Gadhada is a town and a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

in Botad District in the state of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. Gadhada is situated at bank of River Ghela.

Swaminarayan Swaminarayan ( IAST: ', 3 April 1781 – 1 June 1830), also known as Sahajanand Swami, was a yogi and ascetic, who is believed by followers to be a manifestation of God Krishna, or as the highest manifestation of Purushottam, and arou ...

lived here for more than 25 years.

Geography

Gadhada is located at . It has an average

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...

of 104 metres (341 feet).

Demographics

India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

, Gadhada had a population of 26,751. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Gadhada has an average literacy rate of 62%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 70%, and female literacy is 54%. In Gadhada, 16% of the population were under 6 years of age.

Transport

Gadhada is well connected by roads to the cities of Gujarat. Regular bus service and private vehicles are available from Ahmedabad and other big cities of Gujarat. There's no rail track passing through the town. To reach Gadhada by train, you may get down at Botad or Ningala in Ahmedabad -

Bhavnagar Bhavnagar is a city in the Bhavnagar district of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, a state of India. It was founded in 1723 by Bhavsinhji Takhtasinhji Gohil (1703–1764). It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, which was a princely state befo ...

track. Connecting bus service to Gadhada is available from both these stations.

Landmarks

The Swaminarayan Temple, also known as Gopinathji temple in Gadhada is regarded as one of the important places of pilgrimage for followers of the

sect, as Lord Swaminarayan spent more than 27 years of his life in Gadhada. Swaminarayan Hindu Temple in Gadhada is one of the one of six temples which was made under the supervision of Lord Swaminarayan himself.

Notes and references

Swaminarayan Sampradaya Cities and towns in Botad district {{Bhavnagar-geo-stub