Bilkha is a small village in the

Junagadh district Junagadh district is a district of the Indian state of Gujarat. Its administrative headquarters is the city of Junagadh. Geography The district is located on the Kathiawar peninsula in western Gujarat. It is surrounded by Rajkot District (North) ...

in Gujarat, India. Bilkha lies at the foot of the Girnar clump in the south-east corner.

History

According to a legend, Bilkha was the ancient residence of the legendary king

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

. It is situated about eighteen miles east of Vamansthali (the present

Vanthali Vamansthli (Vanthli)is a city and a municipality in Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Demographics India census, Vanthali had a population of 21,891. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Vanthali has an avera ...

), the abode of Vamana. During British period, it is owned by Kathis of the Vala tribe, a branch of the Jetpur house. In 1880s, Vala Kala Devdan was a its ''talukdar'' who had fourth class jurisdiction in his sole villages, and Valas Ala and Desa both sons of Bhima Sata, they each exercised sixth class jurisdiction in their sole villages. Bilkha itself was joint between the above-mentioned shareholders so it was managed by a ''thanadar'' subordinate to the Jetpur taluka court.

Anand Ashram

There is an

ashram An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or a ...

established by Nathuram Sharma, a saint.

Demographics

The population according to the census of 1872 was 3,327 and 3,791 people according to the one taken in 1881. The population recorded on the census of 2011 was 11,134.

Economy

Bilkha is known for medium variety traditional wood work.''Crafts Map of Gujarat'' by Dastakari Haat Samiti

In popular culture

The legend of Sagalsha produced several folk-songs. It was a subject of 1978 Gujarati film ''Sheth Sagalsha''.

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: {{coord missing, Gujarat Villages in Junagadh district