Dhaneti or Dhanetee is a village in

Bhuj Bhuj () is a Municipality and District Headquarters of Kutch District in the state of Gujarat, India. Etymology According to legend, Kutch was ruled by the Nāga chieftains in the past. Sagai, a queen of Sheshapattana, who was married to Kin ...

Taluka of Kutch District of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...

State of

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. It is at a distance of about 26 km from

the Taluka and district headquarters of Kutch. Although it is in

Taluka, the Anjar Taluka headquarters of Anjar is only 18 km away.

History

Paliyas belonging to Mistris of Kutch at Dhaneti

About the history of Dhaneti, the village holds a special place in annals of

Kutch Gurjar Kshatriyas Kutch Gurjar Kshatriya (also known as Mistri or Mestri) are a minority Hindu and one of the Socially and Educationally Backward communities of Gujarat in India, who claim to be Kshatriyas. They are an artisan community related with Kadia wo ...

or Mistris of Kutch, who entered Kutch and fought a battle on the land of the Dhaneti village in late 12th Century around 1177–78 A.D. (V.S. 1234) and got themselves established and settled at this village under leadership of Patel Ganga Maru.Gurjar Kshatriyas, also known as Mistris, came to Kutch from Rajasthan. They are skilled in building construction. They first established themselves at Dhaneti and were granted 18 villages by the rulers of Kutch.
/ref>Kutch Gurjar Kshatriya Community : A brief History & Glory: by Raja Pawan Jethwa. (2007) Calcutta. Even today, intricate ''

paliya The Paliya or Khambhi is a type of a memorial found in the western regions of the India subcontinent, especially Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat and also in Sindh region of Pakistan. They mostly commemorates the death of a person. These ...

s'' or memorial stones of their ''dadas'' or ''shurapuras'' (the ancestors who died while fighting) and ''deris'' (pyre alters) of their ''

Sati Sati or SATI may refer to: Entertainment * ''Sati'' (film), a 1989 Bengali film by Aparna Sen and starring Shabana Azmi * ''Sati'' (novel), a 1990 novel by Christopher Pike *Sati (singer) (born 1976), Lithuanian singer *Sati, a character in ''Th ...

s'' are standing there near village pond and other areas of village, as a mute witness to the war that was fought on this land by these Gurjar Kshatriyas, who are known as

Mistris of Kutch Kutch Gurjar Kshatriya (also known as Mistri or Mestri) are a minority Hindu and one of the Socially and Educationally Backward communities of Gujarat in India, who claim to be Kshatriyas. They are an artisan community related with Kadia wo ...

. Today almost a thousand years after the war, the community people visit Dhaneti to pay respect to these memorial stones, built in memory of their forefathers, who gave up their lives fighting to defend their next generations. Later during 14th to 15th century Mistris in course of time left Dhaneti and went on to establish other eighteen villages in Kutch, which were granted to them by the king. They were master craftsmen and architects and have played major role in erection and construction of majority of forts, palaces and architect of Kutch. It was because of their this quality they came to be known as Mistris in Kutch.

Temples

The Patleshwar Mahadev Temple of

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hin ...

is the oldest temple of village, located on sides of village pond. Beside which lies to temples of

Shurapura A hero stone (Vīragallu in Kannada, Naṭukal in Tamil) is a memorial commemorating the honorable death of a hero in battle. Erected between the second half of the first millennium BC and the 18th century AD, hero stones are found all over India ...

. There is also temple of

Ramdev Pir Baba Ramdev (or Ramdevji, or Ramdeo Pir, Ramsha Pir (1352–1385 AD; V.S. 1409–1442) is a Hindu deity of Gujarat and Rajasthan, India. He was a fourteenth-century ruler, said to have miraculous powers, who devoted his life uplifting the ...

in village.

Present Status

At present, majority of people who live in this village are

Ahir Ahir or Aheer are a community of traditionally non-elite pastoralists in India, most members of which identify as being of the Indian Yadav community because they consider the two terms to be synonymous. The Ahirs are variously described as a ...

Rabari The Rabari people (also known as Desai, Rabari, Raika, and Dewasi people) are an ethnic group from the Rajasthan also found in Gujarat Kutch region. Origin Myth The Rabari myth of origin is kshatriya that Shiva put them on earth to tend to the c ...

and

Goswami Goswami is an Indian surname. The Sanskrit compound Goswami may mean "lord of the senses" or lord of the Vedas (Go means Vedas). It is also pronounced as Gosains, Gossain, Gosain, Gosavi and Gossains. Notable people with the surname or title G ...

. Dhaneti today is famous for special Ahir & Rabari embroidery done by women of this community, and has developed as major center for this art and tourist attraction.

Ramakrishna Mission Ramakrishna Mission (RKM) is a Hindu religious and spiritual organisation which forms the core of a worldwide spiritual movement known as the ''Ramakrishna Movement'' or the ''Vedanta Movement''. The mission is named after and inspired by t ...

is running a School, Students Home and other activities in Dhaneti since 1992.

References

{{Reflist Villages in Kutch district Populated places established in the 12th century 1177 establishments in Asia 12th-century establishments in India