Bhavnagar- Palithana

On 18th Sep 09, I Parul and Daksh left for Palithana- near Bhavnagar. We took the Bhavnagar Express from Borivali which left at 10.10 P.M. Next day at 12.00 P.M. we arrived at SONGADH was a small station unlike big stations. On the platform while moving towards Mumbai front, there were autos- Vikram made waiting for the pilgrims arriving. The autos were taking in passenger loads of around 10-12, with both of us seated in the front along with the driver. Palithana was at a distance of 24.00 K.M. from the station. Total Damage: INR 30/ person. There was a straight road outside the station and there were hardly any shops near the station and the market was at roughly 500-600 meters away from the station. The auto immediately took right and then left and moved straight towards Palithana. The surrounding was pictures and there were small mountains surrounding giving a magnificent look. Finally at around 12.30 P.M. we arrived at Palithana—typical small Indian town with shops surrounded on both the sides and the air smelled much like rural India—fantastic. The bus stand was located while entering the town itself and was roughly at a distance of around 3.00 K.M. from Taleti- (base of the mountain). The pilgrims visiting Palithana are Jains- and belong to some samaj and hence stay in the dharmshalas of the sect samaj. Since we were Hindus- we asked the auto-driver to take us to the place which was open to everyone—since as usual I don’t believe in pre-booking. Before arriving at Palithana the tall majestic Shatrunjaya mountain range stands in its grandiose form and gives the entire place the spiritual look and feel. We arrived at Oswal Dharmshala and after checking we managed to get a room: Total Damage: INR 500.00 (for A/c rooms and INR 200 for Non A/c). We checked into the room and were surprised to find the place so clean and spacious that it was better than a hotel room. The room contained the front room, a kitchen and separate toilet and bathroom. There was no TV inside the room and was having 24 hours hot water facility. Inside the campus was a garden in the centre with trees of various species and a temple of Lord Mahavir. There were also rooms available on first floor and in total there would have been at least 200-250 rooms. The place was surprisingly clean and calm despite having so many tourists. There was an eating place in the dharmshala and was strictly in accordance to Jain culture- no onion, garlic etc and with strict timings (evening was open only till 7.00 P.M.). Since it was almost 1.20 P.M. we decided to take lunch and some sleep since it was not feasible to go out as it was very hot. The lunch at the place was another experience all together- Personally I never had such simple, good food ever wherever I have travelled so far. Total Damage: INR 40/ per person. In the evening we visited the local market which was at a distance of 1.5 k.m. from our hotel. There were autos and horse cart to take us to the market. Total Damage- Auto: INR 20.00. The market was in the form of shops on both the sides selling ladies dresses, kids dresses with local touch in the form of designs etc. the place has hardly few good restaurants i.e., Red Rose Restaurant. However the place had road side eateries selling dosa, Chinese, pav bhaji etc. we decided to eat at Bhojnalay – as advised by the locals and best for those looking for simple, non spicy food. The place had plate facility with dal, 2 vegetable, roti and rice. Total Damage: INR 40.00 / person. The market is open till 10.300-11.00 P.M. and there is also SBI ATM in the market.
Next day morning we started our journey to palithana temples- which was on the top of the mountain, however was not visible from the base. The start of the climb at the foothills was roughly at a walk of around 10-15 minutes from our dharmshala. At the foothills there is a magnificent temple of Lord Mahavir and the whole place was having a religious touch and feel. There are potters who will surround once you reach the base for taking you to the top along with also option for taking your kids. We started at 6.17 A.M. and were already accompanied by hundreds of pilgrims to reach the religious spot. There were proper steps which were built and the place was not having any stalls and hence it was clean. the initial climb was pleasant, however as we kept on climbing started taking toll on Parul- was exhausted since she was on fast previous day and had not eaten anything. The climb was not a straight climb, however was zig-zag and then flat to be covered across 2 range of mountains. After climbing for roughly 500-600 steps we got the magnificent view of the entire Palithana city. On the left side was Shatruganya river and the mountain we were climbing was lush green and the morning atmosphere was amazing. Finally at around 8.29 A.M. and after climbing roughly 3500 steps we arrived at the summit. The experience at the summit could not be described in words and was really like reaching heaven on earth. There were roughly around 900-1000 temples (of varying sizes). After spending roughly 40 minutes and trying to visit maximum temples we started climbing down at 9.18 A.M. and at around 10.40 A.M. we reached the base. The total experience was simply amazing and one really needs to visit the place to experience the feel. We set towards Bhavnagar and after reaching the bus stand at Palithana, caught the bus at 1.00 P.M. and left for Bhavnagar- 55 K.M. Total Damage: INR 62.00. We arrived at Bhavnagar at around 2.15 P.M. and took an auto for local sight-seeing. Total Damage: INR 200.00. We first visited the New Port and were roughly at 4-5 k.m. from the city and while approaching the place we saw mountains of salt and the few migratory birds. The security person denied us to go inside since the place was a restricted area for civilians. Our next destination was the old port area in the city and the approach road was in worst condition and finally we arrived at a private marine ship maker and we saw a new private marine which was built. Our next spot was Ganga Deri- a marble structure of Ganga Devi. The place is in the middle of the city and was in pretty bad situation- it’s used by locals to rest over there from the afternoon heat and there was nothing much to see. Our next spot was clock tower—and then finally we arrived at Thakteshwar temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. The place was in pretty bad situation since it was used by as usual locals for resting from afternoon heat. We arrived at Bhavnagar station- only station in India to have female coolies. As such there was nothing interesting in Bhavnagar to see.
Thus our amazing journey came to an end.

Key Take Away: Start the climb in early morning, spend some quality time at the top, beware of the horse cart drivers trying to sell your horses metallic strip.

For pictures visit the following link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30002962@N05/