A Travelogue of Gujarat : Swami Vedanishthananda & Darshan H. Ranpara

Swami Vedanishthananda is a monk of Ramakrishna Order and is presently looking after Value education programmes of Shri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Rajkot. Darshan H. Ranpara is a devotee of Shri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Rajkot

A land is not only made up of its towns, villages, rivers, mountains, and other geographical identities. In India, especially, places have as if their own soul. Gujarat too has a soul of its own. This write-up, in brief, tries to introduce visitors to places worth visiting in Gujarat.

There are numerous places to visit in Gujarat. The people are mostly pure vegetarian. As a sign of respect to Mahatma Gandhiji , Gujarat has been titled as ‘dry’ state. The best time to visit Gujarat is after rainfall from the end of August to October and in winters. Summers are normally too hot. Swami Vivekananda had spent a lot of time in Gujarat in 1891-92 while leading a Parivrajaka life. Gujarat is also associated with the sacred memories of Shri Krishna, Sudama, Narsinh Mehta, Shri Swaminarayan, Mahatma Gandhi, Vinoba Bhave, Sardar Patel, Kaka Saheb Kalelkar, and many others. Shri Somnath Jyotirlinga is also in Gujarat.

Information about some places that are important to visit in Gujarat :-
(The bold ones are of more importance)

AHMEDABAD:

Important Places to visit Ramakrishna Math, A/202-203, Kalyan Tower, Near Vastrapur Lake, Ahmedabad, Sabarmati (Gandhi) Ashrama, A house behind Town Hall in Ellisbridge where Swami Vivekananda stayed, Bhadrakali Mata Temple and Bhadra Fort, Adalaj Stepwell, Siddi Saiyad Mosque, Hathee Singh Jain Temple, Shri Swaminarayan Temple, Jama Masjid, Kankaria Lake, Kochrab Ashrama where Gandhiji stayed before Sabarmati Ashrama, Science City, Calico Textile Museum.

How to reach Ahmedabad is the financial capital of Gujarat and is approachable easily from anywhere of the globe through flights, buses and trains.
Accommodation There are a lot of hotels and guest houses available near the Railway Station and Airport in various price ranges.

Special Information

Ahmedabad sightseeing buses have been made available by the Gujarat Govt. Details can be seen at: https://amtsinfo.in/tourist-coach. Various private operators and taxis are also available for sightseeing tours.

GANDHINAGAR:

Important Places to visit Akshardham: Temple of Shri Swaminarayan where the famous light, sound and water show of Katha Upanishad is organized in the evening after sunset. It is closed on Mondays. Indroda Nature Park: It has Dinosaur fossils and is an attractive nature park. Gandhi Museum: The audio visual tour of 1:30 hrs is worth watching. Timing is from 10:30 a.m to 5 p.m

How to reach It is the capital of Gujarat & just 30 kms from Ahmedabad. There are several Govt. buses available from Ahmedabad Gita Mandir Bus Stop.

Accommodation It is better to stay at Ahmedabad and visit Gandhinagar for a half day after noon. However, several hotels are available starting from Rs.800/-

LIMBDI:

Swami Vivekananda stayed here at a place known as Tower Bungalow which was built by Maharaja Thakore Saheb Jaswantsinhji in 1881. It is situated near the present Ramakrishna Mission, Limbdi. Limbdi is situated between Ahmedabad and Rajkot at approx. 100 kms from both places. Limbdi can be reached through GSRTC Govt. buses and Private Travels for approx. Rs.100/- in Non-AC from both Rajkot and Ahmedabad.

CHOTILA:

On the way to Rajkot from Ahmedabad, there is a Chamunda Mata Temple on a hill at Chotila village. There are approximately 500 steps to reach at the main temple at the hill-top. Sunrise and sunset are very exciting to see from the hill-top. Many people of Gujarat walk from different cities on Saturdays and Sundays as pilgrimage to reach the Chotila temple. Chotila is also the home town of famous poet Jhaverchand Meghani who was titled as National Poet by Mahatma Gandhi. He was inspired by the poetries of Rabindranath Tagore. His birth place house is still preserved in Chotila. Chotila is 60 kms from Rajkot on the Rajkot-Ahmedabad Highway. Buses and shared vehicles are available from Limdi (50 kms) and also from Rajkot.

RAJKOT: It is the main city of Saurashtra region as it is centrally situated in Saurashtra.

Important Places to visit Shri Ramakrishna Ashrama near the Central Bus Station is the oldest centre of Ramakrishna Math in Gujarat. Alfred High School where Mahatma Gandhi studied, where an attractive museum on Mahatma Gandhi has been started, ‘Kaba Gandhi no Delo’, where Gandhiji lived, has recently been modified and converted into an attractive museum. Bhichri Mata Temple near Lalpari lake on a hill. One can view very nice sunset and it is a Rajkot city view point.

How to reach Rajkot is 220 kms from Ahmedabad. Buses are easily available from Ahmedabad Central Bus stop (Gita Mandir). Trains are also available to reach here. Jamnagar Intercity at 6 pm from Ahmedabad is the best suitable train. A few flights are available at Rajkot airport.

Accommodation There are many hotels and guest houses near the Railway Station and Bus Station and other parts of the city.

Special Information

Rajkot is a foodie city that has many famous food items like Jai Siyaram’s ‘Penda’, Gordhanbhai’s Chevda, Jariwali Wafer, Chutney (also exported), Ice Gola, etc.

Sasan Gir: Lions are found only in Gujarat (India) and in Africa in the entire world. The area for these lions is Gir National Park which is of 1412.1 sq km and is a protected area. One needs to book a private vehicle to travel here as there are very few public buses available. Jungle safari in Gypsy is a must-do activity where one can view lions closely under supervision of guides. The details are available at http://girlion.in. Bookings and information are also available at http://www.girnationalpark.in/. Many hotels and resorts are available near Gir National Park. It is 40 kms away from Somnath and 50 kms away from Junagadh. It is better to read all the timings and rules available in the website before reaching there as it is a forest area.

JUNAGADH:

Important Places to visit Swami Vivekananda and other direct disciples visited and meditated on the Holy mountain of Girnar (even older than Himalayas). Ambaji temple at 5000 steps, Lord Dattatreya feet at 10000 steps of Girnar, Jain temples, Jatashankar Waterfall (only in peak monsoon at 500 steps and 2 km trek – it is on the second route of climbing Girnar), Hanuman Dhara-Bharat Van – Sita Van (3000 steps + trek), Bhavnath Shiva temple, Uperkot Fort, Khapra-Khodia caves, Ashoka Rock Edicts, Mahabat Makbara, Wellington Dam-Daatar hill, Damodar kund & Baithak of Mahaprabhuji Shri Vallabhacharya, Bordevi temple, Narsinh Mehta No Choro near Majawada Gate, Ramakrishna Seva Kendra, Talav Darvaja in Junagadh are the places people generally visit.

How to reach It is 110 kms from Rajkot and can be reached via trains, buses, shared cars, etc. from Railway station, Bus station and Gondal Chowkdi respectively. Fare would be around Rs.90/- in bus-taxis and Rs.50/- in trains.

Accommodation Several hotels, guest houses and dharmashalas are available here around bus station, railway station and also around Mount Girnar.

Special Information
If one wants to visit at the top of Girnar (3-4 hrs climb), one full day has to be kept reserved after the climb for rest. Monsoon is the best season to visit.

Somnath:

Important Places to visit Somnath temple (First out of the 12 Jyotirlingas), Bhalka Tirth, Laxminarayan temple, Triveni Sangam, Panch Pandav Cave, Adi Shankaracharya Cave, Dehotsarg Tirth, Sun temple.

How to reach Somnath can be reached directly from Ahmedabad (420 kms), Rajkot (200 kms) or from Porbandar (133 kms). Buses are easily available from all cities.

Accommodation Temple trust has its own guest house. Advance booking is required for it. Many other hotels are also available.

Special Information
The coastal highway from Porbandar to Somnath is fabulous with beach on right side. Madhavpur, a place between Porbandar and Somnath has the best beach of Gujarat. It is the place where Lord Krishna and Rukmini were married.
Diu island is worth visiting place (90 kms). Naida caves are most important here apart from beaches.

Porbandar:

Important Places to visit Kirti Mandir (Birth place of Mahatma Gandhi), Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Memorial (Swami Vivekananda spent a lot of time here), Chowpatty beach, Sudama Mandir, Shri Hari Temple, Khimeshwar Mahadev temple, and Harsiddhi Mata Mandir.
How to reach It is around 100 kms from Dwarka. Comparatively fewer Buses are available from Dwarka to Porbandar. The highway goes parallel to sea. Private vehicle can charge around Rs. 2500-3000/-.
Accommodation There are many hotels and guest houses in Porbandar.
Special Information
The breakfast item called ‘Khajlee’ is famous here which is eaten with tea.

Dwarka:

Important Places to visit Dwarkadhish temple:
It is one of the most important temples of Shri Krishna. It is one of the Char Dham pilgrimage propounded by Adi Shankaracharya. Timings of Darshan are given in their official site which is https://www.dwarkadhish.org/jagad-mandir/time-table/

Other places:
Adi Shankaracharya’s Sharada Peeth, Gomati Ghat, Baithak of Mahaprabhu Shri Vallabhacharyaji, Sunset Point, Bhadkeshwar Mahadev Aarti, Sudama Setu, Nageshwar Jyotirlinga, Bet Dwarka (island), Dwarka Beach after crossing the river, Scuba Diving at beach, and Light House.

How to reach It is 225 kms from Rajkot and 450 kms from Ahmedabad. One can get trains and buses from Rajkot, Ahmedabad, etc. to Dwarka. Sleeper bus or train at night would be best if travelling from Ahmedabad. Train or bus in early morning would be good option if travelling from Rajkot.

Accommodation There are a lot of hotels, guest houses and dharmashalas available near Dwarkadhish temple.

Special Information
Dwarka Darshan Municipality bus is available for sightseeing which covers main places. Fare is approx Rs.100/- Booking place is near vegetable market. Private cars are available for Dwarka Darshan and costing approx Rs.1000/-

Kutch (Kachchh):

Important Places to visit White Rann of Kutch, Mandvi beach, Narayan Sarovar, Ashapura Mata temple (Mata-no-Madh), Kala dungar (Black hill), Koteshwar Mahadev Temple, Dholavira (Harappan civlisation), Bhuj (the main city of Kutch)

How to reach Bhuj is 350 kms from Ahmedabad and 240 kms from Rajkot. Comfortable Sleeper Buses are available from both the cities at approx Rs.400-500/-. Bhuj is the central city to avail vehicles for sightseeing.

Accommodation Several hotels, guest houses and dharmashalas are available at Bhuj and many hotels and resorts are available at Mandvi which are the best places to stay. Rann Utsav (Nov-Feb) can also be a fascinating place to stay if budget is not an issue. Website is: http://www.rannutsav.com

Special Information
Handicraft items of Kutch are famous all over the world. Visitors should buy something from the villagers as it is a source of income for them. Dabeli is the snack introduced by Kutch and is a famous fast food to eat.

Bhavnagar:

Important Places to visit Swami Vivekananda visited and stayed in Bhavnagar, Sihor (nearby) and Palitana. Takhteshwar temple, Victoria park, Ghogha beach, Gopnath temple, Alang (ship breaking place) are places worth visiting.

How to reach It is 175 kms from both Rajkot and Ahmedabad with many GSRTC Govt. and private buses.

Accommodation Several hotels and guest houses are available here.

Special Information ‘Ganthiya’ and ‘Fafda’ are famous breakfast items to eat here.

Sihor: Sihori Mata Mandir, Sihor Fort, Wall and Darwajas, Gautameshwar Mahadev (Swamiji probably visited it) Lake, Navnath Pilgrimage (Navnath Yatra) of Shiva Temples, Brahma Kund, etc. Sihor is often regarded as ‘Chhote Kashi’ (sub-version of Kashi/Varanasi) also.

Palitana: It is the main centre of Jainism. 23 of 24 Jain Tirthankaras, except Neminath, sanctified the hill by their visits. More information is at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palitana_temples.

Vadodara:

Swami Vivekananda stayed at Dilaram Bungalow near railway station which is now Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Memorial. Other places to visit here are Laxmi Vilas Palace, Sayaji Baug, Baroda Museum, Sursagar Lake, Maharaja Fateh Singh Museum.

There are various excursion around Vadodara like Poicha (the fascinating Nilkanth Dham), Jambughoda wildlife sanctuary, Hathani Mata waterfall (huge waterfall where one can even bath), Sardar Sarovar Dam, the tallest Statue in the world (of Sardar Patel) – the Statue of Unity (height – 182 meters) and Zarwani waterfalls.
Vadodara is 110 kms from Ahmedabad. Many hotels and buses are available to reach and stay there.

Dang :

Important Places to visit Saputara is a well-known hill station of Dang District. Other places worth visiting in Dangs are: Gira waterfall, Girmala waterfall, Don Hill Station, Shabri dham (place where Ram ate berries from Shabri), Pampa sarovar, Mahal waterfall and Eco campsite, Pandav Caves, Anjani caves and waterfalls, Gaumukh waterfall and temple, Jaggery manufacturing factories, Janaki Van and many other places.

How to reach Saputara (in Dang Dist) is 400 kms from Ahmedabad and 290 kms from Vadodara. Entire district is very beautiful and close to nature. Almost all the sightseeing places here are at remote locations with no public transportations. So it is better to rent a car for the tour. Petrol pumps are very few in Dang district. So keep the vehicle tank full before entering. Local shop-keepers sell petrol in plastic bottles in case of emergency.

Accommodation There are many hotels at Saputara. Other places can be visited from Saputara. Kilad Eco Campsite is a good location to stay which has very less service facilities but is at the river-bank in the lap of nature.
Special Information Handicraft items made by villagers here are very attractive and one should buy them as a memory so that villagers can earn some money from it.
At most of the places, one should carry water and food as one may not find food at many of the places.
For places other than Saputara, a person/driver who understands Gujarati and Hindi should be there with the tourists for easy communication.
Bathing in unknown waterfall is very risky here as there might be leeches in water that consumes human blood.

A sample plan to visit important places in Gujarat (Of approximately 12 days)

While arriving through flight:

Day 1 Land at Ahmedabad Airport in evening. Book a hotel to stay at Ahmedabad. Visit Ramakrishna Math, Ahmedabad for evening prayer.

Day 2 Go to sightseeing at selected places through a private vehicle. Return to hotel and rest.

Day 3 Go to Rajkot in early morning. On the way, visit Tower Bungalow in Limbdi (where Swami Vivekananda had stayed) and Ramakrishna Mission, Limbdi. Later, reach Rajkot after lunch via Chotila (Chamunda Mata Temple). Praying from the temple at base is advisable due to lack of time.

Day 4 Spent holy time at Shri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Rajkot, which consists of the relics of Sri Ramakrishna Deva and is also known by people as Belur Math of Western India. Visit other places associated with Mahatma Gandhi’s life in his early age. Attend the evening Arati of the Ashrama.

Day 5 In the morning, go to the famous temple of Jalaram Bapa at Virpur which is a unique temple that does not accept donation and yet serves lunch and dinner to lacs of devotees since inception (around 140 years). Enjoy the Prasad (lunch) there at 11 am.Later, reach Junagadh to stay at pre-booked Hotel.

Day 6 Girnar climb from Taleti (10000 steps) at 4 am and descend from different route OR Junagadh sightseeing

Day 7 Early morning journey to Somnath via Sasan Gir. Morning time of Jungle safari is 8.30 am. It takes around 2 hrs from Junagadh to Sasan Gir. Evening aarti and Light-Sound show at Somnath after Sunset.

Day 8 Early morning Somnath local sightseeing from 8 am. Later, travel to Porbandar through coastal highway. Take lunch on the highway and spend some time at Madhavpur beach. Rukmini temple is at Madhavpur where Bhagwan Krishna married Rukmini. Reach Porbandar hotel.

Day 9 Visit Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Memorial, Porbandar(where Swami Vivekananda stayed for a long period ) and other places till 12 noon. Have lunch and move to Dwarka. If one reaches Dwarka around 5 pm, then go straight away to Sunset point after hotel check-in and attend fascinating Bhadkeshwar Mahadev aarti. Otherwise, one can visit Dwarkadhish temple after rest.

Day 10 Visit Dwarkadhish temple as early as possible for satisfactory time and other surrounding places like Gomti Ghat, Sudama bridge, Beach, Chowpatty etc. Then the choice becomes tougher. If interested in visiting Sunset point & Bhadkeshwar Mahadev, skip the Beyt Dwarka journey and visit Nageshwar Jyotirlinga. Otherwise skip the sunset and go for Beyt Dwarka including Nageshwar Jyotirlinga and other places in route.

Day 11 Return to Ahmedabad directly or via Rajkot to catch the return flight accordingly.

Day 12 Return flight.

-: Other places to visit apart from the above-mentioned plan :-
• A trip of Kutch to and fro from Rajkot requires about 4 days.
• A trip of Bhavnagar to and fro from Rajkot requires about 2 days.
• A trip of Vadodara & Dang from Ahmedabad requires about 1 week.