JUNAGADH

Junagadh is at the base of the temple-studded Girnar Hill and is the departure point for visits to the Gir Forest. This interesting and unspoilt town has some exotic old buildings, and is a fascinating place to explore, although few tourists come here.

   The city takes its name from the fort that enclosed the old city (jirna means old). Dating from 250 BC, the Ashokan edicts near the town testify to the great antiquity of this site. At the time of Partition, the Nawab of Junagadh opted to take his tiny state into Pakistan. However, the inhabitants were predominantly Hindu and the nawab soon found himself in exile, which perhaps explains the sorry state of his former palace and fort. 

Uperkot Fort

This very old fort stands on the eastern side of Junagadh. It is believed to have been built in 319 BC by Chandragupta, though it has been rebuilt and extended many times over the centuries. In places, the walls are 20m high and an ornate triple gateway forms the entrance to the fort. It’s said that the fort was once besieged for a full 12 years period. In all, it was besieged 16 times. It is also said that the fort was abandoned from the 7th and 10th centuries and, when rediscovered, it was completely overgrown by jungle. The plateau –like area formed by the top of the old fort is covered in lantana scrub.

     The Jama Masjid, the mosque inside the fort, was built from a demolished Hindu temple. Other points of interest include the Tomb of Nauri Shah and two fine baolis (stepwalls) known as the Adi Chadi and the Navaghan Kuva. The Adi Chadi is named after tow of the slave girls who use to fetch water from it. The Navaghan Kuva is reached by a magnificent winding staircase cut into the rock.

    Cut into the hillside close to the mosque are some ancient Buddhist caves an are thought to be a t least 1500 years old. These eerie double-storey cavesl have six pillars with weathered carvings. The soft rock on which Junagadh is built encouraged the construction of carve and walls, and there are several other caves, including some thought to date from the time of Ashoka. 

Mahabat Maqbara

This stunning mausoleum of one of the nawabs of Junagadh is resplendent with silver doors and intricate architecture, including minarets encircled by spiraling stairways. Built in 1892, it is generally locked (the outside is more interesting anyway) but you may be able to obtain the keys from the adjacent mosque. 

Durbar Hall Museum

This museum has the usual display of weapons and armour from the days of the nawabs, with collections of silver chains and chandeliers, settees and thrones, howdahs and palanquins, and a few cushions and gowns, as well as huge carpet that was woven of Junagadh’s jail. There’s a portrait gallery of the nawabs and local petty princes, including photos of the last nawab with his various beloved dogs. 

Ashokan Edicts

On the way to the Girnar Hill Temples, you pass a huge boulder on which Emperor Ashoka inscribed 14 edicts in Pali script around 250 BC. Later Sanskrit inscriptions were added around 150 AD by Emperor Rudradama and in about 450 AD by Skandagupta, the last emperor of the Mauryas. The 14 edicts are moral lectures, while the other inscriptions refer mainly to recurring floods destroying the embankments of a nearby lake, the Sudershan, which no longer exists. The boulder is actually housed in a small roadside building, on the right towards Girnar.

Girnar Hill

The climb up the 10,000 stone steps to the summit of Girnar is best begun early in the morning, preferably at dawn. The steps are well built and maintained and were constructed between 1889 and 1908 from the proceeds of a lottery. The star of the climb is in scrubby teak forest, 1 to 2 km beyond the Damodar Kund, and the road actually takes you to around step NO 3000 – which leaves you only 7000 to the top.

     The Bhavnath Fair is held in the month of Magha (January / February). Folk music and dancing takes place and lots of naked sadhus converge on town. The first fair was supposed to have been orgainsed by Lord Krishna to honour the Mahabharata hero, Arjuna, who had reached Saurashtra.

    Like Palitana, the temple –topped hill is of great significance to the Jains. The sacred tank of Damodar Kund marks the start of the climb. The path ascends through a wood to the temples near the summit. Five of them are Jain, including the largest and oldest- the 12th century Temple of Neminath, the 22nd Jain tirthankar. There is a large black image of Neminath in the central shrine and smaller images around the temple.

    The nearby triple Temple of Mallinath, the 9th tirthankar, was erected in 1177 by two brothers. During festivals, this temple is a favourite gathering place for sadhus and a great fair is held here during the Kartika Purnima festival. On top of the peak is the Temple of Amba  Mata, where newlyweds are supposed to worship at the shrine of the goddess in order to ensure a happy marriage. 

Other Attractions

If you are unable to visit the Sasan Gir National Park, Junagadh’s zoo at Sakar Bagh, 3.5 km from the town centre on the Rajkot road, has Gir lions. The zoo was set up by the nawab in 1863 specifically to save the lion from extinction and is surprisingly good with lions, tigers and leopards being the main attractions.

   The Ayurvedic College at Sardarbagh on the western edge of town is housed in one of the former nawab’s palaces, and has a small museum devoted to ayurvedic medicine.  

VERVAL

On the south coast of Saurashtra, Verval was the major seaport for Mecca pilgrims before the rise of Surat. It still has some importance as one of India’s major fishing ports (more than 1000 boats work from here), and as the base for a visit to Somnath Temple, 6km to the east.

    Wooden dhows of all sizes, from fishing dinghies right up to ocean-going vessels, are still built totally by hand. The largest dhows still make the journey from here to Dubai and other Middle Eastern destinations, and you may see some of them loading or discharging cargo.  

SOMNATH

Somnath has a large fair at the full moon of Kartika Purnima in November/ December. 

Temple of Somnath

This temple, at Somnath near Veraval and about 80km form Junagadh, has an extremely chequered past. It s earliest History fades into legend- it is said to have originally been built out of gold by Somaraj, the moon god, only to be rebuilt by Rawana in silver, then by Krishna in wood and Bhimdev in stone. A description of the temple by Al Biruni, an Arab traveller, was so glowing that it promoted a visit in 1024 by a most unwelcome tourist- Mahmud of Ghazni. At that time, the temple was so wealthy that it had 300 barbers just to shave the heads of visiting pilgrims.

   Mahmud of Ghazni, whose raids on the riches of India are legendary, descended on Somnath form his Afghan kingdom and, after a two-day battle, took the town and the temple. Having looted its fabulous wealth, he destroyed it for good measure. So began a pattern of Muslim destruction and Hindu rebuilding that continued for centuries. The temple was again razed in 1297, 1394 and finally in 1706 by Aurangzeb, the notorious Mughal fundamentalist.

   After the 1706 demolition, the temple was not rebuilt until 1950. Outside, opposite the entrance, is a statue of SV Patel (1875-1950), who was responsible for the reconstruction.

    The current temple was built to traditional designs on the original site by the sea. It contains   one of the 12 sacred Shiva shrines known as jyoti linga.  

Other Sites

The town of Somnath is entered from Veraval by the Junagadh Gate. This is the very ancient triple gate Mahmud finally broke through to take the town. Close to the second gate is an old mosque dating from Mahmud’s time. The Jama Masjid, reached through the town’s busy bazaar, was constructed using parts of a Hindu temple and has interesting bodhi tree carvings at all four corners. It is now a museum with a collection from many of these temples.

   About 1km before the Junagadh Gate, coming from Veraval, the finely carved Mai Puri was once a Temple of the Sun. This Hindu temple was converted into a mosque during Mahmud’s time and is surrounded by thousands of tombs and palias (memorial stones). Two old tombs are close by and, on the shore; the Bhidiyo Pagoda probably dates from the 14th century.

    To the east of the town is the Bhalka Tirth where Krishna was mistaken for a deer and wounded by an arrow while sleeping in a deerskin. The legendary spot is at the confluence of three rivers. You get to it through the small sangam (confluence gate), which is simply known as the Nana, or Small Gate. North of this sacred spot is the Suraj Mandir, or Temple of the Sun, which Mahmud also had a go at knocking down. This very old temple, with a frieze of lions with elephants trunks around its walls, probably dates from the same time as the original Somnath Temple. Back inside the small gate is a temple, which Ahalya Bai of Indore built as a replacement for the Somnath Temple.