign [Music] and it's not just the camel's milk that could be a great boon for human health camel blood may offer a breakthrough [Music] [Music] what's truly unique about dr patil center is the way in which it collaborates with a cast of traditional camel herders called the riker rikers are guardians of a variety of indigenous breeds of camel which they've bred specifically for the harsh climate of the great indian desert no one knows the tar camel like the riker [Music] apparently because the knowledge exchange goes both ways the scientists test the rikers traditional cures for camel diseases and they feed back to them what the laboratory analysis is showing about the most effective treatment and it's certainly not just an academic exercise [Music] dr patil's team goes out into the villages where the camel herders live [Music] [Applause] out here they hold surgeries to share their insights into camel welfare the camel herders give the scientists a hands-on insight into the realities of keeping their livestock healthy the villagers depend on the camel for their daily necessities and their long-term economic well-being so although their own traditional cures and treatments can be effective enough for routine ailments there are times when they're very glad to be able to call in the expertise of the centre's medics and scientists the camel has always been the mainstay of rural life historically the ship of the desert has been one of the glories of the tower dr patil is determined that it should have a future here too development [Music] life in the great indian desert is tough in some ways it's a miracle that anyone can make a home in the tower [Music] the landscape is unforgiving creeping sands shifting dunes hot winds miserable droughts [Music] the tower has long been celebrated in history as marustali a mysterious merciless and hostile land [Music] but the name marustai comes from the word mahou the local term for the eluvian rich depressions between the sandy ridges it's the mahou which act as drainage basins collecting the sudden seasonal downpours they make it possible for desert grasses to grow animals to graze and people to live here in small settlements piterai a day's journey by camel from jasmine over the centuries people have managed to survive here herding goats and devising countless ingenious ways of coping with the harsh environment now their ingenuity is being taxed all over again by the challenges of the 21st century [Music] puri is one villager who's seen how much life has changed for her children and grandchildren there's one thing the modern world hasn't changed women are still the mainstay of village life whilst the men are off moving their animals around the desert in search of food it's the women who stay at home and keep the village fed and watered [Music] [Music] their day begins and ends with water they have to fetch and carry and with twice daily practice puri's granddaughters make light work of a heavy load as they walk home with their aunt babri [Music] hello [Music] away the village is one extended family living in six houses they are small and dark inside but they keep out heat in the summer and retain warmth in the cold winter nights the women work together for the good of all one of the first tasks each morning is to brew up chai the masala tea with spices and pepper that's a speciality of the region not all of the animals are away with the men it's the women who have to feed those who remain even today this way of life is pretty much self-sufficient and of course it's the goats which provide milk for the villagers [Music] cooking is the next task these days rajasthani cuisine with its spicy delicacies is fashionable in restaurants the world over but it's based on simple principles and practices that have been passed down to these women by their mothers it's all about nourishing a family in desert conditions they depend on food that doesn't perish easily you can store it for days even in extremes of heat there are practical reasons as well as religious ones to be vegetarian here one of the staples is buttermilk which the women are preparing today [Music] cooking with buttermilk and ghee saves on the use of precious water the same goes for the washing up when the cooking is done the women clean the dishes with sand [Music] but these are women who do much more than household chores and child care they're responsible for maintaining the fabric of the whole village and they do jobs which many societies expect the men to undertake today the women are off to cut firewood it's not just used for cooking nighttime temperatures here can fall well below zero and keeping the family warm is a priority once they're away from the village and out of the company of men the women relax and become much less formal they're happy enough to remove the veils they wear at home [Music] they share a joke about how much work they do and how much easier it might be to be a man [Music] [Laughter] [Music] it amuses the women to imagine what would result if they ever took a holiday and left the men to it [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] these women are builders too in one of the village houses the floor has been damaged and needs to be replaced again the women have to depend on the resources around them the first stage is to dig out the clay they need the clay is trampled into animal dung to make a door it's a traditional method but it seems thoroughly modern to be recycling waste in this eco-friendly way and the children can get involved too now all that's left to do is to lay the new floor [Music] the hands that carry the water milk the goats cook the food chop the firewood and comfort the children are also strong and skilled enough to get this job done [Music] traditions here are robust but the village isn't immune from the pressures which are revolutionizing rural life all over the globe young men from the village routinely leave to go to work in the city economic opportunities there are so much greater and the lifestyle can seem more exciting [Music] today puri's grandson ramesh is coming home to visit from his job as a chef in the city family ties are strong but the pull of the modern world is hard to resist foreign is content to let him find his own way foreign but it's not just a matter of personal choice there are economic realities to be faced many are trapped in this cycle of rural poverty life all around the villages is changing in so many ways wind farms are sprouting up on what was once pasture in some parts of the tower the land around them is being fenced off sprinkler systems irrigate crops on fields once grazed by animals but despite everything these women are holding their families together and passing on their way of life to a new generation age-old customs and fresh challenges another day in the tar has come to an end [Music] but across the desert in bikaner the night is just beginning [Music] at the palace there's a wedding party india's newly rich middle class is out to splash the cash [Music] this spectacular location is home to the maharajas who established the first settlement in this part of the desert more than 500 years ago [Music] nowadays the palace is a luxury resort and one that's still run by royalty princess rajashiri kumari is the daughter of the maharajas of bhikkhana essentially the lives of my ancestors is inextricably linked with the deserts of the tar we are children of the thar desert and the early ancestors must have faced incredible hardships because it was always a question of survival but survive they did and better times were to come this palace is testament to the wealth the maharajahs were able to accumulate over the centuries even from a barren desert the ancestors used to send the revenue collectors off on camelback with this object and they went from village to village collecting the taxes and then when all was done attached this incredibly heavy lock which i can barely lift to the uh the lock here and securely bring back the revenue for the the coffers but you know looking at the weight of all of this it must have been quite an exercise for the poor camel to have to carry this load but their hearty beast doesn't seem to have survived [Music] over the centuries the maharaja's efforts to tame the tar to make it truly fertile came up against one obvious but seemingly insuperable object the lack of water [Music] one particularly severe drought at the beginning of the 20th century brought famine and death that harrowing experience left an unforgettable impression on the young maharaja of bikaner gangar singh [Music] he resolved that never again if human enterprise and skill could prevent it should his people have to face starvation his bold plan to build a canal across the desert my great-grandfather was a firm believer that the land was fertile all it lacked was water and so he set about engineering the scheme of bringing a canal from the sattlaj river into bikaner in 1927 despite opposition from neighboring states but to great public acclaim 143 kilometers of canal were opened by the british viceroy of india the maharaja's scheme to irrigate the tar was a reality his determination and vision still inspire his great granddaughter the area was all desert in those days and it was a very harsh desert incredible heat sandstorms that turned the the sky black in the day there was no electricity no water no no natural lakes or rivers the princess was a spirited young woman and she recognizes how fortunate she was to inherit ganga singh's legacy and to grow up in the opulent surroundings of the lalgar palace it was a an amazing childhood because the palace was a private residence all of it when we were children we had the whole palace all the grounds and everything to play around with and enjoy ourselves with our friends and it was a very golden childhood famous visitors to the palace included the british king george v and it was the british who helped the family with the upkeep of the palace by payments from the privy purse a system that continued for some decades after india became independent but when indira gandhi abolished these privileges in 1971 two wings of the palace had to be converted into hotels to pay the bills [Music] [Applause] the princess has no regrets about that after all change has often benefited biker now her great-grandfather's canal and mrs gandhi's green revolution have secured water and food for her people but if the desert around bikini has been tamed perhaps something of its romance has been lost what i am sad to see is that the desert as we knew it is disappearing when we were kids we had absolutely virgin sand dunes you know just around here and now because of the forestation and the plantation and water and all the rest of it the actual virgin desert is becoming less and less accessible a canal isn't the only desert wonder built by the princess's great-grandfather maharaja ganga singh is also responsible for this place [Music] the karni mata temple building this temple was an act of devotion it was also a shrewd political move kings who want to be powerful in india must be protected by goddesses and ganga singh chose to honour one of the most charismatic of all was a mystic matriarch from the 14th century she is said to be an incarnation of durga the goddess of power and victory the temple ganga singh built for karnimata is famous for one thing rats by now 20 000 of them live here for the faithful they're holy animals known as kabas the story goes that a young relative of karnimata died karnimata tried to bring him straight back to life but the god of death forbade her so rather than abandon the child to yamlok the abode of the dead kalimata used her powers to reincarnate him as a rat and from then on she swore all of her tribe who died would follow the same path for hindus death completes one leg of our journey towards oneness with the universe and marks the start of a new one this belief in the cycle of reincarnation explains why the pilgrims venerate these rats they're seen as members of karnimata's waiting to be reborn again as humans twenty thousand rats live here just four or five are said to be white they are manifestations according to the faithful of karni mata and her four sons spotting them is a special blessing so the pilgrims tried to call them out by offering prasad a sweet holy food the rumor that a white rat has been seen is enough to cause a bit of a stir [Music] all of the rats here are treated with respect anyone who tramples on one by accident is obliged to make up for it by paying for a gold statue of a rat instead devotion to rodents known to carry plague may seem odd to outsiders but in the hundred years since ganga singh built this temple it's never been known for these rats to pass on sickness to their visitors in the teeming desert that is a wonder in itself [Music] survival in the desert is tough for all life human and animal [Music] people here have always known that it's an understanding that nurtured the ancient indian philosophy of vasudeva that the whole world is one single family it's an all-embracing principle that helped shape the thinking of mahatma gandhi in some ways it's as old as the desert and yet it seems thoroughly up to speed with our globalized interconnected world and with today's concerns for the environment [Music] in the village of kiechen this holistic attitude has had an amazing impact for one species in particular and it's produced a world-class natural history phenomenon the story begins with these stone houses the old homes of kiechen's merchant class many of whom were jens [Music] jens pay particular respect to all forms of life and are devoted to good works [Music] in the 1970s one gen family here began to feed wild birds in their own backyard a small number of demisele cranes were amongst them from year to year more feed was put out and more cranes came [Music] by now many of kiechen's gens had left to trade in the city but they sent back money to buy more grain and asked locals like gangaram to make sure that the birds were fed the growing trickle of cranes turned into a flood [Music] [Music] the demoiselle crane is a migrant bird it arrives from as far away as mongolia and china it's noted in poetry and song as a symbol for people who ventured on long hazardous journeys [Music] it comes to spend the winter here and by december it settles into an extraordinary daily pattern [Music] shortly after dawn the cranes begin to gather on the dunes west of the village [Music] then they slowly advance down the hill but on foot not on the wing somehow these cranes have learned that if you're going to town the way to do it is to walk [Music] one bird leads the way [Applause] groups further back may take flight and circle the feeding ground checking for predators [Applause] [Music] if all is well the lead bird hops over the fence soon hundreds thousands follow and gangaram's banquet begins [Music] well over ten thousand cranes now come to take advantage of kitchen's generosity demoiselle crane numbers here far outstrip those recorded in its other wintering grounds in rajasthan kitchen is officially recognized for its support of this beautiful species what happens here in the middle of the great indian desert is now held up all over the world as a thrilling example of the benefits of conservation [Music] [Applause] millions live in the tar but the desert separates them between each human community lies emptiness harsh terrain and big distances but once a year one special event draws together many of the people who live in the great indian desert [Music] 70 000 cattle and 25 000 camels are brought here for sale every year sheep and mawari horses are also traded here and a thousand side stores offer everything a fair goer might need ornaments and jewelry brass wear and blankets textiles and leather goods all at bargain prices dawn the great fair has already been underway for a week for some fortunes have been made for others a year's work in breeding and raising livestock has led only to disappointment today is the final chance to make good hari ram is one of the farmers still looking to strike a deal [Music] washing his animals is essential to show them off to best effect but it's not a routine that hari undertakes just at the fair even at home these prized beasts must be kept clean of the dust of the desert racing bullocks fetch premium prices normally cattle sell here for around 10 000 rupees but bullet racing is a big sport and big business champions win substantial prize money so for his racers hari is looking for a hundred thousand rupees ten times the normal price hari has found one potential buyer who's looking for a bullock to race in tandem with one he's already trained but are the two bullocks evenly matched the test drive is over and the bargaining begins sadly for hari the team isn't perfectly balanced and the asking price is too high another deal goes begging farmers come from all over india to trade here nagar can be a buyer's market for those with money to spend there's no shortage of choice [Music] has traveled all the way from the punjab and he's determined it's not going to be a wasted journey fortunately he's an old hand he knows how to make money here and he's sure of a warm welcome when he gets home foreign [Applause] the afternoon is wearing on hari ram has failed to sell his prize races but with so many traders at the fair he's still hopeful that the word has got around and that a buyer may turn up otherwise keeping them in the desert for another year will be a real problem for him is the long day is closing the buying and selling is done for another year the fair is over it's show time [Music] [Applause] desert dances and rajasthani folk songs delight the traders and their families the dancers belong to a cast of desert nomads the karl baelia their traditional occupation catching snakes and trading venom some say their dance movements resemble those of serpents it's meant as a compliment certainly it's one of the most sensuous dance traditions of rajasthan and one that requires extreme athleticism [Music] the fair is coming to an end in joyful and vivid celebration this is life in the teeming desert [Music] the tar is a desert of surprise and incongruity canals across sand dunes wild birds drawn to human kindness devoutly honored in temples as its cities expand the human pressure on the great indian desert takes its toll [Music] its ancient treasures crumble its villages lose their young and its beasts of burdens struggle against a modern world but even in its harshest corners the pulse of life here still beats strong [Music] and the spirit of a teeming desert survives and thrives the tar remains a place of wonder [Music]

Channel: TRACKS

Views: 957,541

Keywords: TRACKS, tracks travel channel, tracks travel, Documentary movies - topic, full documentary, travel documentary, culture documentary, thar desert documentary, Asia, India, Desert documentary, Thar, Pakistan

Id: gyIInQ9QAeM

Length: 52min 25sec (3145 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 09 2021