Halvad

[ Chhatris | Halvad Palace | Temples | Dargah of Maula Qazi ]

Chhatris
The Chhatris (15th century) resemble the architectural style of the smaller temple structures of Gujarat. The Chhatris have carved columns, high plinths and corbelled roof in a pyramidal shape. The vast arid landscape, dotted with chhatris, makes a picturesque setting.

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Halvad Palace
The Halvad Palace campus has all the elements of Rajput palaces- zenana, hall for public audience, temple of family goddess, pleasure garden and administrative offices.

The entry to the Halvad Palace is from the town-side. The beautifully carved entrance gate leads one to a huge courtyard. The formal square plan of two- storied palace structure, adorned with exquisitely carved wooden columns, brackets, friezes and jails with geometric patterns defines the courtyard. Four raised pathways, from the center of each side, meet in the middle of the courtyard at the base of the seven-storied, octagonal towers. These towers are with jharokhas overlooking all eight directions. From the top of this tower, on a clear day, one can see the surrounding villages. Therefore, it is popularly known as Jhalawad Darshan or Ek-Dandia Mahal.

The long facade with carved stone jharokhas brings in cool breeze as it overlooks the lake. The jharokhas were the favorite sit-outs of the royal women. On the full moon nights, the terrace was used for private royal gatherings. Even today, one can see beautifully carved sit-outs of sandstone on the terrace.

In short, the architecture of the palace is a perfect synthesis of two natural materials, stone and wood. This Royal Palace at the edge of the town, on the bank of the Samatasar Lake is the finest example of wooden architecture of royal palaces of Gujarat.

Other similar examples of palaces on the lakeshore in India are palaces of Udaipur, Alwar, Datia and Mandu.

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Temples
The Bhavani Temple and Bhuteshwar Mahadev at the cremation ground are at least 500 years old and are protected monuments. Halvad has six Shiva Temples encircling the town.

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Dargah of Maula Qazi
It is located on the west bank of the Samatasar Lake and is a famous pilgrim place of the Dawoodi Bohra community.

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Around Halvad

• Dhrangadhra (royal palaces, bazaar) 27 km,
• Wadhvan (royal palaces, bazaar step wells) 65 km,
• Wankaner (royal palaces, step well) 75 km,
• Maliya (royal palaces 42 km, Limbdi (Green Chowk, Gandhi Smriti Mandir, Jain Bhandar, palace, bazaar) 89 km,
• Morbi (Darbargadh, Wellingdon Secretariat, suspension bridge) 48 km.

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