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Porbandar – for Indians, the name
immediately evokes vision of Mahatma Gandhi, one of the world’s
most inspirational men, born here in the late 19th
century. But the actual history of Porbandar goes back many
centuries before the birth of Gandhi….
Porbandar was a historic port of the Jetwa Rajputs,
a dynasty that ruled vast areas of the Kathiawad peninsula for
approximately 2000 years. The dynasty faced a number of problems
including the invasion of the Jadeja Rajputs who defeated them in
battle in the late 16th and early 17th century.
The Jetwa came back to power in the 1630s, when the Jamsaheb of
Nawanagar (present day Jamnagar) granted them Ranpur, which they made
their capital. From here, they moved to Chaya a short distance from
Porbandar, which then became their capital.
By the 18th century, the Jetwas finally
settled at Porbandar, which occupied a unique position as a port
city. It was strategically situated south of the ports of Nawanagar
and Kutch state, and north of Veeraval in Junagadh state and
historically had traded with Arabian Gulf and African countries. The
creamy coloured stone of Porbandar had been a major export in days
gone by and has been used in many of the Victorian period buildings
of Bombay and Karachi. The skilled artisans of Porbandar were
experts at making dhows (boats) by hand, and gave birth to an
industry of building ocean going vessels.
In the early 19th century, the British
brough peace of Saurashtra through the Walker Treaty. Peace reigned
and this was the time for the Jetwa rulers to start developing
Porbandar. Rajmata Rupaliba created a fresh water reservoir in
Porbandar in the 1850s. Separate schools for boys and girls were
built in 1865 AD, as were a post office and other services. The old
fort walls were pulled down to enlarge the city and a town hall,
railway station, light house and Jubilee Bridge were erected in the
1880s.
The Gandhi family were the hereditary Diwans of
Porbandar. On 2nd October, 1869 AD, Karamchand Gandhi who
held the post in the 1860s had a son, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
Karamchand Gandhi, however, moved to Rajkot, where Gandhiji spent his
school days, later going to university at Bhavnagar, and then
traveling to England and South Africa, where he was inspired to take
up the cause of Justice and truth. But Mahatma Gandhi was not the
only mahatma associated with Porbandar. Swami Vivekanand had done
much of his research in Porbandar, and Rabindranath Tagore visited
the city for a considerable period in his younger days in 1923 AD.
Maharana Bhav Sinhji, who came to the throne at the
turn of the century proved to be a progressive ruler and, during his
reign, introduced wide ranging reforms, that resulted in the rapid
progress of Porbandar. He patronized various arts, commissioned
bridges, roads, reservoir, institutions and projects to convert the
salt marshes into fresh water sources and built a sea shore palace,
the Daria Rajmahal. Bhav Sinhji’s son, HH Natvar Sinhji, began
the modernization of Porbandar on a grand scale. He was patron of
Indian literature, music and the nationalist movement. Natvar Singh
was a greater cricketer, he was the first to lead Indian in test
cricket and in 1946 started the Duleep school of Cricket, one of the
best in Asia. He encouraged artists like Kher and various poets and
in later years started a nationalist movement for promoting Indian
literature at a time when most Indian princes prided themselves on
promoting English. He built another seaside palace – the Huzoor
Palace, which is rather appropriately like a cricket pavilion with
views of the Arabian sea. “It stands in the most magnificent
position, overlooking a lake with hills all round and a view over the
plain towards the sea,” said William Barton, a political officer
from Britain, who stayed in one of the sea shore Palaces, “in
the monsoon it must be like one of the Italian lakes”, and in
the words of Charles Andrews, an English disciple of Gandhiji, “it
becomes a vision of glory at sunset, then the slanting rays beat upon
it, turning it’s pinnacles and turrets into gold”
After a long drive from Ahmedabad on National
highway 8 B, we entered Porbandar and found it to be every bit as
picturesque as we had imagined. The city is bisected in half by a
massive creek, and interspersed with coastal and fresh water marshes.
We entered Porbandar, stopping en route to see the Arya Kanya
Gurukul, a girl’s school which is reviving ancient principles of
teaching, and the Bharat Mandir which has a marble map of India on
the floor, intricate images of Hindu gods ad goddesses a carved in
relief on the pillars and paintings of deities in a rather comic book
style. We then crossed Jubilee Bridge to enter the city. Soon, as
we headed out for the beach, looming in front of us could be seen the
Huzoor Place, a massive structure rather like a European mansion,
sprawling in a large garden at the very edge of the sea. The palace
has various wings in a zig-zag formation, which created numerous
forecourts and rear courtyards for gardens and fountains. The
structure is in a very modern style, crowned by trussed timber roofs
and balustraded terraces offering fabulous views of the beach and the
sea. Semi-circular porticoes on neo-classical pillars offer entry to
the palace from different sides.
Huge chandeliers and crystal balls light up the dining and drawing
areas, some of which have colourful Italian tiles, fine furniture,
paintings, decorations and old fireplaces. The reception is through
an office and hall hung with portraits of the royal family and
historic photographs of weddings, events, gatherings, a lion shoot in
Gir and the family. The old reception hall has a Gir Lion and
European statutory leading to a massive wooden staircase with slim
carved balusters, illuminated by crystal lamps in brass coloured
stands, connected by internal wiring and concealed switchboards to
ensure the beauty of the staircase is not marred by exposed wiring.
The games room has marine paitings by Juan Couver and a billiard
table. Another hallway has a piano, reminiscent of the days when
Natvar Sinhji composed European music, patronized music, patronized
artists and
took an interest in architectural designs. The zenana
(women’s wing) has silver banquet halls and galleries. The
historic library has huge mahogany coloured cabinets housing works by
European and Indian writers. Natvar Sinhji later started a
nationalist movement, and one of his efforts was the encouragement of
vernacular literature and, as a result, the palace has as fine has as
fine a collection of Gujarati works. The main drawing room, which
once worked as a reception for important guests, has a beautiful
fountain as the centerpiece.
A short walk from the Huzoor Palace, brought us to Daria Rajmahal,
Probandar’s sea facing city palace, in a style that blends
Arabic, Indian, Gothic and Renaissance architecture. The entrance is
through a Gothic Style archway, crowned by a tall tower that offers
stupendous views of the palace courtyards, the beaches beyond the
courtyard and the sea. The centre of the palace is a courtyard with
a garden, fountains and galleries. Around the courtyard rises the
multi-storeyed palace, tiers of arches and heavily embellished
facades rising up to the terrace with it’s imposing balusters.
The palace has now been turned into a college, and nothing remains of
the Darbar hall, which was famous for it’s oil paintings on
canvas depicting various Indian scenes and rows of chandeliers
interspersed with cut-crystal balls to give the hall a dazzling
effect. The living quarters of the Maharana and his family, the
halls that once hosted great dinners and parties and the darbar where
audiences were held, are now classrooms, libraries, offices and
assembly halls. From the seaward side, the palace look like an
Italian villa. Bhav Sinhji also built the impressive Huzoor court
further into town with fabulous domes and imposing arches.
But the prime reason for the importance of Porbandar is that it is
the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi. We wound our way with great
difficulty through busy streets lined with imposing mansions of the
Parsee business men, old wood carved havelis (mansions),
remains of old palaces and crowded bazaars selling silk, cotton
textile, gold and silver ornaments and food stuff, before reaching
Kirti Mandir. The mid 19th century haveli of the Gandhi
family has 3 storeys around a courtyard with a kitchen, 17 rooms and
a wooden shrine. Next to the haveli is Kirti Mandir, built in 1950
by Nanjibhai Kalidas as a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi. The monument
to Gandhi has paintings of the Mahatma and Kasturbha, whom he married
at the age of 13 and with whom he spent 62 years of his life. The
work was done by Kher, the painter patronized by the Maharanas.
There is a moving photographic and pictorial display of the life of
the Mahatma and his struggle for India’s freedom, a library of
books related to the Mahatma’s life and philosophies as well as
imposing domes rather like those of a temple.
Walking down from Kirti Mandir, we came to Darbargadh Palace,
built in 1784 AD by Maharana Sartanji in the typical wood and stone
carved style of Gujarat. A greater example of the architecture of
this period is the Grishmabhuvan, a pleasure pavilion, with
impressive domes, exquisite pillars and delicate arches, set in a
pleasant garden. This pavilion, called Sartanji Choro, for it’s
four part representing different seasons, was Sartanji’s refuge
from the crowds of Porbandar. This is where he wrote poetry and
retired to read. Sea breezes probably wafted into the pavilion on
the 3rd storey, with cusped arches and stone columns so
intricately carved they resemble wood. Now unfortunately a plethora
of modern buildings has blocked any views and breezes from the sea.
But for me, Porbandar will always remain the city of birds, a true
paradise for birdwatchers. With Bharat Raghurani and Kishore Joshi,
two reputed nature photographers of Porbandar, we headed out for the
creeks where birds co-exist in great numbers with a growing
population of industries like cement factories, oil exploration ad
refinery projects and chemical factories. Egrets and herons peopled
the mangrove marshes, huge flocks of shore birds like the
oysteracatchers, turnstone, sandpipers, stints, stilts, plovers and
sanderlings assembled in spectacular flocks at sandy shores to feed
on beached marine life when the tide turned and incredibly large
numbers of terns and gulls wheeled, milled and circled, like a group
of confused motorists around the fisheries of Jhavar. The highlight
of Porbandar is flamingoes, and great flocks of the, both greater and
lesser flamingoes can be seen at remarkably close range at the
coastal marshes, oblivious of the roar of trucks, the honking of
cars, the noise of industries and the raucous cries of children
playing cricket near the coast!
After 20 minutes of driving away from the city centre, we came to
Kuchdi on the Porbandar-Dwarka coastal highway. There is marsh here
as well, and we could see traceries of demoiselle and common eastern
cranes in flocks of several thousand each returning from the fields
silhouetted buy the setting sun, flamingoes that seemed to grow even
more pink in the warm glow of sunset, ducks of at least 10 species
including winter migrants from the north, pelicans, spoonbills, black
and glossy ibises and numerous wading birds. The sea beach at
Kuchdi, besides shore birds, had a treasury of marine life, specially
an array of crabs and se shells, and a Shiva temple protected by the
archaeological Survey of India said to date around the 11-12th
century.
“Porbandar is a heaven for birdwatchers and bird
photographers. We often tell photographer-friends not to waste
precious film,” Bharat enthuses, “as they get excited and
start shooting excessively, and run out of film, not realizing there
is more to see and photograph ahead! A marsh in Porbandar has been
declared a bird sanctuary, but after permission was given to build a
school and road nearby, the water level has gone very high and not
many wading birds can be seen except in late winter. Ironically
enough, there are more birds in other wetlands than in the sanctuary
now!”
In the morning, we basked in the warmth of the sun as it skimmed
the chill from the winter breezes, and then headed out for a walk
along the sea coast. Locals and tourists had gathered on the beaches
for their morning stroll and swim. Fisherfolk were bringing in their
catches. At the old harbours, expert craftsmen were engrossed in
making magnificent dhows (boats) without using any modern
equipment but a measuring tape.
The marine restaurant offers morning tea and snacks with good
views of the ships and boats in the harbour.
Porbandar, however, is not an end in itself. The next morning, we
left for a 30 minute drive from Porbandar on the road to Jamnagar
and, nestled in the Barda hills, rugged peaks covered with forests,
we found the Khambala Dam, with it’s intricate decorated kiosks.
This scenic point struck Natvar Sinhji as a vantage point for a
mansion retreat.
The bungalow was named Anant Niwas, after his European wife who
has been given the Indian name of Anantkuarbha, and resembles a
European cottage. The bungalow can be entered through a huge wrought
iron gate with a monogram of the Hindu God Hanuman and a sloping path
to the portico goes past a small garden. The gardens are on various
levels, balustraded steps going down to lower lawns. The portico in
the front has steps leading to a doorway flanked by two cupids on a
dolphin. The interiors are appointed in original furniture from the
early 20th century art nouveau and art deco style, and
have art deco bathrooms to match. The Maharana’s bed room and
attached lilac bathroom, the Maharani’s room with a pink
bathroom, the guest rooms in orange, the morning tea room and the
childrens’ room with a criblike bed, are all retained in
original condition. Every room, window and gallery bring in fabulous
views of the well wooded Barda hills, and Khambala lake. On the
opposite side of the dam, is the Maharana’s private orchards of
mango and other fruits. The old orchard bungalow is now lived in by
a Nathani family that served the royal family for generations.
Maharana Natvar Sinhji died in 1983 AD. He had just one heir,
Yuvraj Udaiman Shinji who died of a heart problem. Thus ended a
clean that had seen some 2000 years of recorded history and won
honours in everything from battle to literature, music, architecture
and sports. Locals believe this to be the result of a curse by
Santokben, a woman who believed herself to be wronged in the royal
court. The palaces of Porbandar are now owned by Harendra De Silva,
the son of Bhav Sinhji’s European wife by a pervious marriage.
He practices criminal law in England.
Further down the road, we came to Ghumli which was the capital of
the Jetwas long before they moved to Porbandar. The Naulakha temple,
of Ghumli is a spectacular example of the architecture of the
8th-12th century period – the usual set up
of pyramidical shikhara roof, a pillared portico at the
entrance and a sabha mandapa or assembly hall, on a plinth.
It is considered the oldest sun temple extant in India probably built
around the 8th century. The sun temple was altered into a
Shaivite temple so that it’s original destiny as a sun temple is
almost invisible. The temple was designed so that the sun’s
rays during the equinox would light up bejeweled images of the Sun
God. Along the temple is a freize of elephant carvings. The 12th
century Vikia vav (stepwell) at Ghumli is one of the largest
stepwells in India, with numerous flights of steps leading down to
the water level though passages, string-coursed with carvings, and
impressive carved
galleries offering views of the water. You can imagine the Jetwa
kings and queens enjoying the breeze wafting from over the cool water
into the galleries of the pavilion during hot summer afternoons,
women walking down the steps to fill pots of water in a countryside
where the water level is so low that pulling up buckets is a
considerable feat, and caravans of travelers seeking refuge from the
scorching sunlight in the cool subterrenean passages by the water’s
edge… Walking around Ghumli you find Ram gate, temples, ponds
and crumbling ruins that leave no doubt about the historic
significance of the site.
Gope, 50 km north-east of Porbandar has a 6th century
temple with a sanctuary on a platform and the usual pyramidal
shikhara roof. The temple is in a terribly dilapidated condition
but is one of the earliest to survive from this period, and one of
the first to have a roof of this design. On the way back to
Porbandar, we saw yet another historic temple – the 7th
century Shiva temple of Bileshwar, which was probably like Ghumli’s
Naulakha temple, a Surya (sun) Mandir. The temple is still a living
shrine and has been frequently renovated. Between Ghumli and
Bileshwar, we saw the Morpadgadh fort which often features in the
history of the Jetwa Rajput rulers of Porbandar and the Jadeja Rajput
rulers of Jamnagar, Perched on a rugged hill top. At the foot of the
hill are palias or funereal stones carved with images of
warriors. There are rows of 4, 20, 22 and 21 memorial stones,
signifying the importance of the fort as a site for various battles.
As we returned to Porbandar and settled for the night in the
tourist bungalow, the sun was setting in the horizon turning the
sands of the beach a beautiful golden brown.
GETTING THERE
By Air: Gujarat Airways has daily flights.
NEPC airways on Tuesday and Sunday evenings.
By Rail: Saurashtra express from Mumbai.
By Road: State transport buses operate to most of the important
centres of Gujarat. Bharat Travels and Eagle Travels have regular
private luxury bus services to Rajkot, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, Junagadh
and other cities. The bus journey to Bombay takes over 24 hours and
is not recommended.
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