Darbar Gadh

Darbar Gadh

Photos

Darbar Gadh East of Chandi Chowk is Darbar Gadh, the old royal residence, built in 1540 but extended over the years as can be seen by the mix of architectural styles, also representing the fusion between Rajasthani and European elements. The building is now empty except for guards. There is a semi-circular area outside where former Maharajas of Nawanagar once gathered and held public audience.

Pratap Vilas Palace and Peter Scott Nature Park

Pratap Vilas Palace and Peter Scott Nature Park
The royal palace was built between 1907 and 1915 with a grand mix of European styles. In 1968 Jam Singh converted the palace grounds into a nature park and brought in live specimens of various species, in a supreme effort of conservation. Unfortunately, after the confiscation of privy purses of the princely rulers, this park has not been as well taken care of. Both the palace and the park require permission from the royal family to enter, which you can ask for at the office in Darbar Gadh.

Pratap Vilas Palace and Peter Scott Nature Park






Pratap Vilas Palace and Peter Scott Nature Park
The royal palace was built between 1907 and 1915 with a grand mix of European styles. In 1968 Jam Singh converted the palace grounds into a nature park and brought in live specimens of various species, in a supreme effort of conservation. Unfortunately, after the confiscation of privy purses of the princely rulers, this park has not been as well taken care of. Both the palace and the park require permission from the royal family to enter, which you can ask for at the office in Darbar Gadh.

Utelia Palace

Utelia Palace


This Heritage Hotel, 7 km from Lothal, was built around the turn of the century to replace the former wooden palace. It is a beautiful place to visit and also offers accommodation (for those with a relatively high budget).

Dada Harir Vav (Stepwell)

Dada Harir Vav (Stepwell)

Photos Dada Harir Vav

Dada Harir Vav In the quiet neighborhood of Asarwa village, northeast of the walled, tucked away between a sleepy residential area and the coal yards of Ahmedabad on a little side street, you will find Dada Harir Vav. At ground level you may not see much, but as you step up to the top of the stairs, you suddenly see a deep cascade of stairs and columns plunging down several stories, with shafts of light falling on beautiful carvings and birds and bats flitting in and out of the shadowy corners. Built around 500 years ago by Sultan Bai Harir, this stepwell is like others around Gujarat, with elaborate craftsmanship and construction built underground to provide access to a permanent source of water. For many years stepwells like this one provided most of the water for the city during the long dry seasons. On the walls as you descend, you will find carvings of all type, including some in Sanskrit as well as in Arabic script. The well is best visited in the late morning when light penetrates down the shaft. To reach the site, it is best to find an autorickshaw driver who knows the place to take you there. Buses come nearby, but then it can be quite roundabout to find it on foot.

Adi-Kadi Vav and Navghan Kuwo

Adi-Kadi Vav and Navghan Kuwo

Photos Navghan Kuwo

Adi-Kadi Vav & Navghan Kuwo These two stepwells inside Uparkot, are highly unusual forms of stepwells, very different from wells in other parts of Gujarat. Most wells are dug through various kinds of subsoils and rock layers, and stone columns, floors, stairs and walls are built much like they would be in above-ground construction. In the case of these two, the spaces of the well itself were carved out of stone, leaving the structure of the well (the columns, the walls, etc.) out of the original rock. This means no structural construction is done, so the whole structure of the well is hewn out of a single stone. Navghan Kuwo, just a few years shy of being a thousand years old (it was apparently built in 1026 AD, though some accounts say it is much older), is partly hewn out of soft rock and partly built up structurally like other wells. The stairs that lead down 52 m (170 ft.) to the water level spiral around the well shaft itself, which is also very uncommon. The water from Navghan Kuwo is what allowed Uparkot to withstand many long sieges. Adi-kadi Vav, built in the 15th century, is carved entirely out of hard rock. A narrow flight of 120 stairs cuts down through the stone to meet the well shaft deep in the stone. Two different legends claim to explain the name of the well. One says that the king ordered a stepwell to be built and workers excavated down into this hard stone, but no water was found. The royal priest said that water would only be found if two unmarried girls were sacrificed. Adi and Kadi were the unlucky ones chosen for this and after their sacrifice, water was found. The other story, less fantastic but probably more likely, claims that Adi and Kadi were the names of the royal servant girls who fetched water from the well every day. Either way, people still hang cloth and bangles on a tree nearby in their memory.

Ahmedpur Mandvi

Ahmedpur Mandvi

Photos Ahmedpur Mandvi Beach

Ahmedpur Mandvi On a 6 km stretch of clear Arabian waters kissing the beach, Ahmedpur Mandvi is one of Gujarat's lesser-known gems and finest pieces of coastline. Adjacent to the island of Diu, which lies just across a creek, it continues as Ghogla Beach into the adjoining part of mainland Diu. From lazing on a hammock with a book to bathing in its pristine waters, this beach also offers many water sport adventures and opportunities for dolphin sightings. Situated where Gujarat and Diu come together, Ahmedpur Mandvi provides a rich blend of cultures from Saurashtra and the Portuguese influence from Diu, in several lively fishing hamlets.

Chorwad Beach

Chorwad Beach

Photos Chorwad Beach

Chorwad Beach Located 37 kms from Somnath, this beach was once home to the royal palace of the Nawab of Junagadh. Today it remains in a ruined state. The beach is unsafe for swimming, but it is relatively clean, ideal for relaxing and enjoying the ocean breeze. It does not offer any accomodation facilities but serves as an ideal excursion from Somnath.

Places of Interest

Places of Interest

several Nagar Brahmin havelis

Other Places of Interest The Tana Riri memorial, the 17th century Vishnu and Shiva temples, and several Nagar Brahmin havelis, are the other major attractions of Vadnagar. On the outskirts of Vadnagar is the rundown seven-story Pancham Mehta ni Vav built in the 16th c. The Gaurikund, a square-shaped pond with a pavilion, continues to be visited by people performing funeral rites. The steps leading to the pond have inscriptions from the Hindu scriptures.

Bharuch

Bharuch

Photos

Bharuch Once a small riverside village where the Narmada river emptied into the sea, Bharuch offered its sheltered waters to the shipping world and prospered as a center of international trade. The city has a rich mythological and archaeological history.

Rozi port and Bedi port

Rozi port and Bedi port

Photos

Rozi port and Bedi port These ports make great daytrip spots for seaside picnics or fishing. They are accessible by ferry from Nava Bandar, 3km from Jamnagar.

Waghai Botanical Gardens

Waghai Botanical Gardens

Photos Waghai Botanical Garden

Waghai Botanical Gardens 2 km past Waghai, the nearest town, the garden and Bio-Diversity Conservation center have a wide range of native and exotic plant samples from which you can learn to identify plants, learn how they are used for food and medicine, and how much we depend on them. There is a nature education trail which leads you to and from Vansda Park. You might not find people to welcome and orient you, but there is plenty of written information about the plants posted around the center. The garden is open from 8am-6pm and entry is free.

Artist Village

Artist Village Photos Saputara-Artist Village Artist Village This is a place to not only see and buy the tribal artifacts on display, but also to get your hands to work. You will feel welcomed and inspired to try out warli painting or craft tribal objects. Run by Chandrakant Parmar and Surya Goswami, it is a good place to learn about the culture of this region, especially for school groups. The community also provides simple accomodation for a very reasonable cost.

Photos Saputara-Artist Village

Artist Village This is a place to not only see and buy the tribal artifacts on display, but also to get your hands to work. You will feel welcomed and inspired to try out warli painting or craft tribal objects. Run by Chandrakant Parmar and Surya Goswami, it is a good place to learn about the culture of this region, especially for school groups. The community also provides simple accomodation for a very reasonable cost.

Sayaji Baug

Sayaji Baug

Photos Vadodara_Sayaji Baug

Sayaji Baug This large park on the banks of the river in the center of the city, across from the busy railway station and bus stand, was built by Maharaja Sayajirao III in 1879 and named after him, but also commonly known as Kamati Baug. Take at least half a day to fully explore the 45 hectares of garden grounds, with 2 museums, a zoo, a planetarium, a flower clock, and an operational toy train, among other attractions, and then come back to the park whenever you need a respite from activities in the rest of the city. The planetarium shows you the universe in half an hour, at 4pm in Gujarati, 5pm in English, and 6pm in Hindi. Entry for Adults, Rs. 7, Children Rs. 5. After the show take a look at the astronomy park next door to see the astronomical instruments of ancient India.

CEPT Campus

CEPT Campus

Photos Cept Campus

CEPT Campus School of Architecture was founded by B. V. Doshi in 1962 under The 'Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology' (CEPT). With the motto of 'gnanam vignanamsahitam', meaning 'knowledge with science and spirituality', today CEPT has grown into an autonomous university offering 3 under-graduate and 14 post-graduate programmes. School of Interior Design was founded by Ms. Krishna Shastri, a student of B.V. Doshi in 1991. At CEPT, efforts are made to instigate and improvise the sensitive and aesthetic dimensions of the students. Faculty and students together bring about a healthy and inspiring environment which results into volatile creativity . Students here, are exposed to a wide range of related studies starting from photography to music to crafts to religion to environment and culture, and are also encouraged to improvise and innovate in all the fields. The fully equipped workshop enables them to experiment and make things on their own. 'Student exchange programs' give them insights on global perspectives.

Kanoria Centre for Arts

Kanoria Centre for Arts

Photos

Kanoria Centre for Arts Kanoria is a Fine Arts institute offering workshops and studios to various artists and children. The building is a synthesis of B.V. Doshi's spectacular architecture and the impressions left behind by varied artists for the last 25 years. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the city, this place generates a perfect environment for calm and creativity.

Community Science Center

Community Science Center

Community Science Center In a time when we need to seriously question our textbooks, and our competition-inducing education system as a whole, the Vikram Sarabhai COMMUNITY SCIENCE CENTER provides a valuable insight on how to keep the joy for learning alive. Started in 1960 with the vision to promote and create innovative methods of discovering mathematics and science, this space opens up for children and adults alike many experiential and experimental approaches. An awesome place to bond and share with your children.

Rashtriyashala

Rashtriyashala

Rashtriya Shala

Rashtriyashala Gandhiji returned back to Rajkot, the place of his former schooling in 1939 to help set up the Rashtriyashala, the first of many institutions expressly incubating the values of Swaraj and instigating a sense of pride leading to freedom from the colonial rule. The shala(school) today imparts education and vocational training and has initiated projects in weaving khadi, cotton and manual oil pressing. A shala initiative also introduced local weavers to the art of single ikat weaving leading to a distinctive Rajkot style of ikat saris which have gained acceptance in the market. The premises are open from 9am to noon.

Rajkumar College

Rajkumar College

Photos Rajkumar College

Rajkumar College The Rajkumar college was set up in 1868 under royal decree of the British crown to impart a wholesome and complete finishing education to the young princes of Kathiwar to enable them to rule their provinces better and be groomed into the ideal noble gentlemen. Series of colonial buildings, housing, living spaces, classrooms, offices sprawl in an area spanning 11 acres.‘RKC’ as it is lovingly called was the first elite institution to open its hallowed doors accepting deserving students from all walks of life post independence.

Ramkrishna Math

Ramkrishna Math

Photos Ramkrishna Math

Ramkrishna Math In the mid 19th century, Ramkrishna Paramhans set out to revitalize Vedic philosophy and principles amongst the people of India. Following in his steps, the Ramkrishna Mission, Rajkot, located on a serene campus offers a value based education, has a public library and an Ayurvedic center, plus guest house and a permanent exhibition showcasing the life of Shri Ramkrishna Paramhans. Morning Aarti- 5am, Evening Puja- 7:30pm.