Saurashtra - The Land of Thousand Kingdoms

Saurashtra, as the name suggests, is indeed a region of one hundred kingdoms. It is indeed one of the most picturesque regions in Gujarat. Due to the princely history, its rich in antiquity and abundant in wealth. Well sculptured temples, forts, mosques and glittering palaces...all remind us of the glorious past. Their love for colour and artistry has touched every aspect of their lifestyle, and the handicrafts of the region enjoy the patronage of all the states of India. When I got an opportunity to visit this place, I just grabbed it. My father's sister and her husband were planning a tour to this side and they suggested that, it would be fun if we joined them. One more couple (their family friends) was also coming with them. The more, the merrier. The best part was that they were going to do the entire booking through Gujarat Tourism. If there is a small group of 6 or so, the tourism dept arranges for a vehicle like qualis, with a knowledgeable driver. Residence and food arrangement is made at their own hotels/restaurants. What more do you want ? Our whole group agreed on the point that we did not want fancy hotels as we would be spending hardly any time at the hotel. I made a quick survey of the spots they were covering and found it quite satisfactory. There was not going to be any night driving.

Our first travel was from Pune to Baroda. We were going to stay there for a couple of days. It was diwali time, so we packed lot of chaklis, karanjis, ladoos, and other varieties for our tour. The morning of our departure dawned and we were all ready at the doorstep. The family friends were also there in time and within minutes, we were on our way to Rajkot. There was a lot of travel anticipated on the first day itself. After this long journey, the other destinations were nearby.

Porbandar - Porbandar is not much of tourist significance. But it is of historical importance due to through its association with Mahatma Gandhi who was born here. The home of Gandhi's childhood is now open to visitors. Another reason why it is famous is that it is believed to be originally the Sudama Puri, the place where Shri Krishna's closest friend, Sudama lived. There is a temple dedicated to Sudama here. We visited the Sudama temple first.