Valsad

Valsad also known as Bulsar, is a city and a municipality in the Valsad district of the Indian state of Gujarat. The city has a collectorate, a district court, police headquarters with a historic prison. The municipality is governed by the city mayor.

The name Valsad is derived from historical name "Vad-saal." Meaning of the Gujarati word "Vad" is the banyan tree. "saal"(slang term) meaning "hampered with." (The area was naturally rich with banyan trees.)

The former Prime Minister of India, Morarji Desai, was from Valsad, as was also the Indian independence activist Bhulabhai Desai. The forefathers of British rocker Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara) were from Valsad, as well as those of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw.

The Alphonso mango (known locally as Haafus), for which the city and environs was once famous, is still important to the local economy. Surrounding villages in the whole Valsad district have numerous mango orchards- the only livelihood of many villagers.

Geography

Valsad is located at 20.63° N 72.93° E.^[1] It has an average elevation of 13 metres (42 feet).

The city center is about >10km inland from the Arabian sea. (See Tithal beach, below)

Demographics

As of the 2001 India census,^[2] Valsad had a population of 68,825. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Valsad has an average literacy rate of 80%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 84%, and female literacy is 77%. In Valsad, 9% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Transport

The city has a rail terminus for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad line and Mumbai-Delhi line of the Western Railway. Connected by the National Highway no. 8 (NH 8), Valsad is about 210 km north of Mumbai and about 110 km south of the city of Surat.

Places to visit

Tithal beach is 4 km from city's bus station. Unlike the nearby Devka beach that is very rocky, and the Ubrath beach at Navasari that is infamous for its undertow, Tithal beach is flat and sandy. A temple dedicated to Sai Baba of Shirdi and another temple of Swaminarayan are both situated on the Tithal beach, and draw many devotees and tourists from the District and the surrounding areas.

The Auranga river is a river across which an old road bridge leads to nearby villages. Until recently, the old bridge had an uncomfortable tendency to vibrate when heavy vehicles crossed it, but this issue has since been resolved by new surfacing. The banks of the Auranga nadi were once muddy and swampy, and served as feeding grounds for the levti eels that are a local delicacy.

On a small port on the Auranga river near surrounding villages, there's a huge banyan tree, believed to be at least 500yrs older. So huge, that when they needed to make a bridge on the river, they had to cut down the majority of the banyan tree branches to accommodate for the bridge. the main tree stump covers area large enough to park 6-7 midsize family sedans.

'Nandigram'

This is an Ashram established by The self-enlightened, saint poet Shree Makarand Dave and Kundanikaben Kapadia. It is approximately 20 km far from Valsad on Valsad-Dharampur route. It is a place where the native tribals are motivated to cultivate various skills so that they can generate self-employment. You can find divine and pious atmosphere all around the place.

There are so many activities conducted to uplift surrounding natives.These include free medical checkup camps, organic farming, rural development programes , educational facilities, various types of charity, spiritual and cultural activities. All these are for the overall development of the overall social development.

References

parnera is one of the historical place a hill from where one can watch whole of valsad

Valsad is surrounded by many Industrial Estate. Valsad is located between Gundlav G.I.D.C and Pardi G.I.D.C. Many small and large industries are established in these Estate.

External links

• valsadonline.co.in
• Gujaratplaza.co.in

bpy:ৱলসাড mr:वलसाड Valsad also has many schools,colleges,banks,restauarnts,cafes and theatres.It has beautiful temples and brown sand beach "Tithal".On the cross roads of Tithal Road,Halar Road,Jalaram Road and Bai Ava Bai High School Road Bulsar has 100 year old post office and ICICI bank and beautiful Jalaram Temple and Circuit House,Valsad Telephone Exchange and many more to explore.One had to go and explore.It's not a big city,not a small village but an Yuppy town with all race and caste of people who lives in peace and harmony and 70 % of people are English speaking.