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

Gujarat is the westernmost state of India, a part of it projecting out into the Arabian Sea. It shares an international border with Pakistan in the northwest and common borders with the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, and the Union Territories of Diu, Daman and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.

Gujarat can be divided into three geographical regions: the eastern region that has the major cities of Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodra; the Saurashtra region between the Gulf of Cambay and the Gulf of Kutch; the northern region of Kutch which is a salty desert.

This is the most industrialised state in the country and contributes about one-fifth of the total industrial output of India. It does particularly well in textiles and electronics, and has the largest petrochemical complex in India. Though Gandhinagar is the capital of the state, Ahmedabad, its former capital, is commercially and historically the most important city, containing Gujarat's only international airport. It's famous for its architectural heritage mosques and mausoleums in a fusion of Hindu and Islamic traditions and ornate step-wells called baolis in the local language. Surat is a centre of diamond polishing and trade and Vadodara is an erstwhile princely estate.

On the coast of Gujarat are some beaches including the old port-town of Mandvi, but the famous coastal spots are the temples of Somnath and Dwarka. The ancient temple at Somnath was repeatedly plundered and the present structure dates to 1950s, but it carries ancient sanctity for Hindu devotees. The popular 16th-century temple at Dwarka is devoted to Lord Krishna and associated with Meerabai. The town of Palitana is famous for its more than 800 Jain temples, some of them as old as the 11th century. At Lothal are the ruins of an ancient port of the Indus Valley civilization dating from 2400BC. The Sasan Gir National Park in Gujarat is the only place where the Asiatic Lion still survives. The Wild Ass sanctuary in the Little Rann of Kutch is a World Heritage site.

Navaratri the festival of nine nights devoted to Goddess Durga is Gujarat's most important festival and social event. It is celebrated in September-October with mass all-night song-and-dance programmes.