Kherva is a village in the

Mehsana district Mehsana district (alternate spelling "Mahesana") is one of the 33 districts of Gujarat state in western India. Mehsana city is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district has a population of over 1.8 million and an area of over ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, 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 List of states and union territories ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, situated on State Highway 73 between

Gandhinagar Gandhinagar () is the capital of the state of Gujarat in India. Gandhinagar is located approximately 23 km north of Ahmedabad, on the west central point of the industrial corridor between the megacities of Delhi and Mumbai. Gandhinagar ...

and

Mehsana Mehsana (), also spelled Mahesana, is a city and the headquarters of Mehsana district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Established in 14th century, the city was under Gaekwad dynasty, Gaekwads of Baroda State from 18th century to the independen ...

. It borders the following villages: Devarasan, Kadavasan, Mulsan, Jagudan, Sanganpur, Punasan, Hebuva, Udalpur, Gunjala, Dharusan, and Dhamnava. The nearest railway stations are 1) Jagudan, located 4 km from Kherva, and 2)

8 km away. The Tropic of Cancer passes nearby Kherva, at Ditasan. Kherva Village is prosperous because of its location 7 km away from the

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

-to-Mehsana toll highway and railways in Jagudan Village and Mehsana City. Kherva has an advanced irrigation facility which draws water from the Sujlam Suflam canal, the Kherva water reservation tank, and the Khet Talavdi. Kherva has its own farm-product selling market as well as a large second one at Mehsana. There are two modern hospitals in Kherva, with many small clinics in the area. In Kherva, there are many educational institutions such as a Kherva Primary Boys/Girls School, Higher Secondary School ( Shree Jaykorbai Vidyamandir), PTC College, as well as the Ganpat University.{{Cite web, url=https://ganpatuniversity.ac.in, title=Ganpat University in Kherva, Mehsana, website=ganpatuniversity.ac.in

Demography

Kherva, a Hindu majority village, is home to various other

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

s and religions. The total population of Kherva is approximately 19,000 with Muslim's constituting second-largest religious group. Jainism is also practiced. The village is dominated by

Patel Patel is an Indian surname or Indian honorifics, title, predominantly found in the States and union territories of India, state of Gujarat, representing the community of land-owning farmers and later (with the British East India Company) busine ...

and Thakor which constitutes 35% of the total population, followed by the Raval (Yogi), Sathwara, Parmar,

Rabari The Rabari people (also known as Rebari, Raika, Desai and Dewasi people) are a caste group from Rajasthan, Kutch district, Kutch region of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab of India and the Sindh province of Pakistan. They were traditionall ...

, and

Prajapati Prajapati (, ) is a Vedas, Vedic deity of Hinduism. He is later identified with Brahma, the creator god. Prajapati is a form of the creator-god Brahma, but the name is also the name of many different gods, in many Hindu scriptures, ranging f ...

Lemons The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...

Lime (fruit) A lime is a citrus fruit, which is typically round, lime (color), lime green in colour, in diameter, and contains acidic juice vesicles. There are several species of citrus trees whose fruits are called limes, including the Key lime (''Citru ...

is the main agricultural crop of Kherva farmers with approximately 70% of the cultivable land used for cash crop while the remaining is used to grow vegetables. Kheravians, as villagers, place great emphasis on education, and have spread all over world, including the USA, the UK,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

etc. The Kherva's people have also migrated to many cities of India, such as Mehsana, Ahmedabad,

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Vapi Vapi (IAST: vāpī, ), is a city and Municipal Corporation in Valsad district in the state of Gujarat, India. It is near the banks of the Daman Ganga River, around 28 km south of the district headquarters in the city of Valsad, and it is ...

, Vadodara and

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

. The first Sarpanch after getting freedom by India was Late Shri Shah Chandulal Nagindas (From 7th Feb 1952 to 12 March 1961). The present day sarpanch is Shri Govindbhai Patel.

Education

The Primary Boys School and Primary Girls School are the main schools around Kherva. Shree Jaykorbai Vidyamandir (Shree JVMK) is a Secondary and Higher Secondary school. Students from surrounding villages come to study at Shree JVMK. Shree JVMK holds various functions and Sport-festivals at the district and state levels, and has arranged the state-Level Kho-Kho championship. Ganpat University is situated in Kherva and is quickly becoming a major education hub in the state. The University provides an array of courses in medicine, finance, defense, and engineering. The first women's Sainik School is also located in Kherva. Kherva gives wide support to all schools. Swaminarayan Hostel provides living arrangements for students entering from different states.

Temples

Sadhimataji Temple is a well known local holy site 2 km from Kherva, on Sundays and Tuesdays people go barefoot to worship Sadhimataji, the goddess of Raval Yogi of Kherva. On Dharo Atham, there is a Fair of Sadhimata by Raval Yogi of Kherva. Local legend says that the fair began after the Flagging of Raval Yogi Community. The Ramji Mandir is one of the largest temples in Kherva, located in the middle of the village. The gods Laxman, Ram, and Sita are venerated here. In this temple there is also a silver-coated idol of the god Krishna. The one more very old and ancient Hindu temple of

Hanuman Hanuman (; , ), also known as Maruti, Bajrangabali, and Anjaneya, is a deity in Hinduism, revered as a divine ''vanara'', and a devoted companion of the deity Rama. Central to the ''Ramayana'', Hanuman is celebrated for his unwavering devotio ...

ji and

Ganesh Ganesha or Ganesh (, , ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped Deva (Hinduism), deities in the Hindu deities, Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in the Ganapatya sect. His depictions ...

ji with very large sized ancient Murtis (idols) of Lord Hanumanji and Lord Ganesha, found by digging over there. This temple is located at the other end of the Kherva village where Vanta Vaas or Sathwara Vaas is located. This temple is a must visit place in Kherva as it is a well known wish fulfilling ancient holy place. Other temples of Kherva are the Siddhnath Mahadev, Joganimataji, Ambaji Mata, Bahuchar Mata, Verai Mata and Jahur Mata temple among which Siddhnath Mahadev is a very ancient temple, and the nearby temple, Ambaji Mandir, is approximately 1,300 years old. There are two proverbs about Kherva: ''"Kherva Ni Kher Ane Bahar Ni Laher"'', which means "Outsider-vendors earn more in Kherva than local ones". The other proverb ''"Badhe Gaya Hasho Pan Kherva Nahi"'', means "You may have gone everywhere but Not yet Kherva, as Kherva is a mighty Gujarati one".

References

Villages in Mehsana district Cities and towns in Mehsana district