BHUJ – THE CITY OF FOOD, HANDICRAFTS, SCENIC BEAUTY

Bhuj, the Municipal headquarter of Gujarat’s Kutch district, was founded in 1510 by Rao Hamir. The first temple in Bhuj city was Swami Narayan Samprad Temple. In 21 July 1956 and 26 Jan 2001, the city was suffered great losses of life and property due to the earthquake. Many areas of Bhuj were damage. There has been significant progress in rebuilding the city since 2001 with considerable improvement in roads, transportation and infrastructure. City’s Eastern side was known as Bhujia hill. The old city was surrounded by fort wall which was built by Rao Godji in 1723. There are five entrance gates of the fort; i.e., Mahadev, Patwadi, Sarpat, Bhid and Vaniyavad; and a small gate Chhathi Bari.

The fort wall was 35 feet in height and 4 feet in thickness. It is interesting to know that the Kranti Guru Shayamji Krishna Verma Kachchh University is only one of the universities in the city. This University attaches 41 colleges in which 19 are in Bhuj district. It offers degree in Art, Science, Commerce, Management, Law education, Social Welfare, Pharmacy, Engineering and Medicines. However, the first high school of Kutch was established in 1870.

Bhuj is a famous tourist destination which is known for textile, crafts, embroidery and leather work. The villages own artwork for sale in ‘Bhuj Haat’. Ragan art, a unique craft, is practised here. The customer gets a wide range of items in this bazar, includes woollen shawls, embroidered garments, wall hangings, cupboards, leather articles, glass beadwork, beautiful handicrafts, finished textiles, grain container, tie and dyer, vegetable colour dye painting. Secondly, the city is famous Kutch Dabali and Gujarati sweets and offering its Gujarati Thali and Gujarati food. Traditional dishes and street food also famous in Bhuj and other local specialities in the city khanam Dhokla, Khakhra, and lehsun Ki chutney are available in sweet shop grocery stores all over the city. There are many restaurants in Bhuj and 80% of serving the Vegetarian food. It is many sweet shops and ice cream parlours, bakeries, dhabas and fast food joint in Bhuj.

Chana Dal pakwan is a Sunday breakfast item in many Gujarati homes. It will be thick, creamy, crispy, spicy and crunchy. Dabeli is found in every street corner of the city. It is spicy mixture potato, onion sweet sauce masala peanut and pomegranate. Gujarati Thali is found in restaurants in Bhuj and very reasonably priced. Thousands of tourists visit this city as it offers a handful of tourist spots. There are many tourist attraction places include Cenotaphs Complex, Narayan Sarovar, Dhrang Lakhpat, Kavda, Tunda vandha, Aina Mahal palace, Kera, Koteshwar, Mata Madh, Kachchh Museum, Hira Mahal, Pragmal Palace, Anjar, Kalo Dungar, Prag Mahal and Kutch Desert Festival these places are more attractive places in the city.