Bhavnagar Travel Guide

Bhavnagar is a well-known port that offers, besides a closer look at Gujarat's cotton trade, excellent markets and a few charming temples. A good daytrip from Bhavagnar is a visit to Alang. Alang is famous in the world of shipping companies. All sorts of ships are brought here for the final demolition. If you're interested in buying old steel, this is the place to be where you can probably get it for a bargain. Alang is also known with organisations, such as Greenpeace, for not taking care of the environment.

 The recent project that is kalpsar yojana which is on it's way to development will change the face of bhavnagar. It is the biggest project of it's kind in the world in terms of it's size and the benefits, and of cource the investment required behind this project is also a huge amount. The project is inagurated recently by the chief minister of Gujarat Mr. Narendra Modi. This project consists of building a dam between surat and bhavnagar of length of around 40 kms, which drastically reduces the distance between south gujarat and baroda-surat etc.

Bhavnagar is also a stop-over for those traveling to Palitana, the most famous Jain pilgrimage centre in India. The Shetrunjay hills of Palitana have entered the guiness book of records due to having the highest number of temples on a single hill, they numeber more than 800, dedicated to Jain Tirthankars. This hill is huge and needs climbing up of more than 5000 steps. Nearby flows a Shetrunjay river, where some devotees dip themselves in it before climbing the long hill of Shetrunjay. It was here that the Jain's first Tirthankar Lord Rushabh attained his Moksh and hence very sacred. Nearby hills also have Jain temples on the top. In fact Palitana is the city for Jains and travelers who wish to climb the hill and see the beautiful view and appreciate all those heavily carved temples. There are various Dharamsalas (place of residence) for rich and poor where one could reside, since hotels are far less and a little far from the hills.

Palitana is well connected to Bhavnagar (nearest airport), Ahmedabad, Mehsana and other cities of Gujarat. Buses and private cabs are available as the mode of travel beyond Palitana and horse-carts and rickshaws for traveling in town itself. The best time to visit is between November and March. The hills are closed during monsoon for all. Eatables are not allowed on the top of the hills but at the bottom, there are many places to eat, so do not worry, the famous food is the special Palitana Bhel, plates of tomatoes slices (available only in winter), goti soda and gulkand. One can also find handicrafts and accessories for accupressure. There are masseurs also available on demand, since it gets exhaustive in climbing the hills.