Surat - The diamond city

Surat formerly known as Suryapur or Khubsoorat is situated in the southern part of the state of Gujarat on the shore of the Arabian Sea. The city is mainly known for its Diamond and textile business & popularly called as “The silk city & the diamond city”. The diamond cutting & polishing industry of city is the best in the world. The port city of India, Surat has cultural, historical and industrial characteristics attached to it. The city looks quite new & modern and you can see classy business complexes and buildings which will bear to the fact that the city is prosperous. People have high living standards in comparison to other cities of the country. It’s perfect location has always attracted intruders for trade reasons and now it attracts visitors for the business as well as leisure reasons.

Location – The presence of the graceful & elegant Tapti River marks the location, one of the prosperous cities of the state. It is very conveniently located 260 kilometers away from Mumbai & 224 Kilometers from Ahmedabad - the capital of the state.

Transportation Facilities – Transportation facility is quite well managed & helps the residents to travel to all parts of the city. Metropolitan Bus service, Taxi, Cabs and Three wheeler auto rickshaws are the most prominent & easily available means of transportation. The service of city buses in and around city is good. The taxi services can be easily availed from the taxi stands. The most preferred mode of transportation is the auto-rickshaw which can be hired to roam around in the city from one place to another. The city also has its own much awaited Airport which it got last year.

Communication Facilities – Communication is not a problem here. There are plenty of Public phone booths, cyber cafes, newspapers, television & radio channels. The mobile & postal services are quite good in the city of port. So, you don’t have to worry about communication in any nook & corner of the city.

Language spoken – The language which is mostly spoken in the city is Surti Gujrati. However Gujarati, Hindi & English are also well spoken by people of Surat. You can easily hear words like Kem cho?, Aao jo, Bhen, Bhai, Jamvanu which will give you the feeling that you are in the city of Gujarat.

People & culture – Culture of the city is peerless from rest of India. People of Surat believe in earn and live the life with full enjoyment. As far as food of the city is concerned, it is called “Surat nu jamman ane Kashi na maran” which means dining at Surat & dying at Varanasi leads to heaven. It is well known for its Surti cuisine, which includes Ghari (a type of mithai), Undhiyu, Locho, Rasaawala Khaman, and Surti Chinese. A peculiar thing about cuisine of city is that sugar is added to every preparation. The food is not overly laced in oil and despite the rich ingredients is healthy and satisfying. In the winters, people come together at river Tapi's banks to eat Ponk which is a roasted cereal that is available only in this part of the world.

The people & culture is so vibrant & colorful that it makes every occasion cheerful. Here in Surat all major Indian festivals like Navratri, Diwali and Ganesh Chaturthi are celebrated with great enthusiasm. The kite-flying festivals, Chandi Padvo are some of the festival which is very famous here.

The art and culture is quite diversified & colorful. The pleasure loving people of Surat have a very stylish, soft nature & spirited outlook. The people of Surat can enhance the cheerfulness of any occasion with their traditional songs and dances. Some of the most popular forms of performing arts are Ras, Garba, Tippani Nritya, Siddi dance, Padhar Nritya, Dangi Nritya. The city is well known for its handicrafts and artifacts.

Festival & fests – The events and festivals exhibit the ethnicity and culture of the city.  The kite flying festival is very popular in the city. The event of Kite flying was started in the year 1989 in Ahmadabad and has seeped into Surat. The festival is celebrated on the occasion of Makar Sankranti every year. The preparation for the festival starts very early and culminates into the jubilance of the city on the day of the event. 

Chandi padvo is another festival which is celebrated with great enthusiasm. They have special holiday for it in the city.  This day is celebrated after one of the two biggest full moon days according to the Hindu calendar year, "Sharad Purnima". On this day people buy almost 100 tons of Ghari and other Surti delicacies. People have dinner and a late night snack under the full moonlit sky in Dumas.

The annual fair of Dang Darbar is held in the city in the early months of spring ie few days before the festival of Holi. The custom of the city is best displayed in the dang durbar. People dress in their traditional attire and perform the ras and the garba. Skilled craftsmen arrive from different parts of city to display their products. Songs and dance performances cheer up the spirit of the fair.

Some of the other celebrated festivals are the Navratri and Janmashtami. The spirit of the people of the city is at its best in the festive days. Moreover, Surat is a host to other business and cultural events.

Tourist attraction of Surat– The historical city of Surat is an important tourist destination in Gujarat.

Dandi: The movement of Salt satyagrah was initiated by Mahatma Gandhi from here & became a landmark in India's struggle for Independence which makes it a perfect tourist spot.

The Chintamani Jain Temple — The major attraction of the temple is its wooden carvings and paintings which dates back to 15 century and exhibit some extremely extraordinary paintings of the Jain monk Acharya Hemachandra, and Solanki King Kumarpal

The Old Fort — Mohammed Tughlak originally built the fort in the 1546 to fortify the defence of the city against the Bhils. The fort is now used for municipal offices.

The Sardar Patel Museum — Museum was actually established in 1898 and initially called as Winchester Museum which was named after Mr. Winchester, who took a keen interest in increasing the wealth of city. This museum has huge collected works of over 10,000 specimens of crafts and arts. 

Rangupavan —Rangupavan is an open air theater with a capacity of around 4000 spectators & among some of the biggest theaters in the country.

Beaches of Surat – Dumas, Suvali, Hajira and Tithal are some of the beautiful beaches here. Dumas and Suvali, are well known health resorts on a rivulet emptying into the Arabian Sea. Suvali is fringed by feathery casurina trees & has two wells with water rich in iron and sulphur. Moreover, the place is popular for its balmy weather and scenic beauty. Hajira and Tithal are also beautiful beach resorts on the Arabian Sea which has azure water, tranquil surrounding, sandy beach fringed by the swaying casuarinas. 
Choppati —Popular place in the city which has a large garden and provides Indian fastfood like Paav Bhajee and Pani puri.

Saputara – Saputara also known as the Nilgiris of Gujarat is a hill station only 150 km from city at an altitude of 1500 metres above sea level. It has a cool climate and dense forest which makes it a nice tourist spot.

Vansda National Park —This national park is situated in the Navsari district and is home to pythons, tigers, leopards, panthers and wild boars.

Gopipura: The village close to city is named after the mythical Brahmin Gopi, who founded the city. The Agama Mandir and lots of other Jain temples are located within this village. 

JOY n JOY – Joy n Joy is Situated around 30km away for here, towards Ahmedabad highway & have different types of Rides, where every one can enjoy.

Other tourist attractions of Surat include Navsari, Dutch garden, Udvada, Dutch Cemetery, Sanjana, Makaipul, Bardoli, Ukai and Textile Market and so on. 

Accomodation –There are numbers of good hotels in city. It has numbers of luxury, deluxe & budget hotels. There are few reputed Indian and international hotel chains. Hotels in the city are reasonably priced and the hospitality is best. Most of the hotels in the city present a fusion of age-old tradition of the region and state of the art sophistication.

The diamond & textile city of India, Surat is a charming and enlightening vacation for tourists.