Gujarat: Pilgrimage and Tourist Places

What the official syllabus says

GPSC Preliminary Examination, General Studies, under the heading History and Culture:

• Pilgrimage and Tourist Places of Gujarat.

Topics in detail

Learn each place with its district and what it is known for; the same place can appear under religion, history and wildlife.

Hindu pilgrimage centres

• Somnath (first of the twelve jyotirlingas, Prabhas Patan) and Nageshwar (near Dwarka)
• Dwarka (Dwarkadhish temple; one of the four dhams) and Bet Dwarka
• Shakti peeths and goddess temples: Ambaji (Banaskantha), Pavagadh (Kalika Mata), Bahucharaji (Mehsana), Ashapura Mata (Mata no Madh, Kachchh), Chotila (Chamunda)
• Dakor (Ranchhodraiji), Shamlaji (Aravalli), Virpur (Jalaram), Sarangpur (Hanuman), Swaminarayan temples (Vadtal, Gadhada), Akshardham (Gandhinagar)
• Siddhpur (matrushraddha), Narayan Sarovar and Koteshwar (Kachchh), Girnar (Datt and Amba temples)

Jain, Buddhist, Islamic, Parsi and Sikh sites

• Jain: Shatrunjaya hill at Palitana, Girnar, Taranga, Shankheshwar
• Buddhist: Junagadh caves, Talaja, Devni Mori (stupa relics), Vadnagar excavations
• Islamic and Sufi: Sarkhej Roza, Shah-e-Alam (Ahmedabad), Pirana, Mira Datar (Unava)
• Parsi: Iranshah Atash Behram at Udvada; Sanjan, where the Parsis first landed
• Sikh: Gurudwara at Lakhpat (Kachchh), linked with Guru Nanak's travels

Heritage and archaeological tourism

• UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Champaner-Pavagadh, Rani ki Vav, Historic City of Ahmedabad, Dholavira
• Lothal, Modhera, Patan, Vadnagar, Siddhpur, Junagadh, Bhuj
• Gandhi circuit: Porbandar (Kirti Mandir), Rajkot (Kaba Gandhi no Delo), Sabarmati Ashram, Dandi
• Statue of Unity (Kevadia, Ekta Nagar) facing the Sardar Sarovar dam

Nature and wildlife tourism

• Gir (Asiatic lion), Velavadar (blackbuck), Little Rann (Indian wild ass), Marine National Park (Gulf of Kachchh)
• Nal Sarovar, Thol and Khijadiya for birds; flamingo breeding in the Great Rann
• Saputara hill station (the Dangs); Wilson Hills (Valsad); Polo Forest (Sabarkantha)
• White Rann at Dhordo and the Rann Utsav; beaches of Mandvi, Shivrajpur, Tithal, Chorwad, Ahmedpur-Mandvi

Kachchh circuit

• Bhuj: Aina Mahal, Prag Mahal, Kachchh Museum, Hamirsar lake; Smritivan, the memorial to the 2001 earthquake
• Mandvi: traditional wooden shipbuilding, Vijay Vilas Palace, Kranti Teerth (memorial to Shyamji Krishna Varma)
• Mata no Madh, Narayan Sarovar, Koteshwar, Lakhpat fort and gurudwara; Kala Dungar; Dholavira; craft villages such as Hodka (Banni) and Nirona

Places linked with leaders and history

• Porbandar and Rajkot (Gandhi's early life); Karamsad and Nadiad (Sardar Patel); Vadnagar (Kirti Toran, Hatkeshwar temple, Buddhist monastery remains)
• Patan (Rani ki Vav, Sahasralinga lake, Patola weavers), Siddhpur (Rudra Mahalaya, Bohra havelis), Modhera (Sun Temple)
• Junagadh (Uparkot, Ashoka's edicts, Mahabat Maqbara), Bhavnagar, Gondal and Vadodara (palaces of former princely states)

Tourism policy

• Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited; heritage hotels, homestays
• Religious, heritage, wildlife, beach and MICE tourism as segments

Overlaps

Mains General Studies-I (B) has pilgrimage, heritage and tourist places of Gujarat again. Wildlife areas are covered in more depth on Gujarat: Geography.