(10) Where to eat
For cheap snack food in the evening, try the stalls set up
on the road or roadside restaurants. Hotel Swati is a veg place near Teen Batti
Chowk with a big range of south Indian,
jain and Punjabi dishes. It opens from 1000 to 1500 and 1700 to 2200 hours.
Madras Hotel, nearby, specializes in vegetarian South Indian and Punjabi
cuisine, as well as the odd pizzas
Hotel Kalpana, Teen Batti Chowk, is a good restaurant with
quality meals. It is a veg restaurant with south Indian, Punjabi and Kathiawadi
cuisine. 7 Seas restaurant at the Hotel President offers good food, including continental
dishes and veg / non veg dishes. It opens 24 hours.
(11) Sight Seeing
If you enjoy the serene sea air, walking in the balmy sea
breeze, Jamnagar is the place for you to be. You can also visit the many
temples in the city or plan a picnic at one of the several scenic spots in and
around.
And if you are a bird watcher, you do not need to look any
further as several migratory birds make Jamnagar their home during the winter
months. The best site for bird-watching in the city is the Lakhota (Ranmal)
Lake where upto 75 species of birds are known to desend in winters. Also,
Khijadiya Lake near Jamnagar is good place for birdwatching which is a bird
sanctuary.
There are several monuments and places a visitor of Jamnagar
would like to visit ….
* Lakhota Fort and Kotha Bastion
In the center of old Jamnagar, on an island in the middle of
the lake, are two magnificient old structures, The Lakhota Fort and the Kotha
Bastion. This diminutive place once belongs to the Maharaja of Nawanagar. Lakhota
Fort is Jamnagar’s museum and its terraces display a fine collection of
sculpture that spans a period from the 9th to 18th century found from local archaeological sites.
The museum is reached by a short causeway from the northern side of Ranmal
Lake, and is open from 1030 to 1300 and 1500 to 1730 hrs daily (will be closed
on every Wednesday, second and forth Saturday of the month). Entry costs Rs.
2/-. The Kotha Bastion is
Jamnagar’s arsenal. One of the its most interesting sight is
an old well, the water of which can be drawn by blowing into a small hole in
the floor.
* SolariumJamnagar City Info
Known as the Ranjit Institute of Poly Radio Therapy, is open
to visitors for all day long. Its slowly revolving tower provides full daylong
sunlight. Patients of some diseases related to skin or other were treated here
with sunrays which comes from special type of glasses for various diseases. The
system is not working nowadays.
* Bala Hanuman Temple
The Bala Hanuman Temple is on the southeastern side of
Ranmal Lake. Highly venerated among the devotees of Lord Rama, an incarnation
of Lord Vishnu. The Bala Hanuman temple is famous the world over for the
continuous chanting of “Shri Ram Jai Ram
Jai Jai Ram” or “Ram Dhun (invocation of Lord Rama)” 24 hours a day. Starting
very back in the year 1964, on August 1, the chant is still continuing and has
earned the temple a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Early evening
is a particular good time to visit as it is fairly animated then. In fact the
whole area on the southeastern edge of the lake becomes very lively around sunset
when people come to promenade, and the usual chai and kulfi stalls set up and
ply their trade.
* Rozi and Bedi Port
On the shores of the Arabian sea, these two seaports are
wonderful sites for picnic besides providing excellent opportunities for
angling, a popular pastime at Jamnagar.
* Wellington Crescent
The most remarkable of Ranjit Singh’s construction is
Wellington Crescent. The swooping arches of its carved façade over looks the
wide streets of Chelmsford Market. This semi-circular locale is virtually a
gold mine for shopper. One can find a wide variety of the Jamnagar tie-and-dye
“Bandhani” fabrics and get some good bargains.
* Darbar Gadh
Darbargadh, the center of the old town, was once an
important place where the Maharaja of Nawanagar held public audiences. Shri
Sardar Patel called open the new State Saurashtra of Indian Republic from here whose
first Governer was Jam Saheb of Nawanagar.
* Cremation Park
You don’t require a morbid disposition to visit Jamnagar’s
cremation park, 10 minutes north of the city centre by auto-rickshaw. There are
statues of saints and deities, as well as scenes from
the Ramayana. This is an interesting place to visit,and the
atmosphere here is anything but depressing.
* Mandvi Tower
The older part of Jamnagar, known as Chani Bazar, is famous
for its magestic buildings, of which Mandvi Tower, a clock tower, is the most impressive.
* Jain Temples
Two Jain temples, Shantinath Mandir and Adinath Mandir, in
front of the main post office in Darbargdh,are very colorful with fine murals
and domes. Dedicated to the sixteenth and first tirthankars respectively, these
temples are strikingly located in the centre of the old city. The quality and
the quantity of the murals on the walls, ceilings and pillars of the temples are extraordinary. Hazy yellows,
greens, pinks, oranges and blues depict a riot of flowers, people, Gods and
domestic objects,while tableaux tell the life stories of Jain saints. The most
spectacular of the two, Shantinaht Mandir,
is a maze of brightly colored columns, each section of roof between them
highlighted with individual designs. The marble floor beneath is emblazoned
with distinctive Jain patterns in yellow, black, white and red. Above the main sanctuary,
an enormous dome rises in a series of concrete circles glinting with gold. The
outer side of the large dome over Adinat Mandir is inlaid with gold and colored
mosaic, and both temples have cupolas enriched with design of mirrors above the
entrance porch. Opening hours are 0600 to 1200 hours in the morning and 1600 to
2000 hours after noon. These temples form the centerpiece of the old city with
its lovely buildings of wood and stone, adorned with peeling pastel colored
shutters and crumbling wooden balconies. You could easily spend a couple of
hours exploring the lanes leading out from Chandi Bazar.
(11A) Shopping
Jamnagar is renowned the world over for its silk, gold
embroidery, silverware, bandhani (tie-and-dye) fabrics, nutcrackers, knives,
surmo, kanku, kajal, etc. Nutcrackers, especially the ones made for betel nuts,
made in Jamnagar are in a great demand all over India. It is also known for its
pearl fisheries. Many shops in the prime areas of Jamnagar sell artifacts made
using these local crafts.
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