'Saurashtra' derived from a word 'Surashtra'
which means 'Good country' is region in the state of Gujrat. There are many
fabulous and amazing tourists as well as religious places in Saurashtra. We
started our journey from Porbandar which known town as it's birth place of
Mahatma Gandhi, father of our nation.
In the early morning, we reached to Porbandar
and after having breakfast and and relaxing some time in our hotel, we headed
towards Somanath temple - One of the twelve Jyotirlingas in India. On the way
to Somnath, we took halt at 'Bhalka Tirth' which is temple dedicated for lord
Krishna located at around 6 km from Somanath. It is believed that lord
Krishna ended his incarnation here at this place. It is believed that huntman
in jungle called 'Bhilla' shot an arrow which wounded lord when he was resting.
It stuck at lord's feet because of which his incarnation was ended. In the
temple, you will find statue of lord Krishna carved in marble stone and huntman
apologizing with his folded hands.
Somnath Temple
Somnath Shiva linga
inside temple (Source: Google Images, not captured from my camera as
photography inside temple was prohibited)
On our return journey towards Porbandar, we
got quick stop at sea shore which lies around Porbandar Verawal Highway.
Panoramic view of sea ending at horizon was amazing. 
On our return to Porbandar we visited place called
as 'Kirti Mandir' in the afternoon which is the memorial built in memory of
father of our nation Mahatma Gandhi and his wife Kasturaba Gandhi. The
ancestral house of Gandhi family where Bapu was born is just adjacent to Kirti
Mandir. There are many paintings of Mahatma and Kasturaba describing many
situations of their life. There is also museum, library and counter which have
Khadibhandar, handicraft center and books for sell.
In the evening, we visited 'Hari Mandir' which
is located in Sandipani around 5 km from Porbandar. It is very calm place with
amazing temple and beautiful greenish gardens. It is managed by Rameshbhai Oza.
There is also Gurukul in temple premises which has school which teaches Vedic
and Sanskrit teachings.
Next day early in the morning we headed
towards Dwaraka, world famous temple dedicated to lord Krishna known as
'Dwarakadhish' (kind of Dwaraka). We first visited Harsiddhi mata temple which
is en route to Dwaraka at around 45 km from Porbandar. This temple is dedicated
to goddess 'Harsiddhi' which means 'Harshad Amba' or 'Harshal mata'. This ancient temple is located near
Lamba village on the hill top and one need to climb around steps.
Harsiddhi mata temple
From this temple, you will get outstanding view of Arabian sea and surrounding area. One can not miss visit to this temple for outstanding view.
After visiting Harsiddhi mata temple, we took
our next stop at 'Nageshwar' which is around 17 km from Dwaraka. This is temple
dedicated to lord Shiva but like other important Shiv temples in India, it is
not that crowded and is pretty neat and clean. Few people say that this is one
of the Jyotirlingas and few people do not believe in the same way. This
temple was renovated by Gulshan Kumar. An awesome white statue of lord Shiva
adds beauty to this temple.
From Nageshwar, we headed directly to Okha
coast where one can get ferry to go to ‘Bet-Dwaraka’ which is actually an
island located around 3 km from Okha and it take about 20 minutes to reach
in ferry boat. Our driver told us that it is believed that this is the place
where Krishna used to reside, but according to my knowledge now actual ancient
Dwaraka city is submerged under the sea and Krishna moved his capital from
Mathura to this place. You will simply love this experience of going into the
sea on the ferry boat and visiting the small village island. Although, the
island is not maintained in good condition (typical Indian Pilgrimage). On your
journey on the boat you will find different types of birds flying around you.
The temple in Bet-Dwaraka is not clean but its good place to visit if you are
going to Dwaraka.
After our return on ferry
boat to Okha, we came to present day Dwaraka which is around 30 km travel.
‘Dwarkadheesh’ temple also known as the Jagat Mandir is temple
dedicated to lord Krishna which is part Char Dham temples in India. The
deity of lord Krishna is really amazing and beautiful. From Dwaraka, we return
to our base in Porbandar in the night.
Next day morning we
started our journey towards Junagadh. After taking quick break in our hotel in
Junagadh we started sightseeing of this historic city post lunch. We started by
vising Uparkot fort. This fort is huge but in present day you will find only
very old construction parts with collapsed walls and poorly maintained
structure. If you are not history lover, simply avoid this as you will be
frustrated once you see this dead area. The fort has many several
archaeological sites like Babupyana Caves, Naugham Kuva, Jama Masjid, Buddhist
Caves and Adi-Kadi Vav most of them in collapsed condition. Our guide was
telling us history of ‘Adi-Kadi Vav’ that for water crisis in this area once
upon a time head priest suggested that human sacrifice as solution for which
two slave girls Adi and Kadi offered themselves to scarifies their life and
since then water started coming out. If you look at this vaav present day, you
will find green color toxic water full with all unwanted thing in it. We also
visited Damodar kund which is water reservoir at the foot hills of Girnar
mountain. You can have amazing view of Girnar from here.
In the evening we visited
Junagdh Zoo known as ‘Sakkarbaug Zoological Garden’ . It is Well
maintained, neat and clean. You will find different types of animals and birds
in this zoo. Main attraction of this is lion found in Gir Jungles along with
other animals like Tigers, Chittas, leopard etc.
In the evening we visited
Swami Narayan temple in the city of Junagadh. Just like other Swaminarayan
temples in India, this temple huge. very beautiful and clean. The gardens are
also very well made. The atmosphere here is very calm and soothing. I
would say this is the best place to spend any evening in Junagadh.
We visited Girnar next
day which I have covered in separate post which was last place on our chart.
After visiting Girnar, we returned to Porbandar in the night where we catch our
return train to conclude our vibrant trip.
