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UPARKOT

The walled fortress of Uparkot, witnessed every change in the lifestyle of Junagadh from monastic Buddhism, Aryan Hinduism, pious Jainism, Islamic invasions, British colonisation, the Nawabi spendour and finally, the victory of democracy which forced the Nawab to vacate his throne after he was heavily out-voted in the elections. Like the acrpolises of ancient Greek cities, the Uparkot is built on the defences of rocky hills and the entire modern city sprawls around it. It was an important city during Mauryan rule, became the capital of the Kshtrapas after the fall of the Mauryan empire in the 2nd-4th century AD period, was rebuilt by the Chudasama Rajputs in the 9th century and finally fell to Sultan Muhamad Bhegada. In all, the fort is said to have been subjected to 16 seiges, including one which lasted 12 years over a beautiful daughter of a potter. The girl was coveted by a neighbouring prince, and came for refuge to the ruler of Junagadh, who promptly married herIn the war that followed, the chivalrous prince of Junagadh was killed in 1094 AD, and the girl committed Sati on his funereal pyre.

Uparkot  fort

 Inside the massive battlemented walls of the Uparkot, as opposed to other forts where you would expect to see it outside, is a huge moat, said to be around 300 ft deep which not only prevented enemies who successfully scaled the high walls from entering the citadel, but was also said to be a sort of death chamber with crocodiles for throwing convicts and captured enemy warriors. Beyond the moat, is the Buddhist cave, which goes down some 3 storeys and is dated by archaelogists to around 2nd century AD- much younger than the Baba Pyara and Khapra cave complexes-because of the delectable carvings on the 6 pillars, though it is difficult to judge if the actual excavations were earlier and the carvings done later.

SAKKARBAGH

Junagadh museum in Sakkarbagh, has a memorable collection of of pre-historic and proto-historic implements made from stone and bone, stone sculpture including a 9th century Vishnu, bronze sculpture of the medival period, copper inscriptions and manuscripts, consorting with an average collection of silverware, glass, porcelain, wood carvings, traditional textiles, folk art and unimpressive miniature paintings.

Around the museum is the Sakkarbagh zoological park, one of the few places in the world where the pure bred Asiatic lion is breeding successfully. Here you find a sizable collection of mammals, birds and reptiles from Indian species.

JETPUR

An interesting excursion on the Rajkot-Junagadh road for those interested in textiles is Jetpur, approximately 30 kms from Junagadh, which is one of the largest centres in India for screen and block printed textiles. Here you can visit workshops which specialise in screen printing of textiles, artisans who work on the highly intricate process of printing fabrics using wooden blocks and yarn dyeing centres. Buddhist relics can be seen here too.

 A little beyond Uparkot's Buddhist cave is the Adi Charan Vav, which comes as a real surprise, with a spectacular staircase of 120 steps going down to the bottom. The well is said to date from the 11th century and is named for 2 slave girls who fetched water from it. The Navghan Kuva is another spectacular stepwell, dated from 1060 Ad and named for Navghan, the Rajput ruler of Junagadh at that time, with 7 flights of spiralling steps taking you down 120 feet to the water source through a 10 ft wide passage. The only standing structure in Uparkot other than the walls is the Ranak Devi palace, with it's carved jarok has and huge pillars, which Sultan Muhammad Bhegada tried to convert into a mosque but could not complete the work. In a corner of the fort are 2 monumental canons-the Nilam canon whose bronze inscriptions in Arabic state that "the canon was cast in 1531 AD to fight the incursive Potugese who are infedal enemies of state and religion" and the smaller Ottoman canon which was brought here after Diu was lost to the Portugese and only mentions the name of it's caster. Between the canons and Willingdon dam, which is still an important water supply for Junagadh, is the lovely garden laid out by the Archaelogical survey of India.

Besides the main cave in Uparkot, there are a number of Buddhist caves hewn into the soft rocks behind the fort. The Khapara Kodhia cave complex is a fascinating hermitage, though badly damaged and without it's first storey, with monastic cells and water sources. The Baba Pyara cave complex is more atmospheric and has 13 monastic caves with carvings of Buddhist symbols.

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