Bhavnath, the first place in the list of places to visit in Junagadh. It’s like another home of Lord Shankara, the God of all the Gods. And that's the reason why it is known as Bhav (World) Nath (God). It is around 8 kms from the Junagadh city and is located near the Girnar Mountain Range. Every year several people visit this place on the occasion of Mahashivratri to worship Lord Shiva.
Now let me take this opportunity to share some other peculiarities of this place. Bhavnath is just like the nearest picnic spot for the localites. They carry their meals, a mat and a pillow all the way to Bhavnath. They offer prayers to Lord Shiva at the Bhavnath temple and then sit on the huge dividers parting the road on the way to Bhavnath temple. They are as huge as to accommodate 2 persons together in a column. People enjoy sitting and gossiping about stuff, watching the sun setting between the two mountains. But the best thing of these dividers is you sitting between the roads without the fear of the vehicles hitting you.
The other untold delicacies of this place are its lush and exotic green beds that you see all around during the monsoon, the sight of natural stream of water originating from the peak of the hill, those bike rides in the freezing breeze that ruffles the hairs in the winters, those black faced monkeys fighting for the potatoes, the Kawa ( Herbal Tea) counter.
Just like Lord Shiva its simplicity has a covert elegance crafted by the Almighty himself with a whole lot of unidentified herbs hidden in the dense land of woods. Sometimes it feels as if the deity himself has taken the avatar of this verdurous foliage.
