In the Land of Lions
November 5, 2004.
(Bhavnagar) **
We( my younger brother Ranjit and I ) got up at 4.00 A.M. and left for Junagarh at 5.00 A.M. Driving our car on State Highway No. 25, we reached Songarh at 6.00 A.M. Situated at a distance of 30 kilometers from this place is Palitana. The temples of Palitana are considered the most sacred among the Jain temples. Situated on Shatrunjay hills, these are 863 temples carved in marble. It is said that this city of temples was made as a residence for gods and no person is allowed to stay here at night, not even the purohit or pujari. Palitana was a colony of Gohil Rajput dynasty and now it is a main place of attraction for foreign tourists visiting Gujarat. We wanted to visit these temples but due to lack of time could not do so.
These temples were constructed in 11th and 12th centuries. In 14th and 15th centuries, the Muslim invaders demolished these temples. In the present form, these temples were constructed in 16th century and later. Many followers of Jainism consider these temples more sacred than the Jain temples in Bihar, Gwalior, Girnar and Mount Abu.
It was around 6.30 A.M. when rays of light became intense, though these had become visible a bit earlier. Some early-risers, enthusiastic people were walking on the road; some girls were also walking in a group. We reached Chavand at 7.00 A.M. when the sun rose. We took breakfast in the car while driving the car. From here we traveled on SH-33. At 8.30 A.M. we passed Dhari; took video near the river bridge and enquired the road to Vishvadar, which was 34 kilometers from here, on SH-96. There were cactus plants along the road on both sides; the colour of the soil was almost black. At 10.30 am, we reached Junagarh. We went to Brahma Kumaris Rajyoga Centre, which is situated near the main entrance of the city. The sister-in-charge of that centre was on tour to Mount Abu, but the other sisters heartily welcomed us.
The sisters suggested that we should visit the temple of Sage Dattatreya situated nearby on a high hill. At 11.00 A.M., we reached the foot of the hill. We climbed 2500 stairs upto 12.30 noon. The scene of the hill is highly marvellous. There was a huge rush of tourists and devotees. The main temple was afar, so we came back from the mark of 2500 stairs because we had to proceed to Gir forest. It took us only 45 minutes to descend, almost half the time of climbing up. We were back at the BK centre. There are dense forests behind the BK centre and many times snakes come out. The sisters told us that nearly 7-8 years ago, a BK sister had died due to a snake-bite. We had lunch and then left for Gir.
We reached Shashan Gir at 3.00 P.M. and came to know that reservation had not been made in the rest house of the forest department, though Sh. J.N. Singh, Secretary, had already been requested. We decided to visit the Gir forest first. We hired a jeep jointly with a tourist from Pune, Sh. Manoj Kokade, who was accompanied by his wife and two children. We paid Rs. 500/- in total. Guide charges of Rs. 50/- were paid separately. Entry fee to this wild-life sanctuary is Rs. 90/-. Video charges were very high (Rs. 2500/-), so we decided not to take video. At 3.45 P.M. we entered the forest. The sanctuary is stretched in 1412 sq. kilometers.
In 1913 A.D., the number of lions decreased to mere 20, and then this Gir sanctuary was built in 116 sq. miles. Many routes of unmetaled road have been created for the tourists to roam around in the Gir sanctuary. The guide told us that the number of lions in the Gir is 327 and there are also leopards. On the way, we saw Chital in groups, at 8 to 10 places. We also saw Neelgai and Sambhar. Two owls and one peacock were also seen. After one and a half hour, the jeep took a halt at a picnic place, which is almost midway. There were also tourists in 5-6 other jeeps there. People were taking tea etc. and roaming around. The tourists were asking each other whether they saw the lion, and got discouraged after hearing ‘No’.
After 20 minutes, our jeep moved ahead. It was nearly 5.45 P.M.; two more jeeps were following our jeep. A driver coming from the opposite direction told us that a lion was seen nearby. We had almost lost hope after wandering for two hours, as we had not been able to see any big wild animal. The driver and the guide had told us that nearly one week ago, a lion was seen. But now we had a little hope by the information of that driver who came from the opposite direction. Our driver stopped the jeep and walked into the forest. We stopped there for 10 minutes.
Suddenly, we heard distress call of a deer, as if it was calling someone. We stood holding our breath, without any movement, hoping and waiting for a ‘vision’ of the king of the forest. Hardly 10 minutes had passed, when a lioness came on the road and sat down comfortably. Two more jeeps stopped behind our jeep and a jeep from the opposite direction also stopped. That gigantic lioness sat quietly. Two more lionesses were also seen nearby. They wandered here and there for about 10 minutes freely, without any fear. We were in an open jeep, but neither we were afraid nor was the lioness. Everybody took photos easily. Getting up quietly, she moved with a majestic gait. When we proceeded about 2-3 kilometers, another lioness was also seen, but it moved on after posing for photos.
The darkness had started spreading its net. We left Gir at 7.00 P.M. and reached Verawal around 8.00 P.M. Here we stayed in the rest house of Gujarat Tourism Development Corporation.The next morning we had planned to visit the famous Somnath Temple.
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** [A page from the diary of the year 2004 ; 54-day All India Self-Driven tour of Shri Raj Rup Fuliya, I.A.S.,in his personal car]
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