State of Gujarāt, India — Towns & Travel Guide

What is State of Gujarāt known for?

Gujarat is known for its stepped wells and Jain temples, for the Asiatic Lion that survives here, and for a commercial tradition that has shaped its towns and cities for generations. Its coastline is the longest in India. Older than any of these are Lothal and Dholavira.

Both sit among the earliest cities of the Harappan civilisation, which grew across the region thousands of years ago.

Where is State of Gujarāt?

Gujarat occupies the western edge of India, in the tropics, along the Arabian Sea. Its coastline is the longest of any Indian state, and most of it curls around the Kathiawar peninsula, a broad rounded landmass that juts into the sea at the state's heart. Kutch reaches into the far west.

The Arabian Sea runs along the western shore. By area, Gujarat ranks as the fifth-largest state in India, a large block of the country's western flank. Inland, Gujarat shares long land borders on three sides.

Rajasthan lies to the northeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and Maharashtra along the southeast. The small territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu sit to the south, while across the far west the Pakistani province of Sindh presses against the state's border. Two cities anchor the interior.

Ahmedabad and the capital, Gandhinagar, are the main centres, and the ancient sites of Lothal and Dholavira lie near them, Lothal beside Ahmedabad and Dholavira out toward Kutch. Between the coast and the inland border, the land carries the towns and countryside of the Gujaratis, who are native to the state.

What is State of Gujarāt like?

Gujarat takes its identity from the Gujaratis, who are native to the state and speak Gujarati. The Gujarati language carries the region's own name and runs through its trade, its markets, and its daily life. Commerce sits close to the centre of that culture.

Gujaratis have long been associated with business and enterprise, and the mercantile habit shows in the old trading towns of the coast and interior. Jain communities have long shaped that trading world, and their temples rise across Gujarat's towns. Faith and craft leave their mark across the state.

Jain temples stand among the most striking of Gujarat's religious buildings, and the stepped wells, sunk deep to reach water, are a form of architecture the region made its own. Older layers run beneath all of this. The Harappan cities of Lothal and Dholavira show that people built and traded here thousands of years ago, in one of the region's earliest civilisations.

That old commercial character, shaped over centuries, still marks the place. The Asiatic Lion, which survives here in the wild, has become a further emblem of the state.

What is the history of State of Gujarāt?

Gujarat's history reaches back to the Harappan civilisation, whose cities of Lothal and Dholavira stood on this ground more than four thousand years ago. Trade ran through them early. The land has belonged to the Gujaratis for generations, and their commercial life shaped its towns across the centuries.

The modern state took its present form in 1960, drawn as a Gujarati-speaking state within India.

What is the climate of State of Gujarāt?

Gujarat has a tropical climate, hot through much of the year and split between a dry season and a wet one. The Arabian Sea moderates the long coast and the Kathiawar peninsula, where damp sea air drifts inland and softens the worst of the heat. Inland, away from the sea, the air runs drier and the days hotter.

The wet season greens the land. Along the shore, the sea sets the rhythm of the year.

How do you get to State of Gujarāt?

Most travellers reach Gujarat through Ahmedabad, the largest city and the main point of arrival. Overland routes cross in from the neighbouring states. Roads and rail run down from Rajasthan in the northeast, across from Madhya Pradesh in the east, and up from Maharashtra in the southeast.

The Arabian Sea coast opens the state to shipping and the wider trade of western India. The cities lie within easy reach.