03-01-2010 to 05-01-2010.
We left SOMNATH early in the morning at about 5 am. The children were very excited to know that our next destination is GIR NATIONAL PARK. It took about 4 hrs to reach there. We were told that the first safari will go inside at sharp 9:30 am. We were present there before time. After taking permission, we moved inside. We were full of enthusiasm and joy.
After entering the forest, we first saw a herd of Deer & Nilgai. At a distance of 500-700 meters we found two lionesses in a big cage. We thought that we would see the lions like that only but later on discovered that they were under treatment and that’s why they were provided with the shelter .Our bus was going ahead and we were trying to identify the birds and animals which we could see from our windows.
The prideof Gujrat: Asiatic Lion
At last we found a lion family roaming around the forest near a high wall. Their roar made us shivering for a moment. It was the first time that we saw lions in their own habitat. There was a high wall beyond which one more lion was roaring loudly. The forest staff had told that the some part of the forest is fenced which turned into national park. The area outside the fence is prohibited by the forest department. The area inside the fence had a limited numbers of lions and the rest were outside the fence. The other lion was provoking the lion which was outside.
We stayed there in bus for about 15-20 minutes and took a lot of photographs and captured videos. It was a great opportunity for us to know about the life of lions, their habitat and their daily activities. The forest department has made proper arrangement of the surrounding for their survival. They had wind mills for pumping underground water giving rise to an artificial pond.
The lion family was sitting under the tree shadow and were resting, but the lion was roaring out on other Lion. It seemed like he was threatening him not to dare to enter his territory. It seems that doing this is a part of his routine. And he was busy in this job all the time throughout our safari.
After the safari we moved to the wildlife museum outside forest’s boundary. The museum had all the information related to each & every animal present in Gir forest. After that we took some rest in the park of Gir campus and enjoyed the lunch offered by the army personnel. In the mean time we organized a quiz related to Jamnagar. Every group was desperate to win the quiz. After having that great experience, we moved toward the NCC camp,
The Army had made the arrangement for our stay in Junagarh. As we were about to reach, our bus broke down. From there we were loaded in a truck and finally reached our destination at about 4pm.
As soon as we reached there we were served with delicious GUJRATI SAMOSA and hot tea as refreshment. We were pleased to see that perfect arrangement done for us. We spent rest of our day enjoying, playing, having group activities & attending quiz.
Next day after having breakfast, we attended a short briefing on NCC delivered by Havaldar Rakesh Pandey.
NCC BRIEFING
Next, we moved for our next destination “JUNAGARH FORT”. We reached there in 1 hour. We hired a guide named Mr.Vinod. He explained all the facts & stories about that fort. The fort has 8 places to visit mainly BUDDHA CAVES, ADI CHHADI KI BAVADI, DEEP WELL, RANI KA MAHAL, GRAIN STORE etc.
BUDDHA CAVES: It is the place where Monks used to meditate there.
RANI KA MAHAL: Rani Ranak Devi spent more of her time over there. The guide reminded us all history related to that place. We captured many snaps of that beautiful historical place.
On one side of “Rani Ka mahal” we were able to see the great GIRNAR HILL.
GIRNAR HILL
The special fact about the GIRNAR HILL is that if we rotate its snap by 900 anticlockwise it acquiresss the face of LORD SHIVA.
On one side of “Rani Ka mahal” we were able to see the great GIRNAR HILL.
It is said that two girls namely Ari and Chari sacrificed themselves to bring the water in a Bawadi(well). Thereafter the king named the place after the two girls and it is called “Ari Chari ki Bawadi”.
After that we saw an underground grain storage house from ancient times, which was used by the people in hard times. In olden times it was covered in such a way that enemies should not come to know about its location. Neem leaves and cow-dung was used to protect the grains from pesticides.
Now our next destination was BIBI KA MAQBARA. In about one hour, we reached there. We were stunned to see the beautiful architecture of that building but at the same time we felt very bad due to the negligence of Archeological Department of India .The building there needed its repair, however the caretaker told us that some amount of money is being given for renovation of Maqbara but still no steps are being taken. The care taker explained about the historical importance of that Maqbara .On its right side another building was there which resembles ‘The Taj Mahal‘. It is also famous as Mini Taj Mahal. Still no steps are being taken for maintenance.
The Makbara was made by Mohammed Khanji II in the memory of his mother. On the left side of Maqbara a beautiful mosque was made.
MINI TAJMAHAL ARCHITECTURE OF BIBI KA MAQBARA
After that we moved to have our lunch arranged at NCC camp by army people. There we had our lunch and took some rest. We were pleased to hear that we would able to see Ashoka’s rock edicts. It was a great experience and we found ourselves a bit in Ashoka’s dynasty. There was a huge rock on which something was inscribed which we couldn’t understand. Later we came to know that it was written in Pali language (Brahmi script) used in the Ashoka’s and Scandgupta’s dynasty. We were able to understand the message written on that rock from the boards placed near that rock with all the messages in English.
INSCRIBED ROCKS
We were fortunate that we had gone such rare places having historical importance as well as wonderful charm. We were very grateful to our Swamy sir, Arun Mamgain sir who were in contact with us for each and every hour, to give us such a wonderful opportunity and last but not least god who brought us under the supervision of our Swamy sir and Chinni madam.
THANKS A LOT TO EVERYONE FOR THEIR CO-OPERATION.
