| Sightseeing Highlights
One of the main highlights here is the fort walls surrounding the town and Uparkot in the west. Uparkot, an ancient citadel located on the higher level of the town, was a stronghold of Mauryan and Gupta Empires and is said to have survived 16 sieges in the last 1000 years. Inside the fort is a mosque, the Jami Masjid, built from a demolished Hindu temple.
The 2nd century Buddhist caves here are fine examples of rock cut architecture with ornamented pillars, carved entrances, water cisterns, chaitya halls, and monastic cells for meditation. The Khapara-Kodia caves located in the town are also worth visiting.
Other must-sees on the tourist list are the tomb of Nuri Shah and two old baolis or step wells called Adi-kadi Vav and Navghan Kuvo. So is the Durbar hall museum, which displays many royal artifacts.
The mausoleums of the Nawabs of Junagadh are also worth a visit. This group of ?maqbaras? represents the creative and eclectic phase of Nawabi architecture. They show case silver doors and intricate architecture, including minarets with spiral stairways.
You can also visit the holy hill of Girnar nearby, to see the intricately carved Jain and Hindu temples.
Other Activities
On the way to the Girnar temples visitors can look at the boulder on which 14 edicts of Emperor Ashoka are inscribed.
A trip into the Gir National Park, which is home to the Asiatic lion, is also on the list for most tourists.
Interesting, unspoilt and colourful, Junagadh is an ancient, fortified city at the base of the holy Girnar hills. The town is famous for many exotic old buildings. Junagadh was the capital of the Junagadh State
under the Muslim rulers of Babi Nawabs. In Gujarati, `Junagadh'
literally means an ancient fort. The place also has Ashokan edicts from
about 250 BC. Junagadh has at different times in history, been
influenced by all the four major religions of this area - Hindu,
Buddhist, Jain and Islamic. All of that has left an indelible
impression on the culture and architecture of this town |
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