Tourism in India has been always surprising because we find different kind of cities with dissimilar features. After long research, we finally got one of the Jain temple city Palitana. The popular thing about the city is this Indian tourist place is declared as one and only 100 % pure vegetarian city of the world. Yes! This is true that Palitana the city of Bhavnagar region, Gujarat is listed as the pure vegetarian city of the globe. The distance of the city from Bhavnagar is just 50 km and famous as a key pilgrimage center for the Jain community.
However, we were not aware that this city is listed as veg, but we were told to throw the stuff at the border of the city by a local commuter. That was a big surprise for me because I have never heard such thing in my whole life. I immediately checked the reviews about the city and found that it was declared “The World’s First Vegetarian City” on 14th August, 2014. This was all effort of Sudhar Sagar the Jain believer and his party members. A long hunger battle until death created the history and Gujarat government declared this touristy spot as a Vegetarian zone of India.
Talking about tourism in the city it is the pilgrim spot and lots of big and small temples are constructed in the city. The city is linked to Jain legends and their bravery history. The first Tirthankar Shri Adinath meditated on Shatrunjaya Hill, Palitana. Later a temple was constructed at such location and today it becomes major part of tourism in the city.
Palitana was declared as a prime city in 1194, though it was the major states of Saurashtra spread in 777 km². In ancient period this Indian tourist place was ruled by Mughal Emperors and was granted to Shantidas Jhaveri the Jain merchant in 1656. Mughal Ruler Murad Baksh was the son of Shah Jahan gave the control of city to Shantidas. However, the temples in the city were constructed by the Anand Ji Kalyan Ji Trust.
Palitana is the only city of the world, having more than 900 temples in the hill. It is the major Tirtha place of Jain people. Nearly 3000 temples are established on Shatrunjaya hills made of white marble.
Attractions in Palitana:
Shatrunjaya Hill: Striking view of the valley and surrounding areas makes this place as first choice for visitors. The Shatrunjaya mount is 591 meters in height popular as the most sacred place of the shrine of Jains. The rock climb of 4 km with stepped path could be difficult for heavy weight people. However, the Doli and lift chairs are available for people who face difficulty to reach the top. There is another way to reach this peak temple and that is an elephant ride. Once you reach the peak you will find nearly 863 marble temples of Jain gurus constructed nearly 900 years ago.
Jasmine trees: Famous as Gulf of Cambay visited by numerous people every year. However, the trees and gulf area is closer to the temples so people who visit this area must not miss the amazingly designed shrines on the peak of the hill. Most of the temples are built of gold, silver and donated jewel items.
Modern Temple: The unique structural design of the Khartaravasi Tuk temple expresses the value of the shrine for people. It is counted largest peak temples with north ridge face towards Chaumukh temple.
Adinath temple: Another must visit place of the town located on the hill again. A holy place, having huge values for the devotees of Jain Community. View of the city is amazing from this temple and you will find a huge, dense greenery area starts from the boundary of the temple. The temple was built by a rich merchant of Palitana in 1618.
There are countless temples and naming each temple in the list is not an easy task. However, we tried to gather the data from different sources and we believe the mentioned spots of this Indian tourist place will attract the visitors to reach here.
How to reach Palitana?
By Air: The closest airport is Bhavnagar located at 51 km distance from Palitana. It is the domestic airport having two daily flights from Mumbai. However, the next closest big airport is Ahmedabad located at 215 km distance. Ahmedabad is properly connected to major cities of India so no worries if you are looking for flights to Ahmedabad.
By Rail: Palitana railway station is having direct trains so you can get the reservation for this city from almost every corner of the nation. Songadh, Bhavanagar, Mumbai and many other cities are having direct train for Palitana.
By Road: Gujarat government has managed the state with proper road constructions. The administration of the state is highly motivated and developing the roads throughout the state. If you are looking for Palitana through road, then you can get the route of Bhavnagar that is just a few kms away from the destination. Regular buses are accessible from Bhavnagar, Ahmedabad, Una, Talaja, Diu and several other cities.
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