I visited Navlakha Temple an interesting ancient ruin temple site in Gujarat in a small village named
Sejakpur, near Sayla, in Kathiawar now known as Saurashtra.

Navlakha is an unique Temple which was lying in ruins for centuries. It was built during the Solanki period when they ruled Gujarat in the 11th / 12^th century. This temple has more idols of carved out then I have seen in any temple of India. It has an unusually high number of pillars inside and outside the temple. All the pillars of the temple are fully carved out using every inch of space. Sadly all the faces of the gods and goddess are broken. Strangely no details are available as to when and who destroyed it. The Archaeological Survey of India better known as ASI, has worked for years to put the temple back in a restored state.

It’s worth a visit for those who love to see ancient sites. One can visit this place anytime of the year. I stayed at this Indo European place known as The Bell Guest House, a HOME STAY in Sayla, a Princely State, on way to Rajkot from Vadodara or Ahmedabad. This place is just off the national highway junction at Sayla also known as “Bhagat nu Gaam”.  BELL GUEST HOUSE is a home away from your home. The food served is cooked as per ones choice. The rooms are cozy with a natural habitat all around. One can spot many birds just sitting in the veranda. The flora and fauna is very different. One can site Blue Bulls and Black bucks in the open lands nearby. One can also spot wild boars too. Yuvraj  Somrajsingh  Pravinsingh  Jhala of Sayla would be your host. This wonderful heritage home stay stands since the late 1800.

300 acres donated by the Thakore Saheb of Sayla a few years ago is put to good use by the Mahajan Trust – Panjrapole, a shelter to more than 4000 cows. I took a morning walk with Yuvraj Saheb in the undulation terrain of the weeds for a few days. I spotted a number of birds Blue Bulls Wild Boar and a huge monitor lizard.

I visited a family where all the 46 adults were hand weavers making Patolas. It was mesmerizing to see how they do these beautiful intricate designed Patola saris, stoles and duppatas with such finesse. Who’s who from our own Bollywood order specially designed Patola saris, scarf’s from here and so does our legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar. For the ladies this house in Sayla village is a shopping paradise and can get custom made stuff too as per one’s design.

Sayla was a 575 sq km princely state ruled by the Jhala Rajputs, a clan that came to Saurashtra from Sindh and established their reign at Patdi in the 12th century. After the Islamic invasions, the Jhalas moved their capital to Halwad and made it their capital. Over the centuries, the Jhalas established
Dhrangadhra near Halwad, Wankaner, Limbdi, Wadhwan, Sayla, Chuda and other princely states.

The state of Sayla was founded in 1751 by Seshmalji, who is said to have fought many battles and to have captured Sayla from the Kathi Darbars and made it the capital of his state. He is credited with building the fortified wall around Sayla and founding the Darbargadh or Rajmahal (palace), which is still the residence of the Jhala family. The palace has halls for audiences, administrative and judicial meetings of the rulers, life-size portraits of successive rulers and attractive carvings. Among the progressive rulers of Sayla was Thakur Saheb Vakhat Sinhji who set up rural industries and a thermal power house in the 19th century to modernize the area.

Grassland Drive – The owner of Bell Guest House, Sayla,  Yuvraj Somrajsingh Jhala personally conducts  safaris at the  grasslands, including his own ancestral  lands, in search of Blue Bull antelope (locally known as Nilgai, India’s largest antelope). Walks in the Veedi (grasslands) where Blue Bull could be seen as also smaller species like the Black-Naped Hare, Indian Gerbil, Monitor Lizard and the Spiny-Tailed Lizard. The endangered Wolf and Striped Hyena have also been spotted near Sayla. For the birdwatchers, this can be good for spotting grassland species like Larks, Warblers, Wheatears, Quails, etc.

Mini Golf – Shall be shortly introduced in a few months

Dhakania Blackbuck Area – About 50km from Sayla lie the grasslands  where  Blackbuck and Blue Bull (Nilgai) can be seen in good numbers. One can spot tem in head of 30s. Chor Talavdi – Chinkara Area – From Sayla , visit this wetland area about 15km where you could get to see Chinkara or Indian Gazelle and birdlife. Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary – Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary is about 60 km from Sayla in Ranagadh, a village at the eastern edge of the Nalsarovar. Ranagadh is a picturesque village of the Paddhar fishing community. Head out in country boats over the shallow waters of the enormous Nalsarovar lake to view a variety of birds. More than 250 bird species have been recorded at Nalsarovar, including 100 migrants birds. One can spot more than 1,50,000 birds in winter. Surendranagar Reservoirs – From Sayla, you can visit a number of lakes where large flocks of Waterfowl can be seen.

 

Attractions around  Sayla – BELL GUEST HOUSE

 

Beadwork – Beadwork, the craft of attaching beads to each other is the forte of communities like the Kathis who live in villages near Sayla.  Ikat Weaving at Sayla and Somasar, these are important centres for single-ikat weaving. Entire families work together on the resist dyeing process of the warp or weft fibres, which are then drawn on hand-operated looms for weaving. The fabrics are less expensive versions of the double ikat  Patolas of Patan.  Bell Guest House can arrange a  demonstration and a visit to the home/workshop of a weaver family.

Tangaliya Weaving  at  Vasatari – Tangaliya  is a kind of rare weave that involves adding knots using additional weft threads during the process of weaving. Bell Guest House can arrange a visit to Vasatari, which is an important centre for Tangaliya.

Handloom and Khadi clusters – Khadi  refers  to  fabrics  made  from  hand spun  thread and woven on a  handloom.  Mahatma Gandhi  promoted  khadi  as a way of creating livelihood specially for home based rural  women workers.  There  are  handloom/khadi  centres  at  Sayla, Wadhwan,  Surendranagar,  Muli, Ranpur (woollen) and Arnej  that can be  visited on day trips with Bell Guest House as the base. Surendranagar  district, in which Sayla falls, is one of the  major handloom clusters of western India.

Terracotta at Botad – Botad, approximately 50km from Sayla, is an important centre for pottery. The Botad potters today make many innovative  products like decorative items and even ornaments.

Handicrafts  at  Wadhwan – Wadhwan, 37km from  Sayla, is an important centre  for a bandhani, brass handicrafts, etc. Called  Bhagat-no-Gav or the village of devotees, Sayla  has many  temples  and  ashrams. Lalji Jagya and Shree Raj Saubhag Ashram are important spiritual centres in the village of Sayla. There is a historic Shiva Temple. The Jain temple, dedicated to the Tirthankar Parshwanath, has an ashram  attached.

Chamunda Mata – Temple  atop  Chotila  hill (39 km from Sayla), the Swaminarayan  temples at Wadhwan (37km from Sayla) and Muli (12km from Sayla), the Jagadish Ashram and  the Ram Krishna Mission dedicated to the memory of Swami Vivekanand’s visit to Limbdi (34km from Sayla) are among the spiritual religious centres in Surendranagar district.

Tarnetar  Fair – This is a unique fair that attracts a large number of people to the  Trineteshwar  Temple. The fair features ritual bathing at the  tank of this historic temple, traditional dances of the  Bharwad pastoral community and fairground attractions.  Traditionally, this is a betrothal fair where pastoral groups gather to find a suitable match, with the women  having the first choice.

Dhundhlinath  Mela – The  Dhundhlinath  mela  at  Dhandalpar  is among many  fairs that occur soon after  Tarnetar.

Janmashtami – The  birth of Lord Krishna is celebrated in a big way at Lalji Maharaj  Jagya.

Guru Poornima – This is celebrated at the ashrams in  Sayla.

The Bell Guest House can help gather information about events  happening at religious centres  like Chotila,  Sayla,  Muli,  Wadhwan,  Sarangpur,  Tankara,  Limbdi, etc.

Business Visitors stay at the Bell Guest House, Sayla, because of  its  location in  Surendranagar  district. It boasts of solar and wind power generating plants, agri-processing industrial units, textiles, salt works, chemical industry, plastics,  engineering units, ceramics and sanitary ware industry, stone
carving industry, fisheries, jewellery making units, etc. Dhrangadhra  Chemical  Works, Hindustan Salt, Pepsi, PET  Plastics, Unifrax,  Luxite,  Mepro Pharma, Rimtex Group, Biodeal Lab, Panama and other large companies are located in the district.

Thangadh ,  59 km  from  Sayla,  is a  major centre of the ceramic industry,  specially  sanitaryware, tiles  and ceramic utensils  and part of the Morbi-Wankaner-Thangadh  ceramics golden triangle. Chotila, 39 km from Sayla, is an industrial area with ceramics and other plants. Sitagadh is a place known for its Chemicals. Dhrangadhra, 51 km from Sayla, is a centre for basic chemicals, bromine, salt processing, stone carving and silver furniture. Wadhwan is 39 km from Sayla, and has a thriving engineering industry manufacturing machine tools, machine parts, bearings, etc. Lakhtar is 58km from Sayla, this is a centre for agri-processing.

Surendranagar

The district headquarters,  34 km from Sayla,  is  the  centre  for  many  industries  in  the
district. Agriculture ,  Surendranagar  district produces  high quality  groundnuts,  chillies, cumin, cotton  and  fruits  like ber,  papaya,  chikoo,  etc.  It is a thriving  centre for animal husbandry and fresh water fisheries.

CONTACT

For  complete  details  &  bookings:

Yuvraj  Somrraj  Singh  Jhala – +91 97246 78145

The website is http://bellguesthouse.com