Very few people know about Hathidra, but if one wants to see nature, one wants one day picnic then Hathidra is a very beautiful place to visit. Hathidra is a village in Banaskantha district where many temples, big and small, are established and surrounded by mountains and river. but temple of har gangeshwar is most popular among all temples.
In gujrati languege “hathi” means elephant. People believe that the village was named Hathidra because of the large number of elephants living here a long time ago.
There are some caves and old Shivlings in Hathidra village.in rainy season Hathidra looks like kashmir.
Gangeshwar Temple
In hindu religion , gangeshwar is name of lord Shiva. Gangeshwar temple in Hathidra is ancient temple. In month of “Shravan” many religious people visit there like fare.Sadhana tapasya have been performed in this temple for years, Narmada Puri Maharaj has done tapasya here. After Narmada Puri Maharaj ,darampuriji maharaj has done their tapasya here.many saints from far visit here and Dharma stories like ramayan and bhagavathgeeta are also told.
Along with every Gangeshwar temple, there is also a place of Jalaram. It is said that the Shivling of Gangeshwar was established by Bhima in the Pandavas and many old remains of the temple are still preserved in the meuseaum there.
Here Parmar dynasty along with Gangeshwar also established Chamundamata temple.
Sankleshwari Mountain
This mountain is situated in north – east of Hathidra village, sankleshwari mountains are actually aravalli mountains but in Hathidra village they called it as a sankleshwari mountain.There is a road to Sankleshwari mountain from the side of the garden next to the Shiva temple.you can visit sankleshwari mountain for trecking ,The melodious sound of springs can also be heard on the mountain in the monsoon. You can chhose guide among local public for easy access of mountains.In some places iron ladders are kept for climbing sankleshwari mountain, In ancient times people used iron chain instead of ladders.
There is a temple of Goddess Sankleshwari on the mountain, the mountain is named Sankleshwar mountain because of the people climbing there from the chain. The temple of goddess sankleshwari is not temple but it actually a space where only statue of goddess sankleshwari is situated and Flags are placed around the statue. You can feel the nature silence on sankleshwari mountains.
Location :-
Almost 20 km away from palanpur in Banaskantha district
