Jamnagar

Jamnagar is the fifth largest city in the state of Gujarat, India, behind Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot.

The city was substantially developed by Jam Sahib Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji in the 1920s, when it was part of the Princely state of Nawanagar. The city lies just to the south of the Gulf of Kutch, some 337 kilometres (209 mi) west of the state capital, Gandhinagar.

Jamnagar is the headquarters of India’s largest private company, Reliance Industries, which has established the world’s largest oil refinery near the village of Moti Khavdi in Jamnagar. It is also home to the Essar Oil refinery, located near the town of Vadinar.

Connectivity:

Air: The city has an airport with direct flights to Mumbai. The airport is a civil enclave which allows commercial flights.

Rail: Jamnagar has a railway station connected with a variety of destinations across India. Jamnagar has 3 daily trains to Mumbai and weekly trains to the north, east and south

Road: There are daily Volvo buses running between Jamnagar and Ahmedabad by various operators. Recently State Transport has started a new service between Jamnagar and Ahmedabad Airport.

Darbargadh Palace: Darbargadh (Maharajah’s palace), the old royal residence of Jam Sahib and the most important historical complex in Jamnagar, reflects the fusion of Rajput and European styles of architecture. The semi-circular palace complex consists of a number of buildings with very fine architectural features and detailing. It has some fine examples of stone carvings, wall paintings, fretwork jali-screens, ornamental mirrors, carved pillars and sculpture. The walls outside have carved jarokha balconies in the Indian tradition, a carved gate and Venetian-Gothic arches. The earthquake in 2001 caused significant damage to the Darbargadh.

Lakhota Fort: This small palace, on an island in the middle of Lakhota Lake, once belonged to the Maharaja of Nawanagar. This fort-like palace has semi-circular bastions, turrets, a pavilion with guard-rooms housing swords, powder flasks and musket loops. An arched stone bridge with a balustrade connects the Lakhota Palace with the town. Today it houses a small museum. The fort museum has a good collection of sculptures that spans a period from the 9th to the 18th century and pottery found in ruined medieval villages from the surrounding area. The museum is reached by a short causeway from the northern side of Ranmal Lake and is open daily except on Wednesdays.

The Marine National Park, the only marine sanctuary in India, is near Jamnagar, on the coral reef island of Pirotan. Jamnagar is well known for its four marble Jain temples: Vardhman Shah’s Temple, Raisi Shah’s Temple, Sheth’s Temple, and Vasupujya Swami’s Temple; all built between 1574 and 1622. The Bala Hanuman Temple in Jamnagar is also very famous and is listed in The Guinness Book of World Records for the longest continuous chanting of “Ram Dhun” (since 1 August 1964). Also in the Guinness Book of Records is the world’s largest Rotla, which weighed 63.99 kg (141 lb 1 oz) on 15 January 2005