Mandvi ( Continued)

Mandvi is a small town, a Tehsil town where river Rukmavati drains into the Arabian sea. There is not much to drain, it is almost dry.

The highlights of the town are the beaches (various stretches on either side of the river). This one is called Windmill beach.

This one has a lot of dogs, camels and horses around.

A much better beach is not far from the city. The beach behind the Ashapura Mata temple at Laija is a wonderful stretch of endless white sand.

And the Lighthouse in the town. This is the rebuilt one. The original was destroyed in the last earthquake.

The famous Jai Ambe temple is at Godhra nearby.

Green coconuts are sold here at Rs. 10/- apiece as against Rs.30/- at the beach near the city.

Kranti Tirth is the memorial to freedom fighter Shyamji Krishna Varma whose birthplace is Mandvi. It is located outside the town in an extremely well laid out site and complete in all possible facilities. The memorial includes a full size replica of India House in London from where S K Varma carried out his activities.

Mandvi has seen better days than it does now. It used to be a busy port trading with East Africa, Persian Gulf and other ports in the Indian sub-continent.

The Brahmapuri waterfront with the Customs House at the end should have been a busy place once but is now deserted except for the numerous stray dogs. The Customs House is still operational as is the port. Bureaucratic arrogance prevents us from entering the place.

The inner city which was once inside quite a large fort is congested like most other Indian towns. The student passengers of the rickshaws have to clear the road of other vehicles to allow theirs to pass.

The best known eatery in Mandvi is called OSHO. The pictures we took inside did not come off well except the one below which is the picture of a picture behind the cash counter. Here you can eat as much as you can (vegetarian food) for Rs. 110/- . In fact the staff and the owner make the rounds of the tables forcing people to eat.

There is one more aspect of Mandvi which needs to be looked at in a bit more detail and hence I keep it for the next Blog.

Thanks for reading.

Suryakiran Naik & Veena Naik

21.08.2016