Western Coastal ride [part-05]

Continuation of my previous post Western Coastal ride [part-04]

Dec 29: Woke up early morning around 4.45 and started the journey and reached Bhuj around 7.45. It was terribly chill and surprised to see a temperature of 6 Deg.

Started feeling hungry and hunted for a breakfast point. Seems that we were too early for that place. Had breakfast and proceeded towards Lakhpat.

Crossed “ Tropic of cancer” for the third time during this trip.

The roads were soo straight like an arrow and we reached Lakhpat, located at the mouth of Kori Creek – a sparsely populated Ghost town, a city of ruins of buildings and a magnificent fort enclosed by 7km long 18th-century fort walls surrounding them.

The fort entrance

The 7km round fort wall built in 18th Century..

Pir Ghaus Muhammed, a Sufi saint, is buried here. He was revered by both Hindu and Muslims. His tomb known as Kubo have fine stone carvings and flower lattice patterns.

The seaward side of the fort is guarded by Border Security Force (BSF) of India soldiers as it is not far away from international border between India and Pakistan marked in salt marsh land. There are BSF guards posted on the fort’s fortifications and the nearby Border Outpost.

Narayan Sarovar – the next place in our schedule! Started driving towards it.

Narayan Sarovar means the Lake of Narayan,  is one of the most sacred pilgrimage sites for Hindus. As per legends, one of the holy rivers of India, Sarasvati River had an out let in to sea near present day Narayan Sarovar and waters of lake were filled with holy waters of River Saraswati, that is why this place was and is still considered as one of the five holy lakes by Hindus.

Headed towards Koteswar which is a tourist-place that is situated in the Kori Creek of the Arabian Sea on the western end of Kutch just opposite to Karachi-Pakistan.Koteshwar is name of an ancient Shiva temple located at the western tip of India, situated on a high plinth overlooking the sea. Koteshwar Temple is the last outpost of human construction at the westernmost limit of India, is the breaking point of the skyline from the flat brown horizon to the east and the wide blue horizon to the west.

From this point, the glow of light from Karachi, Pakistan can be seen in a clear night. It is an excellent sunset point.

Koteshwar at present shows us a few signs of its former greatness. It stands as amazing on the sea-shore, rising courageously from the sea that washes its western parts and temples are enclosed by prepared walls, the gate approached by three flights of steps.

The last bridge on the western tip of India…

The last light house in the western tip of India…

Koteshwar, as such, once was an ancient port and now is a fishing village more famous for the Koteshwar Shiva Temple, which stands here.

Our final destination for the day is Jamnagar. Started around 2.45PM from Koteshwar, we reached Jamnagar at 9PM. Crashed in the beds as we were tired.

Source: Wikipedia

[ To be continued]