Travel to Mandvi was a last minute attempt to reach a colleague’s wedding. A late night flight from Pune to Ahmedabad followed by an early morning train to Bhuj and thereafter an hour long journey via car to Mandvi, all finally turned out well and we reached at about 2 PM.
After lunch, we left at around 4 PM to visit the famous Vijay Vilas Palace, which is well known as a shooting location for movies like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. After paying the entry fees for palace and usage of camera- we entered the well kept premises of the palace. It’s a 2 storeyed building with limited areas given for public access. The publicly open areas boast of antiques and collections of the royal family including lots of pictures. The carvings on stone aren’t very intricate but well made. One can climb up the terrace, which has beautiful domes and click plenty of pictures. On the exterior, the palace is surrounded by gardens, which are decently maintained. As the location is close to the beach- one can enjoy nice evenings around the palace. From there, we directly moved to the location of engagement function.
As we were a group of colleagues, we chose to ditch the family functions and got ready early at about 8 AM to explore Mandvi. We had a car to our disposal and our first stop was 72 Jinalaya Jain temple, which is a sacred temple for Jains and houses 72 deries of Lord Mahavir. Built in white marble, the work on ceiling and pillars is marvelous. After spending some quiet time and reveling in the beauty we moved to our next destination but before that relished a nice roadside breakfast of Kutchi Dabeli.
We then visited the Ambe Dham- which is a mini replica of Vaishno Devi, in the infamous Godhra. A small den, which rises above the ground - has been created to give bring the deep dark feeling. Idols of various deities have been judiciously planted throughout the cave. The temple is all gold and white and houses model arts of evolution of religion and mythology. The models are superbly made, with great attention to details.
Enroute our next destination at about 12 PM, we stopped at a green field with huge wheat plants. We gatecrashed into the farm and clicked a lot of pictures, as it’s a view that we don’t get to see often.
On our way to our lunch destination, we passed by the ship making yard. Mandvi is known for its handmade ships, with customers across the globe. We walked to the ramp, saw the shipmakers in action and left in awe.
In addition, Mandvi also gives way to a lot of migratory birds who flock during the season. One can sight flamingos and seagulls at any time and we were lucky to see them at a close distance.
Then we went around the local market to locate Osho Thali, a place with huge recommendations for lunch. We took some time, figuring out the actual location as the place is located in squeezed roads of main market. While the place doesn’t boast of any material beauty, the thali is very elaborate and more than that it is super service that takes your heart away.
After overstuffing with food at about 3, we left for the next destination- Shyamji Krishna Varma Memorial, which is built in memory of freedom fighter Shyamji Krishna Varma who was born in Kutch. This building is dedicated to freedom fighters who fought for India’s independence and boasts of portraits of these fighters. While the building is dedicated to heroes of India but the irony is that the building is made in a European style. It is very well kept and one can spend about half an hour here.
We then started our journey back to hotel but stopped at the Mandvi beach to view the wind mills from a close distance and click some pics at the beach. We returned to the hotel at about 4, for the wedding functions.
In case, we had more time at hand, we would have also paid a visit to the very famous – Ashapura Mata temple located 2 hours away. This temple is one of the pilgrims of Kutchi community. All in all, one can cover all of these in 1 day, if you start early.
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