Kolayat is a town in the Bikaner district of the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is also the headquarters of the eponymous tehsil. The town is from

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the States and territories of India, state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. It is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Fo ...

National Highway 15 Route 15, or Highway 15, can refer to: For roads named A15, see A15 roads. International * AH15, Asian Highway 15 * European route E15 * European route E015 Australia New South Wales * Hunter Expressway * New England Highway and other local ...

Jaisalmer Jaisalmer , nicknamed ''The Golden city'', is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur, in the heart of the Thar Desert. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Jaisalmer district ...

History

Kolayat is an historical centre of pilgrimage where the Vedic sage,

Kapila Kapila () (7th-6th-century BCE), also referred to as Cakradhanus, is a Vedic sage in Hindu tradition, regarded the founder of the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy., Quote:"Kapila (fl. 550 BC), Vedic sage and founder of the system of Samkhya, ...

is believed by some to have shed his body under a Peepul tree. Kolayat has a number of marble temples, sandstone pavilions and 52

ghat Ghat (), a term used in the Indian subcontinent, to refer to the series of steps leading down to a body of water or wharf, such as a bathing or cremation place along the banks of a river or pond, the Ghats in Varanasi, Dhobi Ghat or the Aap ...

s (bathing places) built around a large artificial lake. A temple dedicated to Kapila is the venue for an annual fair held in the month of Kartik (October - November). During full moon of this month thousands of devotees of the

Sankhya Samkhya or Sankhya (; ) is a dualistic orthodox school of Hindu philosophy. It views reality as composed of two independent principles, '' Puruṣa'' ('consciousness' or spirit) and ''Prakṛti'' (nature or matter, including the human mind an ...

philosophy gather to take a dip in Kapil Sarovar. Devotees believe the lake has the power to wash away their sins. A livestock fair, mainly for the trading of camels is part of the festivities. Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL) had an office at Kolayat, functioning until 1997. It was wound up after the end of mineral exploration activities in the surrounding areas.

Demographics

India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Kolayat had a population of 7,346, of which 3,963 were male and 3,383 female.Kolayat Population
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Attractions

Water Gateways
Kolayat Lake
Historical places
KapilMuni Vatika

References

External links

Kapil Muni Fair
{{Bikaner district Bikaner district Cities and towns in Bikaner district