Gujarāt (Gujarātī: ગુજરાત, IPA: [gʊdʒ(ə)raːt̪], pronunciation (help·info)) is the most industrialized state in the Republic of India with 19.8% of the country's total industrial output, which exceeds that of Maharashtra, whose output is 19.2% and contains many of the country's former Princely states. Gujarat borders Pakistan, and the states of Rajasthan to the north-east, Madhya Pradesh to the east, Maharashtra and the Union territories of Diu, Daman, Dadra and Nagar Haveli to the south. The international border with Pakistan is to the north-west. The Arabian Sea makes up the state's western coast. Its capital, Gandhinagar is a planned city and is located near Ahmedabad, the former state capital and the current commercial center of Gujarat.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Indus Valley Civilization 1.2 Migration and Hindu Kingdoms 1.3 People 1.4 960 AD to 1292 AD 1.5 1297 AD to ~1850 AD 1.6 1614 to 1947 1.7 Indian Independence Movement 1.8 Province Consolidation and Division after 1947 1.9 Post Independence 1.10 2001 Gujarat Earthquake 2 Geography 2.1 Climate & Natural Features 2.2 Rivers 2.3 National Parks 2.4 Major Cities 3 Economy 3.1 Macro-economic trend 3.2 Industrial Growth and Advantage 3.3 Amul 4 Government and politics 4.1 Revenues of Government 5 Education 5.1 Agriculture Universities 5.2 Engineering Schools 5.3 Research Organizations 5.4 Gujarat Science City 6 Demographics 7 Temples 8 Tourism 9 See also 10 References 11 External links

[edit] History

Main article: History of Gujarat

[edit] Indus Valley Civilization

Many settlements of the Indus Valley Civilization, also known as the Harappan Civilization, have been found in Gujarat. The most important of these are the trade port of Lothal in south eastern Gujarat and Dholavira in western Gujarat.

[edit] Migration and Hindu Kingdoms

The name of the state is derived from Gujjarātta (Gurjar Rāshtra), which means the land of the Gujjars. The Gujjars were one of the Central Asian tribes that migrated to India beginning from around the 1st century B.C. Gujarat's coastal cities, chiefly Bharuch, served as ports and trading centres for the Maurya and Gupta empires. After the collapse of the Gupta empire in the 6th century, Gujarat flourished as an independent Hindu kingdom. The Maitraka dynasty, descended from a Gupta general, ruled from the 6th to the 8th centuries from their capital at Vallabhi, although they were ruled briefly by Harsha during the 7th century. In 775 the first Parsi (Zoroastrian) refugees arrived in Gujarat from Iran. The Arab rulers of Sind sacked Vallabhi in 770, bringing the Maitraka dynasty to an end. A branch of the Pratihara clan ruled Gujarat after the eighth century.

[edit] People

Ethnically there are four groups of people who came to inhabit this land at different points of time and now form the majority here. These are Jats, Ahirs, Rabaris and Meghvals<ref>VP Desai, "Bharat ke Chaudhary"</ref>. A few villages in Gujarat where jats live are Rampura, Motidhani, Nani Dhani etc. These villages are near Deesa and Palanpur and the clans found there are the Jakhar, Jyani, Godara, Lunayach, Tada, Siyol, Bhari, Nain, Dhaka etc. The Patel of Gujarat are wealthy and landlords. The Banaskantha district, Mehsana, SabarKantha, Kheda, and Kutch have many Patel villages where a sizable population lives.

The Jats in Gujarat have come from (Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. Chaudharys is a common surname in Gujarat) this statement are wrong, they are either Jat or Rajput. Some of these people have also given up their clan names and adopted titles as their surname, the most common being Patel. Most Patels in Gujarat are not Jats, but a significant proportion of Jats are Patels. They are settled mainly in Mehsana district and surrounding districts. The Sagar Milk Dairy is their creation. The clans of Jats in Gujarat are similar to those of Jats of North India. They have following clans, as given in list below. (Gujarati pronunciation is given between parenthesis)<ref>VP Desai, "Bharat ke Chaudhary"</ref>

List of Jat clans:

• Antal - Utpal (Uplana)
• Atwal (Ant)
• Bhatti (Bhatiya)
• Chauhan, Chawan, Chahar (Chauhan)
• Dal, Dhal, Dudee (Del)
• Dhaliwal, Dhariwal (Dholiya)
• Gaur, Goru (Gaur, Gor)
• Godara-Godha (Goda)
• Gulia (Galia)
• Henga, Haga (Hun)
• Katariya (Katotariya)
• Maan (Manar)
• Mahla, Mahlawat (Mahiya)
• Nauhwar (Nauwar)
• Pallwal (Pilatar)
• Parihar (Parihar, Padhiyar)
• Pauniya (Paun)
• Pawar (Parmar)
• Punia (Pooliya)
• Rathor (Rathor, Rathod)
• Rawat (Rawat)
• Sikarwar, Sakarwar (Sakariya)
• Singhmar (Singh)
• Sirohi, Saroha (Siroha)
• Solanki, Solgi (Solanki)

The Meghwals is Orignal People of India.And now Untouchable people recongized as Dalit ,other Hindu High Society. They are the masters of weaving cotton and wool as also embroidery and appliqué work.

The Ahirs came with Lord Krishna from Gokul in Uttar Pradesh. Most of the communities of Ahirs began with selling ghee and milk and are now spread all over the state.

The Rabaris are a nomadic tribe always wandering with their herds. The origin of this tribe has been traced back to Sind and Afghanistan though many aspects of this tribe still remain a puzzle for anthropologists. They have been classified into three distinct groups, namely Vagadia, Dhabaria, and Kachhi. Women of this tribe engage themselves in making elaborate embroidery pieces while the men spend their time tending to their camels and sheep.

There were also groups of Rajputs who settled in Gujarat, coming from Rajasthan. They played a very significant part in Gujarat's history, along with the Gujjars.

[edit] 960 AD to 1292 AD

The Solanki clan of Rajputs ruled Gujarat from c. 960 to 1243. Gujarat was a major center of Indian Ocean trade, and their capital at Anhilwara (Patan) was one of the largest cities in India, with a population estimated at 100,000 in the year 1000. In 1026, the famous Somnath temple in Gujarat was destroyed by Mahmud of Ghazni. After 1243, the Solkanis lost control of Gujarat to their feudatories, of whom the Vaghela chiefs of Dholka came to dominate Gujarat. In 1292 the Vaghelas became tributaries of the Yadava dynasty of Devagiri in the Deccan.

[edit] 1297 AD to ~1850 AD

In 1297 to 1298 Ala ud din Khilji, Sultan of Delhi, destroyed Anhilwara and incorporated Gujarat into the Delhi Sultanate. After Timur's sacking of Delhi at the end of the 14th century weakened the Sultanate, Gujarat's Muslim governor Zafar Khan Muzaffar asserted his independence, and his son, Sultan Ahmed Shah (ruled 1411 to 1442), established Ahmedabad as the capital. Cambay eclipsed Bharuch as Gujarat's most important trade port. The Sultanate of Gujarat remained independent until 1576, when the Mughal emperor Akbar conquered it and annexed it to the Mughal Empire. It remained a province of the Mughal empire until the Marathas conquered eastern and central Gujarat in the 18th century; Western Gujarat (Kathiawar and Kutch) were divided among numerous local rulers.

[edit] 1614 to 1947

Portugal was the first European power to arrive in Gujarat, acquiring several enclaves along the Gujarati coast, including Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The British East India Company established a factory in Surat in 1614, which formed their first base in India, but it was eclipsed by Bombay after the British acquired it from Portugal in 1668. The Company wrested control of much of Gujarat from the Marathas during the Second Anglo-Maratha War. Many local rulers, notably the Maratha Gaekwads of Baroda (Vadodara), made a separate peace with the British, and acknowledged British sovereignty in return for retaining local self-rule. Gujarat was placed under the political authority of Bombay Presidency, with the exception of Baroda state, which had a direct relationship with the Governor-General of India. From 1818 to 1947, most of present-day Gujarat, including Kathiawar, Kutch, and northern and eastern Gujarat were divided into dozens of princely states, but several districts in central and southern Gujarat, namely Ahmedabad, Broach (Bharuch), Kaira, Panch Mahals, and Surat, were ruled directly by British officials.

[edit] Indian Independence Movement

The people of Gujarat were the most enthusiastic participants in India's struggle for freedom. Leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Morarji Desai, K.M. Munshi, Narhari Parikh, Mahadev Desai, Mohanlal Pandya and Ravi Shankar Vyas all hailed from Gujarat. In addition, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's first Governor-General, spoke Gujarati as his mother tongue and his father was from what later became Gujarat. Gujarat was also the site of some of the most popular revolts, including the Satyagrahas in Kheda, Bardoli, Borsad and the Salt Satyagraha.

See Also: Freedom fighters from Gujarat

[edit] Province Consolidation and Division after 1947

After India's independence in 1947, 217 princely states of Kathiawar and Saurashtra, including the former kingdom of Junagadh, were grouped together to form the province of Saurashtra, with its capitol at Rajkot. On November 1, 1956, Saurashtra was merged into Bombay State. The modern state of Gujarat was created on May 1, 1960, out of the northern, predominantly Gujarati-speaking portion of Bombay State. The southern, predominantly Marathi-speaking portion became the state of Maharashtra.

[edit] Post Independence

After Indian independence and the partition of India in 1947, the new Indian government grouped the former princely states of Gujarat into three larger units; Saurashtra, which included the former princely states on the Kathiawar peninsula, Kutch, and Bombay state, which included the former British districts of Bombay Presidency together with most of Baroda state and the other former princely states of eastern Gujarat. In 1956, Bombay state was enlarged to include Kutch, Saurashtra, and parts of Hyderabad state and Madhya Pradesh in central India. The new state had a mostly Gujarati-speaking north and a Marathi-speaking south. Agitation by Marathi nationalists for their own state led to the split of Bombay state on linguistic lines; on 1 May 1960, it became the new states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. The first capital of Gujarat was Ahmedabad; the capital was moved to Gandhinagar in 1970. Surat is known as Diamond or Silk city of India and business city of India.

In Gujarat a few new towns have been established since Indian independence in 1947. Most of these are more like settlements established near existing urban centres. Gandhidham, Sardarnagar and Kubernagar are three rehabilitation towns more like refugee settlements than self-sufficient towns. The last two now form part of the city of Ahmedabad. Ankleshwar and Mithapur were two of the earlier industrial towns established in Gujarat. A complex of three small townships for the oil refinery, the Fertilizer Factory and Petro-chemicals plant also came up near Vadodara. Kandla is the only new port town established in the state.

[edit] 2001 Gujarat Earthquake

Gujarat was hit with a devastating earthquake on January 26, 2001 at 9:00, which claimed a staggering 10,000 lives, injured another 30,000 people and severely affected the lives of 40 million of the population. The economic and financial loss to Gujarat and India is being felt even after almost half a decade. (figure of 20000 is very high to be corrected). Actual figures are between 10,000 to 20,000

[edit] Geography

Gujarat is the westernmost state of India. It is bounded by the Arabian Sea to the west and southwest, and Pakistan to the north. The state of Rajasthan is to the northeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and Maharashtra and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli to the south and southeast of Gujarat.

[edit] Climate & Natural Features

The relief is low in the most parts of the state and involves diverse climate conditions. Though mostly dry, it is desertic in the north-west, and wet in the southern districts due to heavy monsoon season. With the construction of Sardar Sarovar on Narmada River, a result of the largest dam in India <ref>Sardar Sarovar, the Report of the Independent Review, Bradford Morse and Thomas Berger, Edited by The Independent Review, 1992.</ref>, irrigation facilities have improved immensely, with water being provided to the most dry areas of Kutch and Saurashtra through a 550 km long canal, an engineering marvel. With the Gulf of Kutch and the Gulf of Cambay, Gujarat has about 1600 km of coastline, which is the longest coastline of all Indian states.

[edit] Rivers

The major rivers flowing through the state include the Narmada, Sabarmati, and Mahi in central and northern Gujarat; Mithi, Khari, Bhadar, Shetrunji and Bhogavo in Saurashtra; Tapi, Purna, Ambika, Auranga and Damanganga in the southern part of the state.

[edit] National Parks

Gujarat is home to four National Parks, including Gir Forest National Park, near Junagadh, Blackbuck National Park in Bhavnagar District, Vansda National Park in Navsari District, and Marine National Park on the Gulf of Kutch in Jamnagar District. The last remaining Asian lions, famous for their dark black manes, live in the area surrounding Girnar. In addition to these, there are twenty one Wildlife sanctuaries.

[edit] Major Cities

The major cities in Gujarat are Ahmedabad, Vadodara (Baroda), Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar Jamnagar and Junagadh. Ahmedabad, the commercial capital of the state, is the sixth largest city of India. Other important cities include Nadiad, Anand and Ankleshwar in central Gujarat, Bharuch, Navsari, Vapi, and Valsad in the south; and Bhuj, and [Surendranagar]], [Morbi], Dwarka in Saurastra in the west.

[edit] Economy

[edit] Macro-economic trend

This is a chart of trend of gross state domestic product of Gujarat at market prices estimated by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.

Year	Gross State Domestic Product
1980	74,270
1985	139,880
1990	279,960
1995	718,860
2000	1,084,840

The economy of Gujarat shows that it is one of the most prosperous states of the country, having a per-capita GDP 2.47 times India's average. Of all the states, Gujarat controls some of the largest businesses in India. According to the data published by "Center for Monitoring Indian Economy" or CMIE, Gujarat ranked third among all the states of India in 2004, approximately same as Punjab and Maharashtra, at Rs. 15,800 <ref>Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy</ref>. Major Agricultural produce of the state include cotton, peanuts, dates, sugarcane, milk & milk products. Industrial products include cement, and petrol. Gujarat is the largest producer of milk in India. Amul, located at Anand is one of the largest milk product producer co-operatives in the world.

Surat is a hub of the global diamond trade. It is home to a thriving diamond trade and diamond cutting industry. Alang Ship Recycling Yard, located 50 km southeast of Bhavnagar, on the Gulf of Khambhat, is the world's largest ship breaking yard. Reliance Petroleum Limited, one of the group companies of Reliance Industries Limited founded by Dhirubhai Ambani operates the oil refinery at Jamnagar which is the world's largest grassroots' refinery. <ref>Reliance Industries Limited - see section headed '1999-2000'</ref>

Gujarat ranks first nationwide in gas-based thermal electricity generation with national market share of over 18% and second nationwide in nuclear electricity generation with national market share of over 16%.

Over 4% of the S&P CNX 500 conglomerates have corporate offices in Gujarat.

See also: List of conglomerates in Gujarat

[edit] Industrial Growth and Advantage

• During the period 1960-90, Gujarat established itself as a leader in various industrial sectors - Textiles, Engineering, Chemicals,Petrochemicals. Drugs & Pharmaceuticals. Dairy,Cement & Ceramics. Gems & Jewellery, etc.
• Post-liberalization period saw Gujarat's State Domestic Product (SDP) rising at an average growth rate of 12.4% per annum in real terms (from 1994 -2002).
• Gujarat achieved as much as 35% of augmentation in its power generation capacity during the period 1995-96 and 2000-01. The Independent Power Producers (IPPs) have contributed significantly in this addition. Gujarat in fact, is one of the first few states in India to have encouraged private sector investment in the infrastructure.
• Gujarat accounts for almost 21% share in the export basket of India.
• Longest coastline - 1600 km. dotted with 41 ports 1 major. 11 intermediate and 29 minor. Country's first private sector ports. Pipavav and Mundra. are already in operation. In addition. the liquid cargo (Chemicals) handling port at Dahej is also set up in joint sector and made operational.
• Largest producer of Salt and Soda Ash in the country.
• Largest grass-root Petroleum Refinery in the world operational at Jamnagar.
• Excellent road network - exceeding 74,000 km. The first phase Ahmedabad-Vadodara - of the Expressway in Gujarat now open for transportation.
• Highest number of Airports in India - 11 including an international airport at Ahmedabad.
• An extensive rail network connecting all major centres in the State.
• The annual growth rate of industrial output on an average was witnessed at around 18% during the period 1990-2000.
• Network of quality educational institutions.
• Business-friendly environment and rich heritage of entrepreneurial skill.

[edit] Amul

Gujrat is the birthplace of the Amul milk co-operative federation. Started by Verghese Kurien this movement has served as a model for other co-operative movements throughout India. It has now become a global brand name and is the pride of Gujarat. It started the White revolution (similar to the Green Revolution) in India, known more popularly as "Operation Flood" .

[edit] Government and politics

Main articles: Districts of Gujarat and Chief Ministers of Gujarat

On 1960-05-01, Gujarat was created out of the 17 northern districts of former State of Bombay. These districts were further subdivided later on. There are 25 administrative districts in the state (as of 2006).

Gujarat is governed by a Legislative Assembly of 182 members. Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) are elected on the basis of adult suffrage from one of 182 constituencies, of which 13 are reserved for scheduled castes and 26 for scheduled tribes. The term of office for a member of the Legislative Assembly is five years. The Legislative Assembly elects a speaker, who presides over the meetings of the legislature. A governor is appointed by the President of India, and is empowered to summon, prorogue, and dissolve the Legislative Assembly, and to address the House after every general election and the commencement of each year's first session of the Legislative Assembly. The Leader of the Legislative Assembly is the leader of the majority party or coalition in the legislature (Chief Minister), or his or her designee. The Leader sets the dates of the legislative sessions, and decides what business is to be transacted in the legislature and what order it is taken up. The administration of the state is led by the Chief Minister.

After independence in 1947, the Indian National Congress party (INC) ruled the Bombay state (which included present-day Gujarat and Maharashtra). Congress continued to govern Gujarat after the state's creation in 1960. During and after India's State of Emergency of 1975-1977, public support for the Congress Party eroded, but it continued to hold government until 1995. In the 1995 Assembly Polls, the Congress lost to the BJP and Keshubhai Patel came to power. His Government lasted only 2 years. The fall of that government was provoked by a split in the BJP led by Shankersinh Vaghela. BJP returned to power in 1998 state assembly polls and has won most of the subsequent polls. In 2001, following the loss of 2 assembly seats in by-elections, Keshubhai Patel resigned and handed over power to Narendra Modi. The BJP retained a majority in the 2002 election, and Narendra Modi has since served as Chief Minister of the state.

[edit] Revenues of Government

This is a chart of trend of own tax revenues (excluding the shares from Union tax pool) of the Government of Gujarat assessed by the Finance Commissions from time to time with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.

Year	Own Tax Revenues
2000	104,818
2005	138,964

This is a chart of trend of own non-tax revenues (excluding the shares from Union tax pool) of the Government of Gujarat assessed by the Finance Commissions from time to time with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.

Year	Own Non-tax Revenues
2000	19,077
2005	31,365

[edit] Education

Gujarat has 13 universities and 4 agricultural universities.

• Gujarat University ([1] Website)is the largest university located in the city of Ahmedabad.

Other universities are In alphabetical order:

• Bhavnagar University, Bhavnagar (website)
• Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University, Ahmedabad
• Dharamsinh Desai University, Nadiad (website)
• Gujarat Ayurveda University, Jamnagar (website)
• Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar
• Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, website)
• Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad (website)
• Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University, Patan (website)
• Kachchh University, Bhuj Kachchh
• Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara
• Nirma University of Science & Technology, Ahmedabad
• Saurashtra University, Rajkot (website)
• Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar
• South Gujarat University, Surat

[edit] Agriculture Universities

• Anand Agricultural University, Anand
• Gujarat Agricultural University, Sardar Krushinagar, Dantiwada (website)
• Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh (website)
• Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari (website)

[edit] Engineering Schools

L.D. College of Engineering [2], Dharmsinh Institute of Technology (DDIT) Nirma Institute of Technology [3] and Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology are among the premier engineering institutes of west India. Centre for Environment Planning and Technology ([4]) is a well known institution for students of art and architecture.

Gujarat also has a National Institute of Technology in Surat[5].

M.S. University of Baroda, in Vadodara, also has an excellent engineering college (Faculty of Technology & Engineering) and a polytecnic. Birla Vishwakarma Mahavidyalaya[6] from S.P University at Vallabh Vidyanagar near Anand was the first engineering college in Gujarat.

[edit] Research Organizations

Gujarat also hosts some of the premier research organisations of India:

Indian Space Research Organization is the premier space research institute located in the city of Ahmedabad. Known as the cradle of Space Sciences in India, the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) was founded in 1947 by Dr. Vikram Sarabhai [7] in the city of Ahmedabad, near to Gujarat University and L. D. College of Engineering campuses. As a unit of the Department of Space, Government of India, PRL carries out fundamental research in select areas of Physics, Space & Atmospheric Sciences, Astronomy & Astrophysics and Planetary & Geosciences.

Institute for Plasma Research is an autonomous Physics research institute localted in the capital city Gandhinagar, involved in research in various aspects of plasma science including basic plasma physics, research on magnetically confined hot plasmas and plasma technologies for industrial applications. Ahmedabad Textile and Industries’ Research Association is also located in Ahmedabad, gujarat.

Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute has been established under Council of Scientific & Industrial Research Govt. of India at Bhavnagar. It was inaugurated by Late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the First Prime Minister of India on 10th April, 1954 with a view to carry out research on marine salt, and salt from inland lakes and sub-soil brine. It is working on Reverse Osmosis, Electro Membrane Process, Salt and Marine Chemicals, Analytical Science, Marine Biotechnology and other related fields.

Indian Institute of Management Ahmadabad, one of the internationally reputed management research institute is located in Gujarat's commercial capital Ahmadabad. Indian Institute of Management Ahmadabad is one of the best management institutes in the world.

[edit] Gujarat Science City

Gujarat Science City [8], is a government initiative to draw more students towards education in Science, which hosts India's first IMAX 3D Theater, An Energy Park, A Hall of Science, An Amphitheater, And Dancing Musical fountains among others.

Main article: List of educational institutions of Gujarat

[edit] Demographics

Image:Unbalanced scales.svg

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.

Its official and primary language is Gujarati. The religion of the majority of its residents is Hinduism, in addition to significant percentages following Islam, Jainism, Zoroastrianism and Christianity. Most of the Gujarati people are vegetarian. Amongst Hindus the deity of Krishna is famously worshipped in His form of Sri Nathji throughout Gujarat.

As Gujarat is a heavily industrialized state of India, it attracts lots of outsiders, mostly from North India, (Bihar, Punjab, Haryana etc.) and South India. Hundreds of thousands of non-Gujarati workers live in Gujarat with hopes of wealth.

The Hindu majority in the state have a long history of harmony and tolerance of various religions and communities, such as the long established, and in many cases thriving, Gujarati Muslim and Parsi communities. (See the account of Zoroastrian community for their welcome to Gujarat for settlement in around the 8th Century). However, due to recent events, such as 2002 Gujarat violence that claimed about a 1,000 victims, media have portrayed the people of Gujarat as communally intolerant.

[edit] Temples

Palitana Temples: this is a complex of Jain temples situated 51 km south west of Bhavnagar. There are 863 temples from base to the peak of the Shatrunjaya hill, where the Palitana temples are located.

Dwarkanath Temple: it is situated at Dwarka and is one of the important temples dedicated to lord Krishna.

Somnath Temple: The Somnath Temple located in the Prabhas Kshetra near Veraval in Saurashtra, on the western coast of Gujarat, India is one of the twelve Jyotirlings (golden lingas) symbols of the God Shiva. It is mentioned in the Rig Veda. Somnath means "The Protector of Moon God". The Somnath Temple is known as 'the Shrine Eternal', as although the temple has been destroyed six times it has been rebuilt every single time

[edit] Tourism

Main article: List of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries of Gujarat, India

Gujarat is the only home of Asiatic Lions. Outside Africa, Gujarat is the only natural habitat of lions. Gir National Park in south-west part of the state covers only the part of lion's habitat. Besides lions, the other big cat can be found in the state are Panthers. Panthers are spread across large plains of Saurashtra and mountains of South Gujarat.

The Swaminarayan Temple in Kalupur, Ahmedabad is the first built Swaminarayan Temple in the world, this temple is know to be very popular with tourists.

Lothal is the site of the ancient ruins of the first Indian port, dating from the time of the Indus Valley Civilization.

Dholavira, The Ancient Metropolitan City, locally known as Kotada Timba, is one of the largest and most prominent archaeological sites in India, belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization. It is located on the Khadir island in the Kutch district of Gujarat - the island is surrounded by water in the monsoon season. The site was occupied from about 2900 BCE for about a millennium, declining slowly after about 2100, briefly abandoned and then reoccupied, finally by villagers among its ruins, until about 1450.

The Modhera Sun Temple is famous for its rare position as specifically and uniquely designed for the worship of the Sun, Lord Surya. While the main temple is beautifully and intricately designed with complex architecture, painting and sculptures, there is a central pond and surrounding it stand 108 small temples for each of the Sun God's 108 names. Dwarka city on the tip of the Arabian Sea is famous for being the legendary home of Lord Krishna, the eighth Avatara of Vishnu, hero of the Mahabharata epic. Ancient ruins of a city and temple complex found underwater suggest a historical basis for the legend. The Rann of Kutchch covers a large portion of western Gujarat, and is world-famous for its rare ecosystem, fossils, wildlife and terrain. Only 500 years earlier, the area was the Arabian Sea.

While the city of Ahmedabad is a large and fast-growing modern metropolis, it was also the home of the Indian Independence Movement, with the Sabarmati Ashram of Mahatma Gandhi a standing legacy. Other major tourist sites include Palitana, Diu, Kutch, Jamnagar, Junagadh, and Rajkot in the region of Saurastra; and Champaner and Pavagarh in the Panchmahal district. Gujarat has 4 national parks and 21 sanctuaries, which include: Nal Sarovar, Anjal, Balaram-Ambaji, Barda, Jambughoda, Jessore, Kachchh Desert, Khavda, Narayan Sarovar, Paniya, Purna, Rampura, Ratanmahal, and Surpaneshwar.

[edit] See also

Image:Commons-logo.svg

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gujarat

• List of people from Gujarat
• List of Maitraka rulers of Gujarat
• List of Solanki rulers of Gujarat
• List of Vaghela rulers of Gujarat
• List of Muzaffarid rulers of Gujarat
• Gujarati people
• Gujarat in Lok Sabha
• Dholavira
• Parsi

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Image:Emblem of India.svg State of Gujarat Governors | Chief Ministers | Districts Image:Map Gujarat state and districts.png
• Capital: Gandhinagar  • Major cities: Ahmedabad | Surat | Vadodara | Rajkot | Jamnagar | Bhavnagar  • Districts: Ahmedabad | Amreli | Anand | Banaskantha | Bharuch | Bhavnagar | Dahod | Dang | Gandhinagar | Jamnagar | Junagadh | Kheda | Kachchh | Mehsana | Narmada | Navsari | Panchmahal | Patan | Porbandar | Rajkot | Sabarkantha | Surat | Surendranagar | Vadodara | Valsad
• History • Notable people • Cities and Towns • Education institutes • National parks & Sanctuaries

[edit] References

• Chief Ministers of Gujarat

<references />

[edit] External links

Official website

• Official portal of Gujarat Government

Weather of Gujarat

• Weather information of Gujarat

History of Gujarat

• History of Gujarat
• More information about history of Gujarat
• List of rulers of Gujarat

Further information

• Gujarat travel guide from Wikitravel
• Gujarat Map
• Directory of Cities and Towns in Gujarat
• Gujarat earthquake of 2001

Transportation in Gujarat

• Gujarat Transportation

bn:গুজরাট

ca:Gujarat da:Gujarat de:Gujarat et:Gujarat es:Gujarat eo:Guĝarato fa:گجرات fr:Gujarat gu:ગુજરાત hi:गुजरात id:Gujarat it:Gujarat he:גוג'אראט kn:ಗುಜರಾತ್ ka:გუჯარათი lt:Gudžaratas ml:ഗുജറാത്ത്‌ mr:गुजरात nl:Gujarat ja:グジャラート州 no:Gujarat nn:Gujarat pl:Gujarat pt:Gujarate ru:Гуджарат simple:Gujarat sr:Гуџарат fi:Gujarat sv:Gujarat ta:குஜராத் te:గుజరాత్ tg:Гуҷарот zh:古吉拉特邦