Gondal is small, leafy town, located 38km south of Rajkot, that dotted with a string of palaces on a gentle river. Once it was a capital of princely state, which was run by the Jadeja Rajputs, later overtaken by Mughals, then recovered in the 1650s. Gondal gained prominence in the late 19th century under Maharaja Bhagwat Singhji. He was a social reformer who, among other things, introduced compulsory education for both sexes. The Maharajahs were great patronage of cars of different countries and it has been still witnessed in royal garages. Two royal saloons are available for accommodation. The Orchard Garden Palace still holds the original decor and give an experience of the great days of the Indian railways merged with royal grandeur.

Sights And Activities

Naulakha Palace
The palace is built in various styles, beautifully lies in the riverside. The palace has striking ornamentations. A museum is reside inside the palace that houses rare artifacts of royal era. The best one are the scales that used to weigh the maharajah in 1934 and his weight in silver was distributed to the poor.

Car Museum
The car museum is located inside the Orchard Palace and open from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm. The museum preserve some of the rarest vintage cars. It has around 50 impressive vehicles including a car from 1907. A must see place for car lovers.

Shri Bhuvaneshwari Aushadhashram Ayurvedic Pharmacy - The age old ayurvedic pharmacy center was established by royal physician. You will see rare and wierd machineries involved in the pharmacy. You can also buy the medicines from here for treating various diseases such as vertigo, hair loss, insomnia etc.

The Swaminaryan Temple
The temple is owned by Swami Narayan sect, is a white, 19th century building built on land donated by the maharajah, with an attached farm.

Veri Lake
About 3km off the road to Rajkot is Veri Lake, a large reservoir that's good for bird watching.

Udhyog Bharti Khadi Gramodyog
It is a large khadi shop where around 800 women work spinning cotton upstairs, while downstairs embroidered salwar suits and sairs are on sale at reasonable fixed price.

Excursions
There are few excursions from Gondal. Jetpur located 30km from Goindal is famous as a textile town known for yarn dyeing and hand printed saris. Watoson Museum, Rajkumar College, Ramkrishna Mission, Kaba Gandhi are few to name.