|
 |
| Gujarat |
|
 The
state of Gujarat is situated on the west coast of India, bounded
by the Arabian sea in the west, Pakistan in the northwest, Rajasthan
in the north, Madhya Pradesh in the east and Maharashtra in
the southeast. The city of Porbandar in Gujarat is the birth
place of the great Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi. Gujarat is
a state well known for its art, culture, handicrafts, architecture
and festivals.
It has lush green forests that are home to the Asiatic lion.
Equally alluring are its forts, temples and palaces. Although
it has just one hill station, Pavagadh,this hill spot is worth
a visit for it provides a relaxing atmosphere, besides attractions
in the form of ancient ruins of forts and palaces. For the religious
minded tourist, Gujarat offers some amazing options like visits
to Dwarka, the city of Lord Krishna, and Somnath temple, which
is a shrine steeped in history. |
|
| GETTING
HERE |
Ahmedabad, a
major city of Gujarat, has many flights from and to Mumbai,
Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata. International
flights are available to London, New York, San Francisco, Chicago,
Kuala Lumpur, Sharjah, Qatar and Singapore. Ahmedabad is also
well connected by rail and road to major Indian cities.
Sasan Gir: Nearest airport, Keshod, is connected
with Mumbai. Sasan has a railway station, but the most convenient
railhead is Junagadh. By road Sasan Gir is linked to many cities
in Gujarat like Ahmedabad (340 kms), Rajkot (160 kms) and Junagadh
(65 kms).
Rajkot: By air Rajkot is linked
with Mumbai and other cities. Rajkot is linked with many cities
by rail and road - Bombay (798 kms), Ahmedabad (218 kms) and
Junagadh 98 kms).
Bhavnagar: Flights are
available for Bhavnagar from Mumbai. It is also linked by rail
and road to major cities of India.
Champaner:
The nearest airport is Vadodara (46 kms). The railhead is Champaner
Road. By road it is linked to many cities like Vadodara and
Ahmedabad (159 kms).
Junagadh: The nearest
airport is Keshod (40 kms). It is linked by rail and road to
Rajkot (102 kms), Porbandar (113 kms) and Ahmedabad (327 kms)
and many other Indian cities.
Porbandar:
Porbandar is connected by air to Mumbai. It is also linked by
rail and road to many cities like Ahmedabad (412 kms), Rajkot
(187 kms) and Jamnagar (124 kms).
Dwarka:
Jamnagar (145 kms) is the nearest airport. It is linked by rail
and road to many Indian cities. |
|
| WHAT
TO SEE |
Ahmedabad
The main tourist attractions in Ahmedabad are Bhadra Fort, Kamla
Nehru Zoo, Vastrapur Lake, Law Garden, Sarkhej Roja, Karnavati
Museum, Hathising Jain Temple, Hussain-Doshi's Gufa, Jama Masjid,
Kankaria Lake (with an island garden and a summer palace known
as Nagina Wadi in its centre), Sidi Sayed Mosque (famed for
its shaking minarets) and Sabarmati Ashram (7 kms, on the bank
of Sabarmati river).
Destinations away from Ahmedabad city are Adalaj (19 kms, famous
for step wells), Cambay, Gandhinagar (32 kms, with its famous
Akshardham temple), Lothal (80 kms, archaeological site), Nalsarovar
(lake which is a home for water birds) and Patan (120 kms, 100
Jain temples).
Sasan Gir
Sasan Gir forest is the only place outside Africa, where the
lion exists in its natural habitat. The forest is also home
to a variety of other animals like panthers, hyenas, Indian
deer, bears and langurs. The sanctuary is open from October
to June.
Rajkot
Places of Interest in Rajkot are Aji Dam (8 kms), Mahatma Gandhi's
Home, Lal Pari Lake and Renderda (4.8 kms), Sardar Smriti Bhavan,
Watson Museum and Jubilee Gardens.
Bhavnagar
Places of tourist attraction here are Burton Library and Museum,
Lock Gate, Takhteshwar Temple Palace (situated on a hill with
a panoramic view), Gandhi Smriti (library of books on the Gandhian
thought, Gandhi picture gallery and museum), Town Hall (a splendid
monument in the Victoria Park), Nilambag Palace and Gangajalia
temple.
Tourist spots away from Bhavnagar are Palitana (55 kms, Jain
Temples), Sihor (25 kms, a fort named Darbargadh, fresco paintings,
brass utensils), Velavadar Black-Buck Sanctuary (37 kms), Ranpur
(163 kms, 13th century fort), Piram Islands (25 kms, famous
for turtle breeding) and Talaja (54 kms, rock cut Buddhist caves).
Champaner
It is an ancient fort located at the foothills of Pavagadh.
Important spots include Citadel Royal, a huge lake called Vada
Talav, ruins of Sultan's Palace, Air Manzil (excavated site
with ruins and mosques like Jami Masjid and Nagina Masjid),
ruins of Khapra Zaveri Palace, Makai Kothar (granary), Kalika
Temple (situated on the highest peak of Pavagadh hills), Lakulish
Temple and Chhashia Talav (lake).
Attractions away from Champaner include Chhota Udepur (80 kms,
royal palaces), Jambu Ghoda wild life sanctuary (25 kms), Vadodara
(46 kms, Laxmi Vilas Palace, museum, Sayajibag), Dabhoi (75
kms, ancient fort, gateways) and Balasinor (85 kms, dinosaur
fossils).
|
|
Junagadh
Junagadh is situated at the foot of mount Girnar, an important
religious place for Hindus.
Sightseeing attractions include Uparkot (old fort, with an ornate
triple gateway), Ashokan Edicts, Durbar Hall Museum, Girnar
Hill Temple (10,000 steps uphill), Junagarh Zoo and Ahmedpur
Mandvi (famous beach with water sport facilities).
Tourist spots some distance from Junagadh are Chorwad (66 kms
from Junagarh, holiday resort on an isolated beach), Gir National
Park (60 kms) and Shree Somnath Jyotirling temple (79 kms).
Porbandar
Porbandar attractions include Marine drive, Kirti Mandir (house
of Mahatma Gandhi built next to his birthplace. It has a Gandhian
library and a prayer hall), Sudama temple, Darbargadh (a fortified
palace), Sartanji Choro (summer palace) and Huzoor Palace.
Interesting excursions from Porbandar are Modpar Fort (70 kms),
Ghumli (50 kms), Gop (70 kms), Harshad Mata Temple (36 kms)
and Barda Wildlife Sanctuary (40 kms).
Surat
There are a number of tourist attractions here like Castle of
Surat, Sardar Patel Museum (over 10,000 exhibits of art and
craft), a number of Hindu, Jain and Parsi temples, and several
mosques.
Tourist attractions around Surat are Duma (16 kms, a popular
health resort on the Arabian Sea coast), Hajira (28 kms, seaside
resort and picnic spot) and Udvada (the oldest sacred fire of
Parsis in India).
Dwarka
It is on the west coast of Gujarat by the Arabian Sea. It is
believed that Lord Krishna's kingdom was located here. Dwarka
is a holy place for the Hindus because of its temples like Jagat
Mandir or Dwarkadhish temple, Rukmini temple, Gomati Ghat temple,
Samudra Narayan temple (at the confluence of Gomati river and
Arabian sea) and the Sharad Peeth (one of the four hermitages
established by the great guru Shankaracharya).
Other places worth visiting near Dwarka are Nageswar Mahadev
temple (10 kms from Dwarka), Gopi-talav (20 kms, a sacred pond),
Bhalka Tirth (where Lord Krishna left his mortal form), Somnath
temple and the Sun temple in Somnath. |
Next
 |
|
