Jamnagar

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Jamnagar
Jamnagar Location of Jamnagar in Gujarat and India
Country	India
State	Gujarat
District(s)	Jamnagar
Mayor	Kanaksinh Jadeja
Population	447,734 (2001[update])
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Codes • Pincode • 361 xxx • Telephone • +288 • Vehicle • GJ-10

Jamnagar (Gujarati: જામનગર) is a city and a municipal corporation in Jamnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. The city was built up substantially by Maharaja Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji in the 1920s, when the district was known as Nawanagar. The district lies just to the south of the Gulf of Kutch. Jamnagar has shot to prominence as Reliance Industries, India's largest private company, established the world's largest refinery near Moti Khavdi village.^[1] It is also home to Essar Oil, another important oil refinery of India.^{[citation needed]} The city is also known for featuring India’s only Ayurvedic university.

History

Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji

Jamnagar, historically called Nawanagar or the new city, was one of the most important princely states of saurashtra.^{[citation needed]} The Jamnagar district, originally constituted as Halar district, is not only recent in its origin but also in its modern set up. But the region comprised therein is of great antiquity and dates back to ancient periods of Jamnagar. According to Pauranik literature, Lord Krishna established his kingdom at Dwarka, now in Jamnagar district, after his migration from Mathura and it is to this great Yadava race that the Jams of Nawanagar trace their descent.

One of the gaav walis of Jamnagar is studyin in nationals. The founder of the princely state of Jamnagar was the Jam Rawal, who descended on the northern coast of Kathiawar in 1535 A.D. Jam Rawal's father Jam Lakhaji ruled in Terabanu in Kutch.

According to bardic chronicles, Jam Lakhaji had two cousins Tamachi Deda and Hamirji Jadeja, they envied his reputation for valor. Their envy was heightened by the fame of Jam Lakhaji at the siege of Pawagadh. So largely did he contribute to its capture by Bahadurshah, the Emperor of Gujarat, that he was bestowed 12 villages by him. As Jam Lakaji was going to take possession of his new fief, he was treacherously killed by his cousins Tamachi Deda and Hamirji Jadeja. Jam Lakhajis son Jam Rawal escaped and on growing up, took vengeance of his father's murder in the same manner by killing Hamirji Jadeja.

Hamirjis two sons Khengarji and Sahibji fled to Delhi and after twelve months of waiting to meet the moghul Emperor Humayun, they got the chance to join the crowd going along with the Emperor for lion hunting.

During the lion hunt, they got the chance to kill the lion just when it was going to attack the Emperor. As a reward, an army of 1,00,000 was sent with them to regain back their kingdom.

When Jam Rawal heard of the two princes coming back to the Kutch with the imperial army, he started getting ready for the battle. On one night, Goddess Ashapura came in his dream and told him that as he had broken the oath taken on her name about not killing Hamirji, even though, he was the person responsible for the death of his father. She should have punished him, but as he had at all other times honored her. So he should no longer dwell in Kutch but cross the sea and take Kathiawar as a dwelling place.

Upon awakening he called his counselors and discussed the dream, they agreed that he must leave Kutch and found for himself a Kingdom across the Gulf. So Jam Rawal along with his soldiers and many traders marched out. On the way he killed and conquered the territory of King Tamachi the other conspirator in the killing of his father, and he also conquered the town of Dhrol and its dependencies and gave them to his brother Hardholji, who was later killed in battle during that period, and the State of Dhrol was given to his eldest son, Jasoji.

Thus Jam Rawal made himself master of a great territory and the need for a capital arose. The story goes like this, that once on a hunting trip on the land of present day Jamnagar, a hare was found to be brave enough to turn on the hunting dogs and putting them to flight. Deeply impressed by this, Jam Rawal thought that if this land can breed such hares, if his capital was built on this land, the men born here would be superior than other men.

He counsulted his astrologers and wise men, and the day chosen for laying the foundation stone was the 7th day of the bright half of the month of srawan, VS 1956. (August 1540 AD) on the banks of two rivers Rangmati and Nagmati and named it Nawanagar meaning new town. Nawanagar eventually came to be known as Jamnagar meaning the town of the Jams. A famous statement for people of Jamnagar is "java dhyo ne" means "let go".

Geography

Jamnagar is located at 22°28′N 70°04′E / 22.47°N 70.07°E / 22.47; 70.07 It has an average elevation of 20 metres (65 ft). Jamnagar has a lake called Lakhota lake which is very popular in the world.

Demographics

At the 2001 India census^[2], Jamnagar had a population of 447,734. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Jamnagar has an average literacy rate of 70%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 75%, and female literacy is 63%. In Jamnagar, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Culture

Most residents of Jamnagar are Gujarati and speak Gujarati language. A small percentage speak Kachchi language which is written in the Gujarati script but is not mutually intelligible with Gujarati. Kathiawadi Language (which is a variant of Gujarati) is widely used for day to day communication. Major communities include Dawoodi Bohras Satvara (Dalvadi), Ahirs (Yadav), Patels, Bhanushalis, Rajputs (Darbars), Mers, Jains, Lohanas etc.

Marine National Park, the only marine sanctuary of 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 were built between 1574 and 1622. Bala Hanuman temple in Jamnagar is also very famous and is listed in the Guinness book of world records for the continuous chanting of "Ram Dhun" since 1 August 1964.

Religion

Jamnagar contains several ancient and archeologially important temples,^{[citation needed]} such as Sidhnath Mahadev Temple in Jamnagar city area, the Navlakha Temple in Ghumli, Kileshwar Temple in Barda Hills, The Ancient Sun Temple at Gop and The Ancient Bhid Bhanjan Temple built by the Jams. Bala Hanuman is highly venerated among the devotees of Rama.^{[citation needed]} The Bala Hanuman Temple is noted for the continuous chanting of the mantra "Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram". Started on 1 August 1964, the chant continues for 24 hours a day, in shifts, and is still continuing. This has earned the temple a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.^{[citation needed]}

There are many Shiv Temples within the city, such as Badri kedar Nath and Nilkanth Mahadev Temle around the Town Hall and the Kashi Vishwanath Temple on the K.V. Road. 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 were built between 1574 and 1622.

Economy

Jamnagar is today known as 'Oil City' because the world's biggest refinery complex belonging to Reliance Industries and a smaller one belonging to Essar Oil are located in Jamnagar. It was earlier known as 'Brass City', the city housing more than 5,000 large scale and 10,000 small scale units manufacturing brass items in and around the industrial estates of Shankar Tekari, Udhyognagar, M P Shah Udhyognagar and Dared.^{[citation needed]} Nearly 200 tons of brass goods are produced in this area daily.^{[citation needed]}

The Jamnagar Refinery is a private sector crude oil refinery owned by Reliance Industries Limited in Jamnagar, India. The refinery was commissioned on 14 July 1999 with an installed capacity of 661,000 barrels per day (105,100 m³/d). It is the largest greenfield refinery in the world and third largest refinery in the world.^{[citation needed]} The refinery is currently undergoing massive expansion, scheduled for commissioning in 2008, that will double its capacity to 1.2 million barrels per day (190,000 m³/d).^{[citation needed]}

According to an article in the April 28, 2008 issue of FORTUNE Magazine, the world-class Reliance Industries oil refinery at Jamnagar will output 1.2 million gallons of gasoline, or 5% of the world's capacity, after an expansion is completed in December 2008. The expansion was begun in October 2005 and is managed by San Francisco-based Bechtel Corporation. The expanded refinery consumes an area equal to 1/3 the size of Manhattan. The refinery is advanced in that it can process a wide range of crude oils, including heavy high-sulpher sour crude, which many refineries can not handle. Reliance Industries has said that the refinery's output is for export only, and will not be sold domestically within India. Reliance is targeting the U.S. market for gasoline and the European market for diesel. The refinery is owned by Reliance's Reliance Petroleum Ltd. unit, in which U.S. oil company Chevron Corp. has a 5% stake. (also see article in the Friday, December 26, 2008 issue of the Wall Street Journal)

Jamnagar to its credit also have base stations of all three wings of Defence. Indian Air Force, Indian Army & Indian Navy all the three wings have their training and big bases. Geographically Jamnagar supports all the arms of the defence as it has got sea for Indian Navy and strong Air Base including Army due to strategic location close to Pakistan. The City has one of the best world class All weather Intermediate Sea port; Bedi Port; just seven kilometres away, through this port the Export & Import of various merchandise takes place. According to the recent figures available from the local Port Office the In the year 2007-2008 exports were 3,912,402 metric tons & imports 1,388,181 Metric Tons.; i.e., total 5,300,583 metric tons. The major commodity that has exported from this Port is , Bauxite, Soya Meal extraction, Ground nut extraction, and various other extractions, etc., while the import consist of Coal, Fertilizers, etc. Due to the locationnal advantage with respect to the vast hinder land compromising of Central & North, India, and also due to proximity to the Gulf countries gives Jamnagar a status of most favored Port among the exporters & Importers. This is also one of the main reasons which encouraged the Reliance Group to set-up their Grass root petro-refining unit and other subsidiary Industries. At present, Reliance Group has developed their own Port Terminal facility at Sikka.

Jamnagar is also famous for its Bandhni clothes. Approximately 10% population of Jamnagar earnes from the such business. Bandhni in Jamnagar is tradition. Jamnagar is also exporting the such bandhnies to outside the India.

Place of Interest

Mandvi Tower located in Central Jamnagar

Darbargadh Palace
Darbargadh (Maharajah's palace), the old royal residence of Jam Sahebs and the most important historical complex in Jamnagar, reflects the fusion of Rajputs and European style 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, has caused significant damage to the Darbargadh.

Lakhota Fort
This small palace, on an island in the middle of the 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 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 to18th 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.

Willingdon Crescent
The impressive Willingdon crescent was constructed by Jam Ranjit Singh, inspired by his European journey. It comprises arcades of cusped arches, larger on the ground floor and smaller on the upper storey, pilasters on the curving walls, and balusters on the parapet. The statue of Jam Saheb is situated in the centre of the crescent. Gujarat Earthquake in 2001 has caused only a slight damage to this shopping area.

Pratap Vilas Palace
The beautiful Pratap Vilas Palace, built during the rule of His Royal Highness Jam Ranjitsinhji, is a distinct place to visit for a variety of reasons. It has European architecture with Indian carvings that give it a totally distinct appeal. It was built as a mimic of Victoria Memorial Building of Calcutta but the domes built on it are according to Indian architecture, out of which 3 domes are made of glass. Carvings of creepers, flowers, leaves, birds and animals on the columns make the palace lively. Damage in the 2001 earthquake has caused a costly loss of some parapets, and the separation of some upper walls at the roof level in some corners. Timings : 10 am to 5 pm.

Kotha Bastion
The Kotha Bastion is Jamnagar's prize possession. It has a fine collection of sculptures, coins, inscriptions and copper plates and the skeleton of a whale. One of its most interesting sights is an old well where the water can be drawn by blowing into a small hole in the floor.

Dhanvantri Mandir (Ayurvedic University)
Dhanvantri Mandir was built under the personal supervision of Dr. Pranjivan Manekchand Mehta, Chief Medical Officer of Guru Govindsingh Hospital. After independence it gained the status of Ayurveda University. It has a good library, workshop and been a place of research and international seminars on Ayurveda- an ancient Indian medicinal system.

Solarium
Also known as the Ranjit Institute of Poly-Radio Therapy, the Solarium was built by Jam Shri Ranjitsinhji during his rule by bringing in an expert from France. This slowly revolving tower provides full daylong sunlight for the treatment of skin diseases. With the destruction of two similar solaria in France during World War II, this is probably now the only one of its kind in the world, and certainly in Asia. It is open to visitors after working hours.

Bhujio Kotho
Bhujio Kotho enjoys a distinct place among the tourists because of its height and circumference. It is on the bank of the Lakhota Tank, near Khambholiya Gate. This monument having five floors was believed to be constructed for protection during the invasions. On the first floor there are guns placed in each directions and in the walls, holes are made to place the rifles. On the upper floor a tank is constructed to store water and on its peak a dancing peacock is placed. Timings : 10 am to 5 pm.

Bohra Hajira
The Bohra Hajira is also worth a visit, on entring Jamnagar city by road on the Rajkot Highway, one can see this Magnificient Structure on the banks of the river. Permission has to be taken before visiting the place. Many years back boats used to sail in this Rangmati & Nagmati rivers, but presently the water level is very less and many a times this rivers dry up and the river bed is used for hosting the Shravan Month Fairs

Temples

Bala Temple near Lakhota

Mota Ashapura Maa Temple

The Godess (Kuldevi) of the Jadeja clan of Rajputs who ruled this place. The temple is located in the east part of Jamnagar from where the entrance (Gate) to the city and its close to Darbargadh in old city area.

Shantinath Mandir
Shantinath Mandir is situated, south-west of Bedi Gate, in Jamnagar. The temple has intricate carvings and the walls are adorned with fine murals, which depict the life of Jain saints. The floor is made of marble and decorated with distinctive Jain patterns in yellow, black, white and red.

Vardhman Shah’s Temple
Vardhman Shah’s Temple is a delightful shrine and one of the four main Jain temples in Jamnagar. The foundation stone of this shrine was laid in 1612, during the reign of Jam Jasaji I and was completed in the year 1620. Fifty two very small temples or ‘Deri’ were built around the temple in 1622.

Bala Hanuman Temple
The Bala Hanuman Temple is on the south-eastern side of Ranmal Lake. The temple is famous for the continuous 24-hour chanting of the mantra 'Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram', since August 1, 1964. This devotion has earned Bala Hanuman Temple a place in the Guinness Book of Records. Thousands of devotees visit the temple every year. Early evening is particularly a good time to visit the temple.

Parks and Gardens

Khijadia Bird Sanctuary
Khijadia Bird Sanctuary, located 10 km north east of Jamnagar, represents the combination of seasonal freshwater shallow lake, inter-tidal mudflats, creeks, saltpans, saline land and mangrove scrub. The place is a known breeding ground of the Great Crested Grebe. Apart from it, Little Grebe, Purple Moorhen, Coot, Black-winged Stilt and Pheasant-tailed Jacana are also recorded breeding here. Raptors, including harriers, eagles, hawks and falcons are also spotted here. The sanctuary also shelters migratory birds such as swallows, martins, wagtails and various waterfowls. It is considered as an important site for ecological research and education.

Marine National Park
India's first marine sanctuary, the park is situated almost 16 nautical miles away in Great Arabian Sea near Jamnagar and spreads over an area of about 458 km². Located at about 7 km from the city centre, the park comprises an archipelago of 42 islands noted for their coral reefs and mangroves. It is possible to see dolphins, finless porpoise and sea turtles and a variety of colourful tropical fish. The entire forest have various marine lives. The area also attracts a host of water birds. The best period to visit is October to March. Read more details..

Rozi and Bedi Ports
Rozi and Bedi are two prominent ports along the shores of the mighty Arabian Sea. These attractive seaside picnic spots offer excellent facilities for fishing and angling.

Cremation Park
Cremation park is situated 10 minutes north of the city centre. The park holds statues of saints and deities, as well as scenes from the Ramayana. This is an interesting place to visit. The circle of life showing the stages in life of man is also thought evoking.

Jogger's Park
This is the new garden in the city a botanical one is their in the new and modern city area on Palace Road. It is very much used by the daily walkers and joggers of the western part of city area.

Entertainment

Jamnagar has a Multiplex cinema, near Samarpan hospital called Mehul-Cinemax which is now Adlabs (Big Cinema) the ADAG Group Venture into the entertinment industry. Also have a centrally airconditioned Townhall for local cultural programmes and shows and also for drama.^{[citation needed]}

Sports

Very famous sports is cricket.Jamnagar gave mnay test cricketers to India. They all were great cricketers of their time. They are Prince Ranjitsinhji and his nephew Prince Duleepsinhji, Vinu Mankad, Salim Durrani, Indrajitsinhji and Ajay Jadeja. A new and emerging cricketer Ravindra Jadeja also belongs to Jamnagar.

The prestigious Ranji and Duleep trophy of India are in the memory of princes of Jamnagar. The first Indian to play International Cricket was from Jamnagar. Salim Durrani had a great role in the match, which led to first victory of India over West Indies. The first cricketer to win Arjuna award, Durrani is from Jamnagar and still lives there And currently Ravindra Jadeja the upcoming cricekter who is also from Jamnagar.

An Indian Airlines Airbus A320, taxiing away for departure.

External links

• Tourist information about Jamnagar
• Jamnagar Transport
• All info of Jamnagar
• Jamnagar formally known as Nawanagar
• NavaNagarNa NarBanka and RajSattaNa Rang - Books exploring History of Jamnagar

References

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