Showing posts with label Gujarat Tourism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gujarat Tourism. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Gujarat Tourism: Trinetreshwar Mahadev Fair


In the era of the legendary epic Mahabharata, Pandavas King Arjun pierced the eye of the fish above him by only looking at its reflection in the water in order to win Draupadi’s hand for marriage; this swayamvar was organized at the Trinetreshwar Temple at Tarnetar village of Gujarat. Such goes the regional folklore about one of Gujarat’s and India’s most famous Tribal festivals- The Tarnetar Mela or as it is more formally called Trinetreshwar Mahadev Fair.
This three-day “Tarnetar Fair” is held at the Temple of Shiva or Trinetreshwar popularly known as Tarnetar
This three-day “Tarnetar Fair” is held at the Temple of Shiva or Trinetreshwar popularly known as Tarnetar

This fair held every year in the Bhadrapad (August-September) month of the Hindu calendar, is attended by all of the nearby tribal groups of Koli, Bharwad, Rabari, Khant, Kanbi, Khati and Charan. About hundred thousand people attended the event in the previous edition.
The Tarnetar Fair
The Tarnetar Fair

About 75 km from Rajkot, in the Surendragarh District of Gujarat, lies this small hamlet called Tarnetar, which is host to a magnificent festival that celebrates tribal art, dance and music, but that’s just the crux of it, the major motive of the fair is a big community wide Swayamvar where girls choose their prospective bridegrooms for an eventual marriage. The prospective bridegrooms wear rich, embroidered traditional tribal costumes and carry an umbrella with them. These umbrellas and the hair style of the young boys are the distinguishing factor, and end up becoming the decisive factor in winning the most beautiful bride. The youth of the tribal groups work for almost a year on designing, coloring and embroidering the umbrellas for this very day.
Unmarried Men stand under exquisitely embroidered ‘Chatris’ signifying their marital status while young Women go around the chatris hunting for their grooms
Unmarried Men stand under exquisitely embroidered ‘Chatris’ signifying their marital status while young Women go around the chatris hunting for their grooms

The most precious thing of the fair is the spontaneity with which everyone just breaks into dancing upon listening to tribal folk music, the atmosphere is so immersing that you feel as if you are bound to the place, its culture and people. The color, the beautiful folk costumes, dance, music everything seems like a celebration of being one with the other. 
The Dance at the Tarnetar Fair
The Dance at the Tarnetar Fair

The village is also host to a Kund or artificial lake called ‘Papanshu’, whose water is believed to be as pure as that of holy River Ganges. After the Uttrayan Kite Festival, this is the next major festival Gujarat offers to the people who come to be enchanted by it.
Spot an original ‘Hudo’ folk dance in Tarnetar fair
Spot an original ‘Hudo’ folk dance in Tarnetar fair

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Gujarat Tourism: Places of Tourist Interest in Gujarat


Gujarat, the growth engine of India and the land of legends is located in western part of the country along with Arabian Sea with the longest coastline of India. Gujarat is one of the major tourist regions of India and known for its scenic beauty of mountain ranges, coastline beaches and the Great Rann of Kutch. It offers wide range of tourism in terms of Cultural, Wildlife, Religious and Business.

Local Villages and Tribes of Gujarat

Villages of Gujarat are more advance then any other villages of India, These small towns and villages are awarded for best gram panchayat like Punsri and Chikhli. Kutch villages,Gir sanctuary villages and coastal villages are tribal villages and primarily sheepherders and known for their unique culture and traditions. Tribes Gowala,Bharwad,Garacia,Rabari and Banjara are few important tribes of the region.

Local-Tribes-in-Gujrat
Local-Tribes-in-Gujrat

Culture and Food

Gujarat has very vibrant and colorful culture,people, Languages and food. The traditional Gujrati thali is one of the best way to know the Gujarati cuisine. During the famous festival such as Navaratri and Uttarayan, the true culture and tradition of Gujarat come into the picture along with special food items, most famous Gujarati dishes are dhokla, fafda, khandvi, basundi and chivda.
Dhokla
Dhokla

Temples and Pilgrimages

The state is well famous as the devotional center for Hindu and Jain Pilgrimage  along with other religions. Famous temples in Gujarat are Dwarka -one of the major four centers of Hindu,Somnath temple -one of the 12 jyotirlinga of Lord Shiva, Ambaji-one of the 51 Shakti Peethas, Pavagadh, Sun Temple Modhera and Akshardham of Gandhinagar. It also host many Jain temples, includes Mahudi Jain Tirth,Palitana temples,Taranga Girnar and one of the biggest and oldest mosques of India, Jami Masjid of Ahmedabad.

Somnath-Temple
Somnath-Temple

Major Cities and Towns of Gujarat

Gujarat is also home to big Sea port, sardar sarovar dam – one of the biggest dam of India in Narmada river, India’s first Canal-top Solar Power Project and some of the India’s fastest developing cities like Ahmedabad, Surat-the city of flyovers, Gandhinagar -green city of India and Jamnagar, the Oil City of India. Other major cities are Anand -the Milk Capital of India,Vadodara,Rajkot, and Godhra-the spirit of India.
Surat-city-diamond-city-of-india
Surat-city-diamond-city-of-india

Fairs and Festivals

It celebrates unique festival and fairs such as Garba during the Navratri, Kite Festival in Makar Sankranti or Uttarayana, Modhera Dance Festival and world famous Rann Utsav in November–December at Kutch. The major fairs includes Tarnetar Fair and Vautha Mela along with many other religious fairs at respective temple. Rann Utsav is one of the most popular festival and a cultural extravaganza to display the real and traditional flavor of area and Vibrant Gujarat.
Kai-Po-Che-Flying-Kite-High-in-Gujarat
Kai-Po-Che-Flying-Kite-High-in-Gujarat

Fort & palaces

Gujarat has wide variety of great historic forts,grand palaces, beautiful temples and other historical monuments.These Forts and Palaces have very impressive Architecture and the historical background of Maharaja. Major forts are Taranga Fort,The Upperkot fort,Tera Fort and Pavagadh, known for a famous Mahakali temple. The Palaces of Vadodara know as Laxmi Vilas Palace is one of the Grand palace of India and a major popular tourist sites in Gujarat.
Laxmi-Vilas-Palace
Laxmi-Vilas-Palace

Historical sites and Monuments & Museums

The land has a rich Heritage and Historical places that dates back from Indus Valley Civilization to Mahabharata. Major Heritage spots are Kirti Mandir,Pavagadh and Vadnagar,famous for its torans and Hatkeshwar Temple. World heritage sites like Lothal, Dholavira and Champaner are major attraction of Vibrant Gujarat along with Monuments Amrutvarshni Vav,Ancient Masjid,Ancient Step Well and Navlakha Temple.
Lothal-historical-site
Lothal-historical-site

Apart from the above Historical places Gujarat offers splendid historical spots like Hriday Kunj,Sabarmati Ashram,Fateh Singh Museum and famous Calico Museum of Textiles. The city also has unique Kite Museum at Ahmedabad,Takhteshwar Temple,bhadreshwar temple,Pratap Vilas Palace and famous six times destroyed Somnath Temple.
Calico-Textile-Museum-in-Gujarat
Calico-Textile-Museum-in-Gujarat

Lakes and Waterfalls

The water bodies of Gujarat are very famous and major attractions, like Ranmal Lake,Hamirsar Lake Vastrapur Lake and Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary. It also have important rivers Narmada river,Sabarmati river and Tapti river along with famous waterfall such as Gira Falls, Girmal Falls and Ninai Waterfall.
Gira-falls in Gujrat
Gira-falls in Gujrat

Beaches and Islands

The longest coastline of Gujarat offers some of the most beautiful Indian Beaches and Sea island such as Mandvi Beach, Gopnath Beach,Dumas Beach,Dwarka Beach, Porbandar Beach and islands are Pirotan and Narala Island and Diu. Pirotan Island is located in the Marine National Park, only its kind of national park in India situated in the Gulf of Kutch. The Marine Sanctuary offers home to Corals, Fish, Crabs, Prawns, Molluscs, Sea snakes and Turtles along with sea birds.
Mandvi-Beach
Mandvi-Beach

Mountains and Hills

Gujarat host four major mountain ranges of India, including Aravalli, Sahyadri,Vindhya and Satpura along with hills Girnar Hill,Saputara hills and famous Wilson Hills. These collection of mountains and hills offers habitat for Indian Lion, the only place in the wild with 411 Asiatic lions in the Gir forest. The Gir Forest National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary is the fully protected area for diverse flora and fauna and Dangs district has largest forest cover area under the Saputara range.
Wilson-Hill-in-Gujarat
Wilson-Hill-in-Gujarat

Wildlife of Gujarat

Habitat of Gujarat provides shelter to rare and unique species of Flora and Fauna, which includes The Asiatic Lions, Blackbuck, Wild Ass,Dolphins,Whale Shark and The Avifauna are Great Horned Owl,majestic eagles and fascinating buzzards along with migratory Birds like Pelican,Flamingos and cranes. The major national park, wildlife Sanctuaries and Bird Sanctuary of Gujarat are famous Gir National Park,unique Marine National Park,Porbandar Bird Sanctuary, Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary,Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary and Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary of the Little Rann of Kutch.
Resting-Lioness-in-Gir-National-Park
Resting-Lioness-in-Gir-National-Park