Visit to Ancient and Historical Town of Dholka in Gujarat State in India

The country of India is full of ancient towns which are in existence since the Mahabharat times. Such towns are almost 5000 years old. One of such small but ancient towns is Dholka, which is situated around 35 miles away from the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat State. It is a small town and is taluka headquarter in the district of Ahmedabad. However, this city was once one of the largest cities of Western part of India, before around 700 years. It was under the rule of King Siddharaj Jaisinh for around 25 years in fourteenth century.

It is very easy to reach Dholka by road in hired car or taxi from all the major cities of the Gujarat State like Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Surat. Dholka is also a railway station on a narrow gauge railway line of Ahmedabad- Dholka- Dhandhuka. However, it may not be convenient to travel by train, as the frequency of trains on this line is very less. The town of Dholka has lot of historical importance since the Mahabharat times. It is said that the Pandava brothers stayed here during their last year of their stay of forest. They were supposed to pass that year without being identified by anybody. Hence, all five Pandava brothers, along with their wife Draupadi stayed here at this town in disguise, which was called Virat city at that time. The strongest of the Pandava brothers, Bhim, had killed Kichak here, who was harassing Draupadi. Kichak was the brother of the wife of the King Virat, the ruler of city of Virat at that time. Some of the ancient monuments of that time still exist here at the town of Dholka. The kitchen of Bhim is one such famous monument to be seen here. The residence place of Pandavas is also worth visiting here at Dholka. Though, all these ancient monuments are in very bad condition now, they still can give all of us an idea of the life style of that time.

One of the recent monuments to be seen here is Malav Lake. The mother of the King Siddharaj Jaisinh, named as Minaldevi, built this historical lake. The lake was to be built in complete circular shape but there was a small hut falling in the way. This hut belonged to one very poor fellow. As he was not prepared to vacate his small living place, queen Minaldevi constructed the lake, keeping the small hut undisturbed, thus giving full respect to that poor fellow. This pond still speaks a lot about the justice of King Siddharaj Jaisinh and his mother Minaldevi. There is an ancient math of Adi Shankaracharya here at the town of Dholka. There is a seat of guru Shankaracharya here, which has been established before around 350 years. This place is considered one of the holy places for Hindus. There is a mosque, called as Khan mosque here at Dholka. This mosque is around 1000 years old. All the Muslims staying at Dholka gather here for the prayer at this mosque daily.

There are many outings nearby Dholka, which may be visited by the tourists visiting this region. Vautha is one such place, which is 7 miles away from the town of Dholka. It is a meeting point of seven Rivers. And hence, it is considered one of the Mahatirths of Hindu religion. Large fair is held here at Vautha every year on the full moon day of Gujarati month Chaitra. Thousands of people come to attend this fair from all over the country and even from the USA and Europe. The animal fair is extremely famous of this fair. The sale of the animals takes place here during the fair. The juicy fruits like watermelons and the guava are very famous of Dholka. The guavas of Dholka are fully red from inside and without any seeds. One must not miss to taste these guavas here at Dholka. There are no good hotels or the restaurants available here at Dholka. Hence, make sure to carry your food and the mineral water for drinking purpose with you. You may need around couple of hours to see all these sites seeing spots at Dholka. Then, you can either return back to Ahmedabad or proceed ahead towards Khedbrahma and main Ambaji temple. It may not be required to pay special visit to Dholka but if you are passing through it on your way to mount Abu or Ambaji, you must certainly drop by for couple of hours to have glimpses of this ancient and historical town.