It is rare for a place to be associated with so many legendary figures. A significant port city since its origin, a number of traders and businessmen prospered in Porbandar, including Shri Narottam Morarji, Manek Bai Bhatia, and Shri Nanjibhai Mehta. This coastal city of Gujarat welcomed Swami Vivekananda during his India tour and now promotes his universal principles from the converted guest house where he had once stayed. The city’s second famous son, Sudama Brahmaṇa, a friend of Lord Krishna, was born here. However, this port city receives world’s recognition for being the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi. Places that came in direct contact with Gandhi have been turned into shrines—which mean you’ll find Gandhi’s museums and temples scattered throughout Porbandar. This well-planned city grabs attention with ancient buildings reflecting a conspicuous sandstone-based architecture and artistic designs.
Along the Arabian coast, Porbandar is among Western India’s oldest ports and was founded around 1045 A.D. Part of a princely state, the Jethwa Rajputs ruled this city for a long period since the 16th century. It was in 1948 that Porbandar was merged with independent India.
The city is known for a long and beautiful coastline. Porbandar Sea Beach, also known as Willingdon Marina Beach, will delight travelers with its clean and fine sandy stretches, a view of the harbor, gentle sea waves and cool breeze.
Not far from the city is the Barda Hills Wildlife Sanctuary. This spacious natural preserve is home to chameleons, crocodiles, spotted deer, sambars and chinkaras. It’s definitely worth a visit.
Head to Bileshwar to witness the majestic architecture of Lord Shiva’s temple. Its highly intricate designs reflect the exuberance of early Hindu temple architecture.
A visit to Porbandar remains incomplete without seeing Kirti Mandir. Now a museum, it is present near the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi.
The city offers an excellent network of transportation. AC and non-AC buses cover most tourist spots. The city is well connected to Ahmedabad, Rajkot and the holy cities of Veraval and Dwarka. Auto-rickshaws and private taxis are available from one of the central points of the city, Sudama Chowk.
You can reach Porbandar through train.Porbandaris one of the most popular train stations in Porbandar.On an average about 10 trains pass through Porbandar on a daily basis.Rajkot to Porbandar, Surendranagar to Porbandar, Viramgam to Porbandarare some of the most popular routes to Porbandar with 17, 12, 12 trains weekly respectively.
By road Porbandar is surrounded by Junagadh, Dhoraji, Jamnagar which are 54.63 km, 55.05 km, 63.78 km away respectively. These places are ideal spots for people to plan their short weekend break.
Porbandar has a total of 8 hotels.There are 8 hotels in Porbandar with the popular ones being Hotel Harmony, Hotel Kuber, Hotel Kaveri International, Lords Eco Inn, Hotel Sheetal, Hotel Natraj etc.