Kalo Dungar or Black Hill is the highest point in Kutch,

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 ninth ...

, India, at . It is located from District headquarters of

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 ...

and from nearest town

Khavda Khavda is a village in Bhuj Taluka of Kutch district of Gujarat, India. It lies on the west side of Pachham Island in Greater Rann of Kutch. History It belonged to the Raos of Cutch State and came into their possession under rather curious cir ...

.The Jackals and Legend of Kalo Dungar
/ref>KALO DUNGAR
/ref> This is probably the only place in Kachchh from where a panoramic view of the

Great Rann of Kutch The Great Rann of Kutch (or Rann of Kutch seasonal salt marsh) is a salt marsh in the Thar Desert in the Kutch District of Gujarat, India. It is about 7500 km2 (2900 sq miles) in area and is reputed to be one of the largest salt de ...

is possible. Since it is located very near to the Pakistan border, there is an Army post at the top; beyond here, only military personnel are allowed. The Kalo Dungar is also famous for a 400-year-old

Dattatreya Dattatreya ( sa, दत्तात्रेय, ), Dattā or Dattaguru, is a paradigmatic Sannyasi (monk) and one of the lords of yoga, venerated as a Hindu god. In Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Madhya ...

temple. ''Kalo Dungar magnetic hill'' is a popular

optical illusion Within visual perception, an optical illusion (also called a visual illusion) is an illusion caused by the visual system and characterized by a visual perception, percept that arguably appears to differ from reality. Illusions come in a wide v ...

where vehicle seems to defy the gravity and roll up the slope.

Etymology

The word ''Kalo Dungar'' means the ''Black Hill'' in

Kutchi language Kutchi (; કચ્છી, , ڪڇّی) or Kachhi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Kutch region of India and Sindh region of Pakistan. The name of the language is also transliterated as Katchi, Kutchhi, Kachchi, Kachchhi, Kachhi or Cutch ...

, from the words ''Kalo'' for the ''Black'' and ''Dungar'' for the ''Hill''.Not Just One, There are 3 Gravity Hills in India
nativeplanet.com, 18 April 2018.

Dattatreya temple

The Kalo Dungar is also famous for a 400-year-old

temple. Legend says that when Dattatreya walked on the earth, he stopped at the Black Hills and found a band of starving jackals. Being a god, he offered them his body to eat and as they ate, his body continually regenerated itself. Because of this, for the last four centuries, the priest at the temple has prepared a batch of

prasad 200px, Prasad thaal offered to Swaminarayan temple in Ahmedabad ">Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Ahmedabad">Swaminarayan temple in Ahmedabad Prasada (, Sanskrit: प्रसाद, ), Prasadam or Prasad is a religious offering in Hinduism. Most o ...

, cooked rice, that is fed to the jackals after the evening

aarti ''Arti'' (Sanskrit: Ārātrika, Hindi: Ārtī) is a Hindu ritual employed in worship, often part of '' puja'', in which light (usually from a flame) is offered to one or more deities. ''Arti(s)'' also refers to the songs sung in praise of the d ...

. Another, legend has it that there was once a holy man named Lakkh Guru residing at Kala Dungar and worshiping the Lord Dattatreya. He used to feed wild jackals. There came a day when he found he had no food, so he cut off a part of his body and offered it to the jackals, saying, "Le ang!" ("take the body part"). Over the centuries, this got corrupted to "Long".

Gravity hill optical illusion

Kalo Dungar magnetic hill or Kalo Dungar Anti Gravity slope is an hill road with

of a

gravity hill A gravity hill, also known as a magnetic hill, mystery hill, mystery spot, gravity road, or anti-gravity hill, is a place where the layout of the surrounding land produces an optical illusion, making a slight downhill slope appear to be an uphi ...

where vehicle seems to defy the gravity and roll from down slope to up the slope. A strange phenomenon was observed at Kalo Dungar, when some visitors noticed that their vehicles would attain speeds over driving down the hill even with the ignition switched off, a much higher velocity than descending other nearby peaks. A team of experts from the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA); Institute of Seismological Research,

Gandhinagar Gandhinagar (, ) is the capital of the state of Gujarat in India. Gandhinagar is located approximately 23 km north of Ahmedabad, on the west central point of the Industrial corridor between Delhi, the political capital of India, and Mu ...

; and

Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) Hindi: भारतीय प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान कानपुर) is a public institute of technology located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was ...

studied the phenomenon.Experts set to probe mystery roll-down at Kalo Dungar
TIMES OF INDIA, DEC 26,2010 It was concluded that the vehicles pick up speed because the slope is steeper than it appears to the traveller (see

). It is west of the Kutch Dattaterya Temple, south of India Bridge historic landmark, east of BSF Camp on State Highway SH45, east of the Y-fork intersection the intersection where Kalo Dungar road starts off the State Highway SH45, east of Drobhana post office, northeast of

, northwest of Kutch city, south of

India–Pakistan border The Indo–Pak border or India-Pakistan border is the international boundary that separates India and Pakistan. At its northern end is the Line of Control, which separates Indian-administered Kashmir from Pakistani-administered Kashmir; and at ...

, north of

Gandhidham Gandhidham, initially known as Sardarganj, is the largest and most populous city in Kutch District, Gujarat, India. It was created in the early 1950s for the resettlement of Sindhi Hindu refugees from Sindh (now in Pakistan) in the aftermath ...

, and 410 northwest of

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

via NH947-NH27-NH314.

Gallery

Image:Mount Kiro.jpg, Mount Kiro Image:Kala Dunger mountain view.jpg, Kala Dunger mountain view Image:View from kala dunger kutch.JPG, View from kala dunger Image:View from kala dunger.JPG, View from kala dunger Image:Salt desert.jpg, Salt desert from Karo Dunger

References

External links