Bhavnagar, India: Lakes, Temples and More Enhance City's Beauty

Bhavnagar is one of the main cities of Northern Gujarat and is situated in Saurashtra region. Bhavnagar has been the main center of the education in this region, and the colleges here are affiliated with Saurashtra University. The kings of Bhavnagar have taken keen interest in the development of this city. Bhavnagar has a population of about half-a-million people. The weather here is very hot in summer and pleasant in winter, with a minimum temperature of about 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bhavnagar is well-connected by road, by train, and by air also from all the important cities of Gujarat State. There are regular daily flights from Mumbai and Surat for Bhavnagar. It can also be reached by train from Ahmedabad and Mumbai. However, the most convenient way to reach Bhavnagar is by road, either by State transport buses, or hired car and taxis from any major cities of Gujarat State. There are many cozy and comfortable hotels available for stay at Bhavnagar. Hotels like Apollo, Neelambaug Palace, Blue Hill, and White Rose really offer good facilities for one and all. Hotel Neelambaug Palace is the best hotel here. We had stayed here for couple of days during our visit last year. It provides excellent double rooms with deluxe facilities like full 21 inch size TV, wall to wall carpet, attached toilet with bath tub and running hot and cold water. The refrigerator is also available in some of the special rooms. The complementary breakfast is offered free with the deluxe double room that has a tariff of around Rs.2000 ($50) per day. The hotel also offers luxury suites at the rate of Rs.4000 ($100) per day. Such suites can accommodate the entire family of 4 persons. This hotel was originally the palace of the kings and is subsequently converted in to luxurious hotel. The hotel has high ceiling rooms, large glazed windows, and high quality zoomars having multiple lights. The entire show of the hotel is like a palace. It has a large luxury restaurant that mainly serves various types of Indian food delicacies. The Gujarati food is very famous and delicious here. It may be noted that the alcoholic drinks are banned in Gujarat State and you shall need a special permit to buy such drinks. The check out time of the hotel is noon.

There are many site-seeing spots that attract many visitors to this historical city. Gaurishankar Lake is the prime spot to see. The lake has a beautiful garden all around that offers a beautiful place for outings for the people of Bhavnagar. This is the location where most of the people gather around to enjoy their evenings. There is a dam constructed here at the lake. This lake supplies the drinking water to the city of Bhavnagar. The view of this lake is really fantastic during the rainy season as it gets full up to the brink at this time. There is also a water purification plant here that is worth seeing. This lake has an area of 12 square kilometers and the weather is extremely pleasant here during summer evenings. The temple of Takhteshwar Mahadev is the next vital spot. This lord Shiva temple is situated on a small hill. You can reach to the top of the hill by climbing around 300 stone steps. The view of city of Bhavnagar from this point is really breathtaking. The lock gate at the port of Bhavnagar is also considered engineering marvel in India. The gates of the port are opened when any ship is reaching near the port. There is a salt and marine research institute here that carries out many types of researches on sea water. Bhavnagar is famous in India due to Alang Wada at the port. The scrape ships are broken here and all the scrape as well as good items found on the ship are sold here at very reasonable rates. Sometimes, we may get rare pieces of furniture items that were taken out from some luxury ships. The activities are going on in full swing here all 24 hours of the day, on all seven days. This Alang Wada provides earning to thousands of people, thus helping the economy of Bhavnagar to grow.

The places like Palitana, Gadhda, Talaja, and Gopnath are within distance of about 40 miles from Bhavnagar. The visits to these places can also be made while you are staying at Bhavnagar. Bhavnagar is a peaceful city and is considered as the paradise of retired people. Many retired persons decide to settle here at Bhavnagar due to this reason. I hope this article shall help you to make your stay at Bhavnagar more comfortable and enjoyable.