Rajkot is the 4th largest city in the state of Gujarat, India. Rajkot is the 28th urban agglomeration in India, with a population more than 1.43 million as on 2008. Rajkot is ranked 22nd in The world's fastest growing cities and urban areas from 2006 to 2020.
Rajkot is a city of Gujarat state in India and administrative headquarters of the Rajkot District, located on the banks of the Aji River and Niari River. Rajkot was the capital of the then Saurashtra state from 15 April 1948 to 31 October 1956 before merging in bilingual Bombay State on 1 November 1956. Rajkot was merged into Gujarat State from bilingual Bombay state on May 1, 1960.
Tourism
Rajkot is home to numerous national landmarks and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the India. The Jubilee Garden is a large, open park area in the center of the city featuring many monuments to colonial time. Located prominently in the center of the garden is the Connaught Hall. Other notable points of interest near the Garden include the Alfred High School, Watson Museum, Lang Library and Rotary Midtown Library.
The Rotary Dolls Museum has a collection of more than 1,400 unique dolls from all over the world.
The Lang Library and the G.T. Sheth Library collect thousands of documents and books covering every period in Rajkot and Saurashtra (region) history. Rajkot has many other public libraries with many branches throughout the city. It includes Rotary Midtown of Rajkot City Library and many more.
Other points of interest in Rajkot include Gebanshah Pir Dargah,Hashanshah Pir Dargah, Turkibapu's Dargah, Swaminarayan Gurukul, Masonic Hall, Jam Tower, Race Course, Aji Dam, Ramakrishna Aashram, Shri Ranchhoddas Ashram, Swaminarayan Temple, Nageshwar Parswanath Jain Temple, Balkrishna Haveli, Ishwariya Temple and Garden, Mukti Dhama, Lal Pari Lake, Randerda Lake, Kaba Gandhi no Delo: Sri Sathya Sai Heart Hospital[ Sri Sathya Sai Heart Hospital Performing Heart Surgeries Free of Cost] Gandhiji's ancestral home which now houses the Gandhi Smriti, a permanent exhibition. Watson Museum And Library: The Watson Museum today has a collection of human history and culture. Its collection has precious objects of colonial period of India and History of Rajkot. Located in the pleasant Jubilee Garden, the museum is a good introduction to Saurashtra's cultural heritage. Rajkot Memon Boarding;is head quarter of Muslim activities before 1947. Saurastra Muslim league held many Muslim convention at Rajkot Memon boarding ground.
Festival: Rajkot is a city of festivals. Garba, a dance form, is popular both with men and women and is performed during the Navratri festival. The dance starts before midnight and continues until dawn. Mata Ambe, who rides a Lion, has a special reverential status with any highly religious Gujarati. The 'Janmastami Mela' organizes by for five days at the Race Course grounds to celebrate Janmastami. Diwali is the New Year for Hindus and people celebrate by doing Ma Laxmi Pujan. Moharam is new year of Muslim. Muslim's also celebrate ramzan Eid and bakri Eid. Rajkot Municipality arranges the Firecracker Show for the citizens of Rajkot. People clean and paint their houses and purchase new clothes to wear on New Year's Day. Dhuleti is the colour festival and Mahashivratri is God Shiva's day. People also celebrate Uttarayan (Makar Sankranti) on 14 January by flying kites from their terraces. Other holidays are Ganesh Utsava, Ram Navami, Mahavir Jayanti etc. Since Rajkot has people from many different castes and races, their various celebrations occur throughout the year.
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