The Great Gujarat Road Odyssey – Day 13: Sasan Gir, Devaliya, Somnath
Today will be a breezy day - no monuments, no going into history and no outlandish tombs. You will see if you get lucky with the lions. Yes we are going to Sasan Gir. You have no prior booking. You will see if you get lucky to get a ticket. There is no hurry to get anywhere really today so you will just enjoy the drive today.
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| Seeing a colourful chakda with smiling people is always a good omen |
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| Leaving Junagadh - would love to come back to see the city, especially the Nawab era buildings |
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| Yes that's where you are headed |
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| Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and in Gujarat you cannot go wrong |
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| Junagadh: Looking back at the Girnar mountain range |
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| The post card perfect Madhuwanti River |
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| Junagadh to Sasan Gir |
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| Palash blooming on the way |
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| Gujarat Roadways buses will be seen even in the smallest towns and villages |
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| Entry into Sasan Gir |
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| At the gates of Sasan Gir |
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| Sasan Gir: Another place you always wanted to be. So even if you are not able to get in it is okay |
So as expected, the visitors need to make prior bookings for the gypsies that take you inside the reserve. You just hang around a little going through the different signs and buildings. Gypsies keep coming in. Looking at the visitors' expressions it seems sightings are rare.
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| Wild Almond (Sterculia foetida) |
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| Way to Devaliya Safari Park |
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| Devalia National Park - a part of Gir National Park |
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| Devaliya - here you buy tickets for the bus safari |
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| Gir Interpretation Zone - Devaliya |
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| Bus Safari in Devaliya |
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| At least one lion is showing sign of life |
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| Devaliya: The Gir Landscape |
The next best thing to do is to make it to nearby Devaliya Safari Park. Devaliya is a fenced open air sanctuary which has some lions and other animals. Most people who could not get the real deal end up here in the Gir Interpretation Zone. Visitors buy tickets for the 30 minute ride on a bus. The lions are napping in the afternoon heat and the approaching bus does not seem to interest them. You can see a leopard too. There are deers and nilgais too. They don't seem to be in mortal danger even though they share this small space with the predators. And looking at the lions they don't look like the hunting type. They would rather wait for the food to be served.
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| The Gate to Somnath |
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| Gate to Somnath or Prabhas Patan - 1890s British Library - wonder where all those buildings are |
You are at the gates of Somnath. Another wish is being fulfilled. The Somanth Temple is one of the twelve Jyotirlings and the legendary temple dates back to 10th century. The town of Somnath whose soul has been repeatedly wounded historically is peaceful today. The reconstructed Somnath Temple has been built away from the city and you arrive in the precints driving through neat wide roads.
Apparently, the Gujarat CM Anandiben is scheduled to hold a conclave the next day. All district collectors of the state have congregated in the town. Government machinery has taken over the roads. The main agenda is to have darshan of the Jyotirlinga.
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| Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel is hosting a conclave in Somnath for the coastal community |
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| Somnath: Veer Hamirji Gohil statue near the Somnath Temple. He was warrior who laid down his life defending the temple |
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| Somnath Railway Station |
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| The Celebrated Temple of Somnath, Lithograph by TC Didbin 1850, British Library |
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| Somnath Temple - British Library |
Description & Photos Courtesy British Library
Photograph of the Somanatha Temple at Somnath, Prabhas Patan, in Gujarat, from the south, taken by D.H. Sykes around 1869. Prabhas Patan is an important Hindu pilgrimage centre, considered to be one of the sights of Shiva's Jyotirlingas. The Somanatha Temple was originally founded in the 10th century on the shore of the Arabian Sea. The wealth of the temple attracted many raiders, such as Mahmud of Ghazni who destroyed the sanctuary in 1026. Later the temple was rebuilt during the Solanki period by Kumarapala (r.1143-72).This description below reflects the state of the building when this photograph was taken, as supposed to the current temple building which is a modern reconstruction in the traditional Solanki style.
In the report, 'Somanatha and other mediaeval temples in Kathiawad' of 1931, Henry Cousens wrote, “ Little now remains of the walls of the temple; they have been, in great measure, rebuilt and pached with rubble to convert the building into a mosque. The great dome, indeed the whole roof and the stumpy minars…are portions of the Muhammadans additions…The great temple, which faces the east, consisted, when entire, of a large central closed hall, or gudhamandapa, with three entrances, each protected with a deep lofty porch, and the shrine – the sanctum sanctorum – wich stood upon the west side of the hall, having a broad pradakshina or circumambulatory passage around it...The interior of the temple having being used as a mosque, the Muhammadans...re-erected many of the fallen pillars, roughly rebuilt the dome, and strengthened the cracked lintels with roughly constructed arches, beneath them...”.
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| Somnath Temple lit in the evening |
Built in Chalukyan style on the instructions of Sardar Patel, the temple looks regal. A temple that was repeatedly ransacked and looted over the years but each time resurrected. Unlike the Dwarkadheesh Temple, Somnath Temple is built away from the city with lot better facilities and car parking. You are not sure if the temple is lit every evening or is it because the town is hosting VIPs.
As another day draws to close, the lit temple looks magnificent outlined against the pink sky. The golden kalash and the dhwaj soar into the approaching night.
Outside, the town is all lit up.
Somnath's spirit is inextinguishable. It still burns bright.
The Journey Continues.
Day's Stats
- Route Taken – Junagadh to Devaliya to Somnath & Veraval
- Distance covered today – 142 kms
- Total Distance covered so far - 3060 kms
Travel Tips
When in DevaliaReferences, boys on motorcycles will ask you for lunch. Follow them for few metres into mango orchards where you can feast on bajra roti, gur, chach and subjis. Make sure you fix a price first.
References
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Somnath_temple
History of Somnath Temple
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