Where to Stay in Himatnagar, State of Gujarāt

What is Himatnagar known for?

Ceramic manufacturing gives Himatnagar its working identity: the town is a central site for the industry across Gujarat, with Asian Granito India, Exxaro Tiles, Sonata Tiles, and Century Tiles among the firms based here. Weighing scales are the other trade. Makers in that line have worked in the town since 1960, and Himat Vijay Printing Press, named for King Himat Singh, has been run by one family since 1931.

District government occupies the same streets, since Himatnagar is the headquarters of Sabarkantha district.

What are the main landmarks in Himatnagar?

The old fort wall, white sandstone and cement, still rings the heart of town, much ruined in parts but unbroken enough to read. Its finest stonework is the Prantij or Ahmedabad gate, and the bastions are hollow, their insides taken up by pillared rooms in two stories. Inside sits the Bhadra.

East of the small mosque by the Idar gate lies the Navlakha Kund, a long stepped pit whose stone basin fills from a perennial spring, with cloisters on three sides and a screened ladies' gallery behind the western one.

What is the history of Himatnagar?

Ahmad Shah of the Gujarat Sultanate founded the town as Ahmednagar and named it after himself, planting it here to keep the Raos of Idar State in check. Sons of the sultan left their own marks: Shamsher-ul-Mulk is credited with the Kazi ni Vavdi well of 1522, Nasar-ul-Mulk with the carved mosque above the river, and Taj-ul-Mulk with the Navlakha Kund. Idar changed hands in 1728.

The Marwar dynasty took it, Ahmednagar followed, and after Maharaja Shivsing died in 1792 his brother Sangramsing seized the town and made himself an independent chief. Karansing's death in 1835 brought the British agent Erskine to Ahmednagar to stop the queens from becoming satis, and the household negotiated with him, summoned the Bhils by night, opened the fort wall to the river bed, and burned the queens with their husband regardless. Takhtsing succeeded, later took the throne of Jodhpur State, and in 1848 the town was ruled back to Idar State.

The renaming came in 1912. Sir Pratap Singh, Maharaja of Idar, changed Ahmednagar to Himatnagar after prince Himmat Singh, and the state passed through the Mahi Kantha Agency into the Western India States Agency. Bombay State held it as Idar district after 1947, the Dungarpur district of Rajasthan administered it from 1956, and Sabarkantha district has been governed from here since 1961.

Where is Himatnagar?

Himatnagar sits against the Hathmati, whose bed runs directly below the fort's river face, where the Idar gate opens onto the water and an outwork facing north commands a view of the Idar hills. Wells cut into solid rock pit the ground, dry but well preserved. Sabarkantha district spreads out behind the town, a country of villages that look here for paperwork and onward connections.

Sapteshwar Mahadev temple stands at the Sabarmati and Debhol confluence.

What is the climate of Himatnagar?

Heat shaped the architecture here. The Navlakha Kund was cut as a hot-weather retreat, its stone basin fed by a perennial spring and its cloisters arranged so a ruler could sit out the worst of the day in shade, while the arched outwork above the Hathmati was prized for staying cool except at noon. Subtropical seasons run wet and dry rather than warm and cold.

Uttarayan, the kite festival, falls on 14 and 15 January.

How do you get to Himatnagar?

Himatnagar Junction railway station sits on the Ahmedabad-Udaipur line, worked by trains out of Asarva, Udaipur City, Dungarpur, Jaipur, and Indore. Coaches use the GSRTC Bus Depot. National Highway No.8, the Mumbai to Delhi road, runs just past the town and puts Ahmedabad roughly 78 km off, which makes the car or the bus the ordinary way in for most arrivals from elsewhere in India.

Autorickshaws and shuttles cover the rest.