Gujarat Diaries - 7

Overview: This was our final day with Zoomcar, and we started early as usual to avoid queues at the Sardar Patel statue. We reached the parking lot at Kevadia at around 7:30am. The ticket counters open at 8:30am, so we had our breakfast and morning tea near the parking lot. There are 4 types of ticket, Rs 30 for a bus ride and a glimpse of teh statue, Rs 150 for entry into the Sardar Patel Statue premises and the museum, Rs 350 for reaching the top of the statue through elevator, and Rs 1000 ticket for priority pass and avoiding any queues. We took the Rs 150 ticket and hopped on to the bus. The bus takes the visitors to the Sardar Patel statue, Valley of Flowers and the Sardar Sarovar Dam. We reached Sardar Patel statue in 10 mins by bus. We were awestruck by the sheer size of the statue, and couldn't help but take pictures at every step till we reached the foot of the Iron Man. An average man is not even half the size of the toe of the statue. This was something we had not seen built in India for a long time. The Gommateshwara statue at Sravanabelagola can be compared to this statue, but that was built several centuries ago. The river Narmada flows just besides the statue, and was glowing in the morning sun. The museum showcases important events from the life of Sardar Vallabhai Patel. This statue is indeed a fitting tribute to the great man.
We spent close to 2 hours at this site before heading back. On our way back, we stopped at Dabhoi Fort, a very small fort with elaborate carvings on the doorway, somewhat resembling the Vijayanagar style of architecture. The fortification of it is ascribed to the 11th century Chaulukya king of Gujarat, Jayasimha Siddharaja (1093-1143 AD), who made this his frontier fortress. From here, we went to Ahmedabad where we saw Sultan Ahmed Shah's mosque and the popular Lal Darwaza market, before returning our rented car.

Day 7: Vadodara - Sardar Patel Statue - Dabhoi Fort - Ahmedabad (250 km)


Statue of Unity

Narmada River


Dabhoi Fort

Dabhoi Fort

Sultan Ahmed Shah's mosque
The final day of our Gujarat trip was at Vapi, to a relative's place. We took an overnight GSRTC bus from Ahmedabad to Vapi, and reached at around 5:30 am. After relaxing for half day, we decided to explore the Union Territory of Daman in the evening. There are 2 Portuguese era forts in Daman, and the interior of the forts have structures built in colonial style, similar to the French style buildings in Pondicherry. Though both the forts, St Jerome Fort and the Nani Daman forts are the most prominent structures in the city, both are very small forts. We visited both the forts, a church and a ruined Dominican Monastery. The Jampore beach is another attraction which is flocked by visitors every evening.


Bom Jesus Churh, Daman

Daman

Nani Daman Fort


Comments

  1. Bouilding of Bali temple and the former kingdom
    also have architecture and relieve like dabhoi fort

    ReplyDelete

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