Page 428 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - India

426  WESTERN INDIA

w Bhavnagar the park at dusk provides a
glimpse of the wolves that hunt
Bhavnagar district. 200 km (124 miles) this Indian antelope, and of the
SW of Ahmedabad. * 511,000. ~ nilgai that congregate at
8 km (5 miles) SE of city centre. £ @
the park’s watering holes.
For most visitors, Bhavnagar is
little more than a con venient O Velavadar National Park
base for exploring the magnifi­ n Forest Dept, Bhavnagar,
cent temple town of Palitana. (0278) 288 0222. Open mid­Oct–
Yet Bhavnagar itself is not May. & Extra charges for
without charm – its old bazaar, photography. 8
dotted with merchants’ havelis,
has shops specializing in tie­dye
textiles and gold and silver e Palitana
jewellery. In the southeast corner Bhavnagar district. 52 km (32 miles) Sculptures of Jain tirthankaras along a
of the city, on the road to the SW of Bhavnagar. n (02848) 25 2327. temple corridor, Palitana
airport, is the semicircular £ @ _ Falgun Suth Tera
Barton Museum (built in 1895). (Feb/Mar). with carvings of saints, dancers,
It houses the private collection of musicians and lotus blossoms.
coins, weapons and objets d’art An extraordinary cluster of 1,008 Many images of Adinath are
of a British officer, Colonel Barton, Jain temples crowns the twin enshrined inside. The southern
who served here in the summits of Palitana’s ridge is dominated by the
19th century. Shatrunjaya Hill and 16th­century Adishvara Temple,
The Nilambagh covers the saddle linking with its richly ornamented
Palace, once the for mer them. The first Jain spire. The main image within
rulers’ residence, was tirthankara, Adinath portrays Rishabhnath. It has
built in 1859 and is (see p400), is said to eyes made of crystal and is
now a luxury hotel have visited this hill, adorned with necklaces and
with a great banquet while his chief disciple, a magnificent gold crown.
hall and peacocks in Pundarika, is believed The 4­km (2­mile) ascent
the garden. to have attained to the summit of the hill takes
Detail from the door of enlightenment here. about two hours, a task made
E Barton Museum a temple in Palitana Most of the temples lighter by the spectacular
Tel (0278) 242 4516. date to the 16th silhouette of hundreds of temple
Open 10am–6:30pm Mon–Sat. century – earlier temples on this spires and domes against the
Closed public hols. & ^ site were destroyed by Muslim sky. From the top, there is a
P Nilambagh Palace invaders in the 14th and 15th panoramic view of the Gulf of
Ahmedabad Rd. Tel (0278) 242 4241. centuries. The temples are Cambay and the countryside.
grouped into nine fortified
Environs clusters called tuks, and named
The flat grasslands of the after the wealthy devotees who r Diu
36 sq­km (14 sq­mile) Velavadar paid for their construction. Each Diu Union Territory. 495 km
National Park (65 km/40 miles tuk has a main shrine surrounded (308 miles) SW of Ahmedabad.
north of Bhavnagar) are home by several smaller ones. The most * 21,600. £ Delwada, 8 km (5 miles)
to over 1,000 blackbucks. impressive of the main shrines N of town centre. @ n Diu Jetty,
Blackbucks were protected is the 17th­century Adinath (02875) 252 653.
by the Bishnoi community Temple, on the hill’s northern
(see p389) until the state took ridge. Its ceilings, walls and The little island of Diu covers
over this role. A walk through supporting brackets are covered an area of just 39 sq km

The 19th-century Nilambagh Palace in Bhavnagar, set in a huge garden
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp699–700 and pp713–14

426-427_EW_India.indd 426 26/04/17 11:47 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.6)
Date 12th July 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm