Physiography

Mountains

Gujarat's mountains are rich in scenic beauty and have been closely associated with religious and historical currents of Gujarat's life. The northern and the eastern borders are made up of mountains which are themselves either the tails or offshoots of outside ranges like the Aravallis, the Vindhyas, the Satpuras and the Sahyadris. Saurashtra contains two parallel ranges, one stretching from east to west and the other from north-east to south-west. The tracts of saline land of Kutch have three mountain ranges.

The Aravalli which is the most ancient mountain range in Gujarat lies largely in Rajasthan and enters Gujarat at Abu and zigzagging up to the Pavagadh merges into the Vindhyas. The Taranga lies on the line from Mehsana to Visnagar. The Arasur branch of the Aravalli goes in the direction of Danta, Khedbrahma, Idar and Shamlaji and joins the Vindhyas. The Satpura tail lies between the Narmada and the Tapi with Rajpipla hills. The ranges of the Sahyadri lie across the Tapi with the highest rainfall and the densest forest in the state. The Saler Muler and the Parner form part of the Sahyadri range.

The rocky region of Saurashtra has only two regular mountain ranges, the northern one having about a 357metre peak in the Panchal region. The Bardo with the 625metre Venu peak is about 29km from Porbandar.

The Girnar which is the highest mountain in the state (1,145metres) forms a part of the range south of the Bardo and is about 160km in length. The highest peak is named after Guru Dattatreya. Garakhnath, Amba Mata, Kalika Mata etc are the names of the other peaks of Girnar. The small hill beside the Girnar, called the Jamial Shah Pir is a Muslim holy place.

The Shetrunjaya hill near Palitana is one of the five sacred hills of Jains. The hills of Talaja, Lor and Sana are known for their Buddhist caves.

Kutch is a saline tract with three mountain ranges. The hills of Kutch are devoid of plant life. Among the three main ranges in Kutch, the northern one goes by Pachham, Khadir and Pranjal. The Kala Parvat forming a part of the ranges lies between Kutch and Sind. The southern range begins at Madh and goes up to Roha.