Kandla Sightseeing, Quick Facts, History, Packages, Tours & Excursions

Sightseeing highlights:

Saputara means abode of serpents, and is the hill resort of this area, located at a height of 1000 metres. Gujarat's picturesque hill station is perched on a plateau in the Dang forest area of the Sahyadri Range. It has a cool bracing climate, the highest temperature even in the summer months not exceeding 28°C.  The cool and serene resort is surrounded by Adivasi villages and you can get a taste of their folk music and dance if you like. There is a manmade lake, which brings many tourists to walk its periphery under the shade of cool, lush trees and sail in rowing or paddle boats.

The monument of Mahatma Gandhi and Nirva Siteshwar Mahadev Temple are places of interest. The Bardipara Wildlife Sanctuary is worth a visit. The forest is not rich in wildlife but has a good tract of deciduous, semi-evergreen and bamboo for treks. There are a few panthers, antelope, deer, hyena and porcupine. One can see giant wood spiders, gray hornbill and the paradise flycatcher every once in a while as well.

Gira Falls is 1 km off the Saputara-Waghai road. The clearing on the road provides a good view of this beautiful waterfall. It is at its best from June to November. The snack stalls and picnic huts nearby make it an ideal tourist spot.

Tourism Info:

Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited

Udhyog Bhavan

Block No. 16, 4^th Floor, Sector 11,

Gandhinagar - 382 011

Phone: 91-79-23222523 23222645, 23220002

Fax: 91-79-23222189-23238908

E-mail: gujtour@icenet.net, ps2md-tcgl@gujarat.gov.in, ps2jtmn-tcgl@gujarat.gov.in

Kandla, the Kutch seaport, is one of the major ports on the west coast of Gujarat. It was built in the 1950s after the partition of India and Pakistan when the Port of Karachi went to the latter. It was designed to serve a hinterland bigger perhaps than the Gujarat state.

The major trade lies with petroleum, iron and steel, and chemicals while some of the smaller imports comprise grains, textiles and salt. Gandhidham is a major commercial town mainly because business in shipping, food grains, seed and oils thrived due to the port. Apart from that Kandla serves as a hinterland to Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, parts of Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Mundra port is another upcoming busy port, which is 50 kms away.