Songadh Gujarat
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R) |
Songadh (सोनगढ़) is a town and taluka in Tapi district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is site of Songadh Fort . It is situated on Tapti River.
Variants
Location
The main town of Fort Songadh is located on Highway 6 with Nandurbar district to its east and Vyara (district headquarters) to its west. Surat is about 85 km from Songadh. Tapi district was created from the former District of Surat and Vyara was selected as the capital of the Tapi district.
- Songadh is about 259 km from Vadodara,
- Songadh is about 85 km from Surat,
- Vyara (Guj) - 18 km,
- Navapur (Mah) - 25 km,
- Ukai (Guj) - 8 km,
Geography
Fort Songadh is located at 21.17°N 73.57°E. It has an average elevation of 112 metres (367 feet). The town is located at the foot of a solitary hill, with the surrounding area has been almost completely flattened by approximately 30 stone quarries.
Due to these stone quarries, its economy has increased to the level of the rest of the state. Songadh's surrounding areas are covered with semi dense forest.
The main town of Songadh is split into two parts; Junagam (old town) and Navagam (new town). Due to rapid expansion of the town in recent times, Navagam has outgrown the original Junagam and is characterised by the hustle and bustle of the Main Road almost any time of the day. This is largely due to the Bus Terminal which acts as a hub for cross country buses which are en route to the city of Surat. This passing traffic has bought much trade into Songadh as it is the first town as you enter Gujarat from the East (or the last before you leave from the West).
To the west of Songadh is the district capital of Vyara which has a slightly smaller population but substantially more industry. Thus, Vyara has grown faster than Songadh.
Places of interest in Fort Songadh
The Fort of Songadh literally means 'Son' stands for Gold & 'Gadh' stands for fort which means that the 'Fort of Gold'
- Fort of Songadh - In City
- Quarries located around Songadh
- Rokadiya Hanuman Temple- 3 km
- Parshuram Temple, CPM- 5 km
- The Central Pulp Mills (CPM) (now part of JK Singhania Group)- 4 km
- Swarnim Tapi Van- 5 km
- Ukai Thermal Power Station & Hydro power station- 5 km
- Hindustan Bridge- 8 km
- Ukai Dam - 13 km
- BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir, Ukai, Gujarat 394680
- Dosvada Dam-Rani Mahal- 5 km
- Gaumukh- 13 km
- Chimer waterfall- 28 km (on Songadh-Otta Road)
- Navi Ukai-5 km
- Jesingpura (swami vivekanand udhayn)- 0.6 km
History
Songadh was originally ruled by Bhil rulers. In 1719, Pilajirao Gaikwad occupied Songadh. Songadh Fort was built during 1728-29 and this fort was being dominated by Bhil and Gaekwad princely states from time to time.[1]
The Songadh Fort was built by the founder of the Gaekwad dynasty, Pillaji Rao Gaekwad between 1729 and 1766. Built deliberately on top of the high hill as a vantage point to keep an eye on enemies, the fort is also a brilliant example of Indian architecture where the influence of both Mughals and Marathas are evident.
There are not many forts built in Gujarat State due to the relatively flat nature of the landscape. Neighbouring Maharashtra has comparatively many forts because of its topology. Maharashtra is guarded by Sahyadri Mountains. So the forts are in Maharashtra are very difficult to trek where as the fort in Songadh does not have much height and its takes approximately half an hour to reach the top of the fort.
References
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