3. During our stay at Hathab Bungalow near Bhavnagar (1953 ),
while playing on seashore, I was looking at Piram island
which was deep in the sea (4 Km ) and was dreaming of
visiting this unknown island. I was 5 years old at that time.
This dream was realized after forty years in 1992.
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4. Hathab Bungalow :
Situated in Gulf of Khambhat near
Ghogha, Bhavnagar District of
Gujarat . This Bunglow was used
as vacation palace of Maharaja of
Bhavnagar Shree Krushnakumar
Sinh Ji.
This place is so interesting so that
famous film director Mrinal Sen
had made a classic movie “Bhuvan
Som” in this area.
During the course of time the
Forest department had
converted this beautiful place
into a Resort.
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5. The shore of Piram Bet where I landed along with my primary
school teacher Late Shree Deepak Mehta who had a deep
study and association with Piram island. He was also a
founder of “Pilak Paryavan Trust” in Bhavnagar.
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6. As soon as I landed on the sandy sea shore, I found
fossils of Crocodile head (?) which made me extremely
excited about the fossils treasures of the island. This
was during the first visit on March 23, 1992 to Piram,
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7. Piram Bet is also known as Gujarat’s Jurassic Park. Many
fossils of Dinosaurs eggs, camels, giraffe and many
animals are found here which are around 8000 years old.
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9. Piram Bet Island :
The name of the island ‘Piram’ is derived from a Sanskrit word ‘param’
which means pure and sacred. One has to travel from Bhavnagar to a
place called Gogha by road and then take a boat there to reach this
Piram Bet Island. Its lush green beauty is sounded by the vastness of
Indian west coast is known as the Jurassic park of India considering the
case of ancient fossils in various layers of the island.
The island is spread of 186 acres but half of it is wasteland. The island
is privately owned by descendant of Mokhadaji Gohil except some part
is under forest department.
History says that the island was under Muslim soldiers of Delhi
Sultanate in the early 14th century and was captured by Mokhadaji
Gohel, the Gohel chief of Umrala in 1325 CE. He made the island as his
headquarters, built a fort and levied toll from all ships passing up the
Gulf of Cambay.
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10. 10
Story of Veer Mokhada Ji Gohil : The ruler of Piram Bet
Mokhadaji Gohil was bourn in 1309 in Ranpur. (Near Bhavnagar ) and
established his throne in Piram Bet (1330 ). He built a fort wall around the
island. He was protecting the ships of business mans from Chanchiya and
in turn was charging tax from them.
The ship of Delhi Sultan Mahamad Taghlak refused to pay the tax to
Mokhadaji (1347). In turn he send his army to fight with Mokhadaji and a
war was started near Ghogha Port. A small army of Mokhadaji fought with
them very bravely. Finally Mokhadaji’s head was cut from back by the
enemy. The body of Mokhadaji continued to fight without head with the
enemy for few days. The enemy were threaten looking such unusual warier
whose body was fighting without head. The enemy was defited and run
away. This incident of Mokhadji was very famous in Gohilwad and it was
noted in history as bravery of Gohil Rajputs.
17. Archeological Exploration : Neat stratification of Terracotta layer is clearly visible
in the cross section at sea shore. 17
18. Panoramic view : The island has mangrove vegetation and also nesting site for
two endangered species of sea turtle; Olive ridley and Green sea turtle and
around fifty species of birds, mostly seabirds. The sea turtles arrives for nesting in
August-September.
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