Asia >> South Asia >> India >> Western India >> Gujarat

For the Pakistani city, see Gujrat.

Gujarat [1] is a state in Western India.

Regions

  • Kutch
  • Kathiawad
  • Charotar
  • Central Gujarat
  • North Gujarat
  • South Gujarat

Cities

  • Ahmedabad - 7th largest city of India, Manchester of the East, Commercial Capital of Gujarat
  • Surat - Diamond city of India, famous for mouth watering Surati Food
  • Vadodara or Baroda - Sanskari Nagari (Cultured City), Sayaji Nagari (City of Sayajirao Gaekwad), Oxford of Gujarat
  • Rajkot -
  • Jamnagar - Home to the largest grassroot Refinery complex
  • Bhavnagar -

Towns & Villages

Other Destinations

Hill Stations

Saputara

Heritage Centres

Champaner, Modhera, Patan, Siddhapur,Lothal

Sea, Rivers, Lakes & Water Parks

  • Saurastra or Kathiawad Region:- Ahmedpur Mandvi Beach, Gopnath Beach, Rozi & Bedi Ports, Bet Dwarka Beach, Chorwad Beach, Diu, Nal Sarovar
  • South Gujarat Region:- Hazira & Tithal Beach, Ubharat Beach, Narmada River
  • Central Gujarat Region:- Sabarmati River Front, Mahisagar River
  • North Gujarat Region:- Mahesana Water Park
  • Kutch Region:- Mandvi Beach

Religious Places

Somnath, Dwarka, Palitana, Dakor, Ambaji, Shamlaji, Vadtal, Pavagadh

Fairs & Festivals

  • Fairs:- Tarnetar Mela, Vautha Mela, Shamlaji Mela, Bhavnath Mahadev Mela, Dang Darbar, Gunbhakhari Chitra-Vichitra Mela, Dhrang Mela
  • Festivals:- Modhera Dance Festival, The Kutch Mahostav, Ahemdabad International Kite Festival, Ahmedabad Rath Yatra, Vadodara Navratri Festival, Ambaji Bhadra Purnima

National Parks & Wild Life Sanctury

  • 'National Parks:- Gir - Gir National Park & Wild Life Sanctury, Home to Asiatic Lions, Pirotan Island - A Marine National Park, Velavader - Black Buck National Park, Vansda - Vansda National Park
  • Wild Life Sanctury:- Little Rann of Kutch - Wild Ass Sanctuary, Nal Sarovar Birds Sanctuary, Jessore Sloth Bear Sanctuary, Ratanmahal Sloth Bear Sanctuary, Barda Wild Life Sanctuary, Hingolgadh Nature Education Sanctuary, Narayan Sarovar Sancuary, Khijadia Bird Sanctuary, Gaga Wild Life Sanctuary, Rampara Wild Life Sanctuary, Thol Wild Life Sanctuary, Shoolpaneshwar Wild Life Sanctuary, Porbandar Birds Sanctuary, Pania Wild Life Sanctuary, Balaram Ambaji Wild Life Sanctuary, Jambughoda Wild Life Sanctuary, Purna Wild Life Sanctuary, Kutch Bustard Sanctuary
  • 'untamed Forest:- Dang - Dang (strong wooden bamboo stick) thick forest of bamboo and teak wood. Near by surat via bardoli, vyara.

Culture and History

The geographic diversity and strategic location has made Gujarat home to an incredible diversity of people. With 20% of the country's total industrial output, it is the most industrialized state in India.

People

About 89% of the population of Gujarat are Hindu. Muslims account for 9% and Jain 1% of the population. Most of the Gujarati people are strict vegetarians. Amongst Hindus the deity of Krishna is famously worshipped in His form of Shrinathji throughout Gujarat. Gujarat is birthplace of Gandhi. Gujarat is also the birthplace of the Swaminarayan sect of Hinduism.

Gujarat is home to number of groups that settled from outside including Hindus, Huns, Sakas, Muslims, Parsis. Gujarat is divided mostly along caste lines. The largest caste is Koli or Koli Patel which makes up 20% of the population. The second largest is Patidar or Kanbi which makes up roughly 15% of the population. Other major groups are Adivasi, Rajput, Vaniya, Anavil, Harijan, Lohana, and number of other small sub-castes.

The Ahirs came with Lord Krishna from Gokul in Uttar Pradesh. Most of the communities of Ahirs began with selling ghee and milk and are now spread all over the state. The Rabaris are a nomadic tribe always wandering with their herds. The origin of this tribe has been traced back to Sind and Afghanistan though many aspects of this tribe still remain a puzzle for anthropologists. They have been classified into three distinct groups, namely Vagadia, Dhabaria, and Kachhi. Women of this tribe engage themselves in making elaborate embroidery pieces while the men spend their time tending to their camels and sheep.

Moreover Gujarat being a heavily industrialized state of India, attracts lots of outsiders from various parts of India.

Weather

The Winters are mild, pleasant, and dry with average daytime temperatures around 83 °F(29 °C) and nights around 53 °F(12 °C) with 100 percent sunny days and clear nights. The Summers are extremely hot and dry with day temperatures around 115 °F(46 °C) and at night no lower than 90 °F(34 °C) with sunshine. The time just before the Monsoon, the temperature are similar to Summer but now there is high humidity which makes the air feel hotter. Relief comes when the monsoon season starts around in mid June. The day temperatures are lower to around 100 °F(38 °C) but humidity is very high and nights are around 80 °F(27 °C).

Talk

Gujarati is the language spoken here, although Hindi is widely understood. In main cities, English is widely known.

Travel to Gujarat - Visa Requirements

There are trains from/to Bombay (500 km) and New Delhi (1000 km) several times a day going to the main cities: Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat. Ahmedabad has an airport with several flights a day to/from Bombay and Delhi, and also flights to other Indian metropoles. Ahmedabad is the only International Airport in Gujarat with regular flights to London, New York, Chicago and Dubai.

Tours and Getting around Gujarat

Gujarat tourist attractions and sightseeing

Gujarat city tours

Gujarat souvenirs and shopping

Gujarat Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

Gujarat is very famous for variety of food. People are very fond of quality food. Gujarat is by and large vegeterian food lover. There are hundreds of pure vegeterian food varities are offerred across Gujarat.

Gujarat cheap and luxurious hotels, youth hostels and lodging

Stay Safe

Destinations in Gujarat:

This page was last edited by Peter Fitzgerald. Based on work by Jani Patokallio, nikhil shah, Tim Sandell, Nick Roux, Ravikiran Rao and Evan Prodromou, Wikitravel user(s) Bracknell and WindHorse, Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel and others. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license

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