Pilgrimage to Holy Lake of Narayan Sarovar in the Gujarat State of India

There are five main holy lakes in India, which have very high religious importance since last 5000 years. Narayan Sarovar is one of these lakes, which is situated in Lakhtar taluka, in the district of Bhuj in the Gujarat Sate of India. There is a mention of this holy lake in the Bhagvad Gita also in the fifth Adhyay, where in, it is stated that unless the person takes a holy dip in this Narayan Sarovar, all other pilgrimages performed by him are not considered valid. Narayan Sarovar is at the top of total 68 most vital pilgrimage places of India, as indicated in the Vedas.

Narayan Sarovar is around 340 miles away from Ahmedabad and is 100 miles away from the city of Bhuj on the Western boarder of India and Pakistan. It is only around 37 miles away from the town of Lakhtar. The best option to visit Narayan Sarovar is to stay at Bhuj and travel to Narayan Sarovar by hired car or taxi or State Transport buses. The hired car or the taxis charge around Rs.1600 ($40) per day for a standard four-sitter non air-conditioned car. One can start at early morning hours and can reach back to Bhuj by the late evening hours on the same day. However, it would be better if you stay at Narayan Sarovar for at least one night to experience the life of desert. There are many temples to be visited here over and above taking a bath in this holy lake. The temple of Lord Trikamrai is the most important of all. It is believed that the ten sons of Dax Prajapati performed very severe tapa here at this temple for 65 years. Finally, Lord Naradji appeared before them and presented them the eternal peace. Hence, this place is considered ideal for such Dhyana and tapa activities. The next place to be visited is the famous Laxminarayan temple. The statue of Lord Laxminarayan installed here is made up of black crystal and is extremely impressive. The eyes of the statue are really hypnotizing and penetrate through our heart, when we look at them. The Gopalji temple, Govardhannath temple, Dwarikadhis temple, Mahalaxmi temple, Vijay Hanuman temple, and the temple of Bhaleshwar Mahadev are some of the vital temples here, which must be visited. There are some ancient caves also here near the Narayan Sarovar. The lord Shankar cave, and the Lord Ram cave are the worth seeing caves. Lord Ram and the Lord Shiva had performed tapa here. The Rameshwar cave, Shesh cave and the Hanuman cave also may be seen as they are also very near to this lake.

There are few nearby outings also that should be covered during the visit to Narayan Sarovar. The temple of Koteshwar Mahadev is one such place, which is around 12 miles away from the Narayan Sarovar. The India Pakistan boarder is only 2 miles away from this ancient temple. The boarder can also be visited after taking suitable permit from the Indian army authorities. There is a complete desert in this area and hence, it remains very hot during the summer months of April to June. Try to avoid your visit during this period. There are many nice and clean Dharmshalas at Narayan Sarovar in case you would like night halt here. However, there are no good and luxurious hotels available here at Narayan Sarovar to stay. You may stay at Bhuj, as there are many luxurious hotels like Hotel Navyuga, Hotel Umed Bhavan Palace, Mahalaxmi guesthouse, Kalpana guesthouse, and Hotel Prince available at Bhuj. All these hotels charge around Rs.3000 ($75) per day for a nice double room. We had stayed at Hotel Prince and had enjoyed our stay very much. The authentic Kutchhi food items are the most delicious here. One should try the spicy Kutchhi Dabeli here, which is a traditional food item of Kutchh Bhuj. One can reach Bhuj very easily as there are many direct trains available from Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and the other major cities of the Gujarat State. Most of the Hindus have their heart's desire to visit the Narayan Sarovar at least once during their lifetime. The time of fulfilling this desire has come now during your next visit to India.