AKHSARDHAM TEMPLE,GANDHINAGAR is one the famous temples in Gujarat.
Palitana Temples: this is a complex of Jain temples situated 51 km south west of Bhavnagar. There are 863 temples from base to the peak of the Shatrunjaya hill, where the Palitana temples are located. Cows are worshiped daily in mud baths. Some parts of Gujarat sacrifice their newborn inorder to bring good fortune for the rest of the year.
Dwarkanath Temple: it is situated at Dwarka and is one of the important temples dedicated to lord Krishna.
Somnath Temple: The Somnath Temple located in the Prabhas Kshetra near Veraval in Saurashtra, on the western coast of Gujarat, India is one of the twelve Jyotirlings (golden lingas) symbols of the God Shiva. It is mentioned in the Rig Veda. Somnath means "The Protector of Moon God". The Somnath Temple is known as 'the Shrine Eternal', as although the temple has been destroyed six times it has been rebuilt every single time
MAJOR PARKES OF GUJARAT
Gujarat is home to four National Parks, including Gir Forest National Park, near Junagadh, Blackbuck National Park in Bhavnagar District, Vansda National Park in Navsari District, and Marine National Park on the Gulf of Kutch in Jamnagar District. The last remaining Asian lions, famous for their dark black manes, live in the area surrounding Girnar. In addition to these, there are twenty one Wildlife sanctuaries.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
TEMPLES OF GUJARAT
TOURISAM OF GUJARAT
Gujarat is the only home of Asiatic Lions. Outside Africa, Gujarat is the only natural habitat of lions. Gir National Park in south-west part of the state covers only the part of lion's habitat. Besides lions, the other big cat can be found in the state are Panthers. Panthers are spread across large plains of Saurashtra and mountains of South Gujarat.
Lothal is the site of the ancient ruins of the first Indian port, dating from the time of the Indus Valley Civilization.Dholavira, The Ancient Metropolitan City, locally known as Kotada Timba, is one of the largest and most prominent archaeological sites in India, belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization. It is located on the Khadir island in the Kutch district of Gujarat - the island is surrounded by water in the monsoon season. The site was occupied from about 2900 BCE for about a millennium, declining slowly after about 2100, briefly abandoned and then reoccupied, finally by villagers among its ruins, until about 1450.
The Modhera Sun Temple is famous for its rare position as specifically and uniquely designed for the worship of the Sun, Lord Surya. While the main temple is beautifully and intricately designed with complex architecture, painting and sculptures, there is a central pond and surrounding it stand 108 small temples for each of the Sun God's 108 names. Dwarka city on the tip of the Arabian Sea is famous for being the legendary home of Lord Krishna, the eighth Avatara of Vishnu, hero of the Mahabharata epic. Ancient ruins of a city and temple complex found underwater suggest a historical basis for the legend. The Rann of Kutchch covers a large portion of western Gujarat, and is world-famous for its rare ecosystem, fossils, wildlife and terrain. Only 500 years earlier, the area was the Arabian Sea.
While the city of Ahmedabad is a large and fast-growing modern metropolis, it was also the home of the Indian Independence Movement, with the Sabarmati Ashram of Mahatma Gandhi a standing legacy. Other major tourist sites include Palitana, Diu, Kutch, Jamnagar, Junagadh, and Rajkot in the region of Saurastra; and Champaner and Pavagarh in the Panchmahal district. Gujarat has 4 national parks and 21 sanctuaries, which include: Nal Sarovar, Anjal, Balaram-Ambaji, Barda, Jambughoda, Jessore, Kachchh Desert, Khavda, Narayan Sarovar, Paniya, Purna, Rampura, Ratanmahal, and Surpaneshwar.
Monday, January 22, 2007
EDUCATION OF GUJARAT
Gujarat has 13 universities and 4 agricultural universities.
Gujarat University (Website)is the largest university located in the city of Ahmedabad.Other universities are In alphabetical order:
Agriculture Universities
Gujarat Agricultural University, Sardar Krushinagar, Dantiwada (website)
Engineering Schools
L.D. College of Engineering [2], Dharmsinh Institute of Technology (DDIT)[3] Nirma Institute of Technology [4] and Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology are among the premier engineering institutes of west India. Centre for Gujarat also has a National Institute of Technology in Surat[5].
Maharaja Sayajirao University of . Birla Vishwakarma Mahavidyalaya[6] from S.P University at Vallabh Vidyanagar near Anand[http://ecampuses. As a unit of the Department of Space, Government of India, PRL carries out fundamental research in select areas of Physics, Space & Atmospheric Sciences, Institute for Plasma Research is an autonomous Physics research institute localted in the capital city Gandhinagar, involved in research in various aspects of plasma science including basic plasma physics, research on magnetically confined hot plasmas and plasma technologies for industrial applications. Ahmedabad Textile and Industries’ Research Association is also located in Ahmedabad, gujarat.
Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute has been established under Council of Scientific & Industrial Research Govt. of India at Bhavnagar. It was inaugurated by Late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the First Prime Minister of India on 10th April, 1954 with a view to carry out research on marine salt, and salt from inland lakes and sub-soil brine. It is working on Reverse Osmosis, Electro Membrane Process, Salt and Marine Chemicals, Analytical Science, Marine Biotechnology and other related fields.
Indian Institute of Management Ahmadabad, one of the internationally reputed management research institute is located in Gujarat's commercial capital Ahmadabad. Indian Institute of Management Ahmadabad is one of the best management institutes in the world.
Gujarat Science City
Gujarat Science City [7], is a government initiative to draw more students towards education in Science, which hosts India's first IMAX 3D Theater, An Energy Park, A Hall of Science, An Amphitheater, And Dancing Musical fountains among others. List of educational institutions of Gujarat
HISTORY OF GJARAT
Gujarati, in contrast with most other Indian languages, is considered to be a relatively young language, with its origins traced back to around the 12th century AD. A formal grammar of the precursor of this language was written by Jain monk and eminent scholar Hemachandra-charya in the reign of Rajput king Siddharaj Jayasinh of Anhilwara (Patan). This was referred to as an Apabhransa grammar, signifying a "corrupted" form of the formal languages of the time, Sanskrit and Ardhamagadhi Prakrit. The earliest literature in the language survives in oral tradition and can be traced to the Krishna devotee and great egalitarian Narsinha Mehta. The story of Narsinh Mehta himself was composed in the 17th century as a long narrative ballad by Premananda, accorded the title mahakavi or "great poet" by modern historians of the language. Other than this, a large number of poets flourished during what is now characterised as the bhakti ("devotional") movement in Hinduism, a movement of the masses to liberate the religion from entrenched priesthood.
Premananda was a vyakhyan-kar, or traveling storyteller, who narrated his subject in song and then perhaps elaborated on the lines in prose. His style was so fluent that his long poems, running into hundreds of lines, were nonetheless memorised by the people and are still sung today. In this sense, the oral tradition of the much more ancient Vedas was clearly continuing in India till late. Premananda's famous poetic stories deal with epic themes couched in stories of mythical kings, and the Puranas. He also wrote a drama based on Narasinh Mehta's life capturing his simplicity and his disregard for worldly divisions of caste and class.
In the medieval periods of Gujarat’s history, poetry was employed to express religious sentiments. The first work of poetry in Gujarati is considered to be “Bharateswara Bahubali Rasa”, composed by Shalibhadrasuri, a 7th century Jain monk. A number of Jain Sadhus followed his example and composed short storytelling poems called “Rasas” till the end of the 18th century AD.
In the 15th century, a prominent poet called Narsingh Mehta brought in a new era in Vaishnava poetry, with his portrayal of Krishna as a playful child, a lover, a friend and the poet’s muse. Narsingh Mehta’s works became a blueprint for his successors in composing devotional as well as philosophical poetry. Raje, Raghunathdas, Pritam, Ratno and Muktananda were some prime contributors to this era of devotional poetry. In the 18th century, the poet “Vallabh” created two very significant devotional songs called “Garbo” and “Garbi”. Premananda, introduced a famous work called “Akhyana”. Most of these poems drew their inspiration from Sanskrit and Prakrit fiction. Nayasundar and Samal emerged as popular narrators of devotional poetry in the 18th century.
Poetic literature soared to new heights in the later stages of the 18th century under the steadily strengthening British influences. Narmad and Dalpat were pioneers of this constantly innovating age. The noted poets of this century like Kalapi, Kant, Nanalal and Balavantrai Thakor produced significant bodies of work under various categories of poetry. After the rise of Mahatma Gandhi’s prominence in a steadily strengthening struggle for Independence and social equality, a great volume of poetry, written by poets like Umashankar, Sundaram, Shesh, Snehrasmi and Betai, among others, were centered on the existing social order, the struggle for Independence and the travails of Mahatma Gandhi himself.
Post-Independence Gujarati poetry displays a higher form of subjectivity and explores newer philosophies and lines of thought and imagery. Prominent Gujarati poets of the post-Independence era include critically acclaimed poets like Suresh Joshi, Gulam Mohamed Sheikh, Harinder Dave, Chinu Modi, Nalin Raval and Adil Mansuri, among others.
Modern exploration into Gujarat and its language is credited to British administrator Alexander Kinloch Forbes. During the nineteenth century he explored much of the previous thousand years of the history of the land and compiled a large number of manuscripts. Farbas Gujarati Sabha ("Forbes Gujarati Assembly"), the learned body devoted to the Gujarati language, is named after him, with headquarters in Mumbai
1297 AD to ~1850 AD
In 1297 to 1298 Ala ud din Khilji, Sultan of Delhi, destroyed Anhilwara and incorporated Gujarat into the Delhi Sultanate. After Timur's sacking of Delhi at the end of the 14th century weakened the Sultanate, Gujarat's Muslim governor Zafar Khan Muzaffar asserted his independence, and his son, Sultan Ahmed Shah (ruled 1411 to 1442), established Ahmedabad as the capital. Cambay eclipsed Bharuch as Gujarat's most important trade port. The Sultanate of Gujarat remained independent until 1576, when the Mughal emperor Akbar conquered it and annexed it to the Mughal Empire. It remained a province of the Mughal empire until the Marathas conquered eastern and central Gujarat in the 18th century; Western Gujarat (Kathiawar and Kutch) were divided among numerous local rulers.
1614 to 1947
Portugal was the first European power to arrive in Gujarat, acquiring several enclaves along the Gujarati coast, including Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The British East India Company established a factory in Surat in 1614, which formed their first base in India, but it was eclipsed by Bombay after the British acquired it from Portugal in 1668. The Company wrested control of much of Gujarat from the Marathas during the Second Anglo-Maratha War. Many local rulers, notably the Maratha Gaekwads of Baroda (Vadodara), made a separate peace with the British, and acknowledged British sovereignty in return for retaining local self-rule. Gujarat was placed under the political authority of Bombay Presidency, with the exception of Baroda state, which had a direct relationship with the Governor-General of India. From 1818 to 1947, most of present-day Gujarat, including Kathiawar, Kutch, and northern and eastern Gujarat were divided into dozens of princely states, but several districts in central and southern Gujarat, namely Ahmedabad, Broach (Bharuch), Kaira, Panch Mahals, and Surat, were ruled directly by British officials.
Indian Independence Movement
The people of Gujarat were the most enthusiastic participants in India's struggle for freedom. Leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Morarji Desai, K.M. Munshi, Narhari Parikh, Mahadev Desai, Mohanlal Pandya and Ravi Shankar Vyas all hailed from Gujarat. In addition, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's first Governor-General, spoke Gujarati as his mother tongue and his father was from what later became Gujarat. Gujarat was also the site of some of the most popular revolts, including the Satyagrahas in Kheda, Bardoli, Borsad and the Salt Satyagraha.
Province Consolidation and Division after 1947
After India's independence in 1947, 217 princely states of Kathiawar and Saurashtra, including the former kingdom of Junagadh, were grouped together to form the province of Saurashtra, with its capitol at Rajkot. On November 1, 1956, Saurashtra was merged into Bombay State. The modern state of Gujarat was created on May 1, 1960, out of the northern, predominantly Gujarati-speaking portion of Bombay State. The southern, predominantly Marathi-speaking portion became the state of Maharashtra.
Post Independence
After Indian independence and the partition of India in 1947, the new Indian government grouped the former princely states of Gujarat into three larger units; Saurashtra, which included the former princely states on the Kathiawar peninsula, Kutch, and Bombay state, which included the former British districts of Bombay Presidency together with most of Baroda state and the other former princely states of eastern Gujarat. In 1956, Bombay state was enlarged to include Kutch, Saurashtra, and parts of Hyderabad state and Madhya Pradesh in central India. The new state had a mostly Gujarati-speaking north and a Marathi-speaking south. Agitation by Marathi nationalists for their own state led to the split of Bombay state on linguistic lines; on 1 May 1960, it became the new states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. The first capital of Gujarat was Ahmedabad; the capital was moved to Gandhinagar in 1970. Surat is known as Diamond or Silk city of India and business city of India.
In Gujarat a few new towns have been established since Indian independence in 1947. Most of these are more like settlements established near existing urban centres. Gandhidham, Sardarnagar and Kubernagar are three rehabilitation towns more like refugee settlements than self-sufficient towns. The last two now form part of the city of Ahmedabad. Ankleshwar and Mithapur were two of the earlier industrial towns established in Gujarat. A complex of three small townships for the oil refinery, the Fertilizer Factory and Petro-chemicals plant also came up near Vadodara. Kandla is the only new port town established in the state.
HISTORY OF AHMEDABAD
Archaeological evidence suggests that the area around Ahmedabad has been inhabited since the 11th century, when it was known as Ashapalli or Ashaval. At that time, Karandev I, the Solanki ruler of Anhilwara (modern Patan) waged a successful war against the Bhil king of Ashaval. Soon after the victory, he established a city called Karnavati on the banks of the Sabarmati at the site of modern Ahmedabad. Solanki rule lasted until the 13th century, when Gujarat came under the control of the Vaghela dynasty of Dholka and Ahmedabad was conquered by the Sultanate of Delhi.
In 1411, the rule of the Muzaffarid dynasty was established in Gujarat. According to tradition, Sultan Ahmed Shah, while camping on the banks of the River Sabarmati, saw a hare chasing a dog. Impressed by this act of bravery, the Sultan, who had been looking for a place to build his new capital, decided to locate the capital here and called it Ahmedabad.
In 1487, Mahmud Begada the grandson of Ahmed Shah, fortified the city with an outer wall 10 km (6 miles) in circumference and consisting of twelve gates, 189 bastions and over 6,000 battlements. Ahmedabad was ruled by the Muzaffarid dynasty till 1573 when Muzaffar II was the Sultan of Ahmedabad. Gujarat was then conquered by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1573. During the Mughal reign, Ahmedabad became one of the Empire's thriving centres of trade, mainly in textiles, which were exported to as far as Europe. The Mughal ruler Shahjahan spent the prime of his life in the city, sponsoring the construction of the Moti Shahi Mahal in Shahibaug. The armies of the Maratha generals Raghunath Rao and Damaji Gaekwad captured the city and ended Mughal rule in Ahmedabad. A famine in 1630 and the constant conflicts between the Peshwa and the Gaekwad armies virtually destroyed many parts of the city, causing its population to flee.[5] The British East India Company took over the city in 1818 as a part of the conquest of India. A military cantonment was established in 1824 and a municipal government in 1858. In 1864, a railway link between Ahmedabad and Mumbai (then Bombay) was established by the Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway (BB&CI), making Ahmedabad an important junction in the traffic and trade between northern and southern India. Large numbers of people migrated from rural areas to work in textile mills, establishing a robust industry.
The Indian independence movement developed strong roots in the city when, in 1915, Mahatma Gandhi established two ashrams — the Kochrab Ashram near Paldi in 1915 and the Satyagraha Ashram on the banks of the Sabarmati in 1917 — that would become centres of intense nationalist activities. During the mass protests against the Rowlatt Act in 1919, textile workers burned down 51 government buildings across the city in protest at a British attempt to extend wartime regulations after the First World War.[6] In the 1920s, textile workers and teachers went on strike, demanding civil rights and better pay and working conditions. In 1930, Gandhi initiated the Salt Satyagraha from Ahmedabad by embarking from his ashram on the famous Dandi Salt March. The city administration and economic institutions were rendered functionless by the large masses of people who took to the streets in peaceful protests in the early 1930s, and again in 1942 during the Quit India movement. Following independence and the partition of India in 1947, the city was scarred by intense communal violence that broke out between Hindus and Muslims.
PEOPLE OF GUJARAT
Ethnically there are four groups of people who came to inhabit this land at different points of time and now form the majority here. These are Jats, Ahi, Raris and Meval.[1] A few villages in Gujarat where jats live are Rampura, Motidhani, Nani Dhani etc. These villages are near Deesa and Palanpur and the clans found there are the Jakhar, Jyani, Godara, Lunayach, Tada, Siyol, Bhari, Nain, Dhaka etc. The Banaskantha district, Mehsana, SabarKantha, Kheda, and Kutch.
They are settled mainly in Mehsana district and surrounding districts. The Sagar Milk Dairy is their creation. They have following clans, as given in list below. (Gujarati pronunciation is given between parenthesis)
List of Jat clans:
Antal - Utpal (Uplana)
Atwal (Ant)
Bhatti (Bhatiya)
Chauhan, Chawan, Chahar (Chauhan)
Dal, Dhal, Dudee (Del)
Dhaliwal, Dhariwal (Dholiya)
Gaur, Goru (Gaur, Gor)
Godara-Godha (Goda)
Gulia (Galia)
Henga, Haga (Hun)
Katariya (Katotariya)
Maan (Manar)
Mahla, Mahlawat (Mahiya)
Nauhwar (Nauwar)
Pallwal (Pilatar)
Parihar (Parihar, Padhiyar)
Pauniya (Paun)
Pawar (Parmar)
Punia (Pooliya)
Rathor (Rathor, Rathod)
Rawat (Rawat)
Sikarwar, Sakarwar (Sakariya)
Singhmar (Singh)
Sirohi, Saroha (Siroha)
Solanki, Solgi (Solanki)
The Meghwals are the Original People of India. And now Untouchable people recongized as Dalit, other Hindu High Society. They are the masters of weaving cotton and wool as also embroidery and appliqué work.
The Ahirs came with Lord Krishna from Gokul in Uttar Pradesh. Most of the communities of Ahirs began with selling ghee and milk and are now spread all over the state.
The Rabaris are a nomadic tribe always wandering with their herds. The origin of this tribe has been traced back to Sind and Afghanistan though many aspects of this tribe still remain a puzzle for anthropologists. They have been classified into three distinct groups, namely Vagadia, Dhabaria, and Kachhi. Women of this tribe engage themselves in making elaborate embroidery pieces while the men spend their time tending to their camels and sheep.