Patan Travel Guide and Tour Attractions

Patan the land of adventure and ancient monuments was the capital of Gujarat in the medieval times. This was the administrative headquarters of the district of Patan in the state of Gujarat n India. The city has many Jain and Hindu temples and has many mosques and Rojas and Dargahs. With many historical places to visit this is one land that has a lot of places to see and innumerable sites to visit.

Come here and enjoy the travel pleasures that would take you down the medieval lane and also give you the best travel delights and also tour memories. Patan is an ancient town that is fortified and was founded sometime in 745 AD. It was Vanaraja Chavda who built it and this prominent king of the Chavdas named it Anhilpur Patan which means Anhilwad Patan. Anhil was a shepherd who was the kings’ good friend. This city has been referred to a lot in the Sanskrit literature as Anahippattan, Anahilpatan, Anahilpur, Pattan etc.

The Chalukya Rajputs, the Chauhans, the Paramars were contesting for supremacy in the northern part of India. Gujarat the region was then extended to Saurashtra and also Kutch. It had Malwa in the east and Lata in the south. Southern Rajasthan lay in the north. Anhilwara was the tenth largest city in the entire world sometime in the year1000 and has a population of around 100,000.

Patan was part of the state of the Marathas, since the mid-18th century and it thus remained till India got independent in the year 1947. Then Baroda became a part of the Bombay state which was then separated as Maharashtra and Gujarat in the year 1960.

Come here and see the Rani ki Vav which is the step well here that was built in the period of the Chalukyas and Solankis. The Rani ki Vav or the Queen’s step well was built with a lot of sculptural value and it is generally said that this was built revering Bhimdev sometime in the year 1022 AD. Bhimdev was the son of Mulraja who was the founder of the Solanki dynasty which belonged to Anhilwad Patan sometime in 1050 AD. It was his wife Udayamati who constructed this step well in the erstwhile region of Patan.

Then there is the Merutunga Suri which was built in the year 1304 AD. This is a sumptuous structure that was a great example of the panels and the sculptures that was so much a part of the architecture here. There was a pillar that was built then that still rests here and is proof of the elegant constructions of this region. There is a part of how west well that is remaining now and this brick construction is something that is seen to be believed. There is a particular type of bracketing that is so arranged that the tier formation gives the best examples of the constructions of those times. The step well also has a gate that is found just below the last step of the step well. A 30 kilometre tunnel is another attraction here but today it is blocked with mud and stones. This tunnel was used as a way of escape from Sidhpur to Patan.

Most of the sculptures in Patan have representation of the avatars of Vishnu. So you could see either Krishna, or Rama or Vishnu in many forms.

Today Patan is the main headquarters of the Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University which was earlier known as North Gujarat University. Today Patan is also a very important place which has a lot of collection of Ayurvedic plants that are famous for their curative properties. Patan is also a place where the farmers have their market place.

Patan is a region that is very famous for its Sarees so the Patola Saree is very famous here. The specialty of the saree is that they have vegetable colours with which the Saree is coloured. Come to Salvivad which is a place where Patolas are woven with a lot of effort. This is a place worth visiting. There are many fairs that are held here in this place which attracts all the tourists.

Thus Patan is a land which is filled with the most majestic forts, the most fascinating step wells and the most beautiful Talavs or lakes. There are many places of worship too here which make the entire tour to this part of Gujarat a memorable experience.

What remains today of the olden city of Patan is a very small area of Old Fort which is near Kalka on the outskirts of the city. This is of great archaeological and historical importance. The walls that remain and the fort and the beautiful gates that are called Darwazas, that show the era that existed takes you down a true journey down the history lane. The Bhadra fort is another fort here that is preserved well.

There are many other step wells that are found here besides the Rani ki Vav. The Trikam Barot Ni Vav is one such well. Then there are many lakes here like the Sahstraling Sarovar and the Anand Sarovar or the Gungadi Talav, and the Khan Sarovar.

Temples like the Old Kalka Mandir, the Jasma Odar ni Deri, the Panchmukhi Hanuman, the Sindhavai Mata nu Mandir, the Old Mahalaxmi Mandir, Hingaraj Mandir, Sheikh Farid no Rojo, Panchasara Derasar etc are all good places of worship.

Thus Patan is a land of temples, wells and magnificent historical memories.