History of Morbi

> History of Morbi

Morbi is a City of Rajkot District, 64 Km from Rajkot. Government ST is the main mean of transport.
Untill 1947 Morbi was a princely state. Raja Mayurdvaj was the king of Morbi. Morbi devastated in 1979 with flood. Most of historical monuments were ruined in this flood. But now Morbi is once again immerging as Hub for tiles & clock manufacuring.
You can reach Morbi within 2 hrs. from Rajkot. There are two busstands in Morbi New Busstand & Old Busstand.
There is Hotel Manali Just Opposite to New Busstand.You can easily find a room here. Hotel rooms are easily available between Rs.200-1000.
Mani Mandir is a temple situated in the courtyard of Wellingdon Secretariat. The images of Laxmi Narayan, Mahakali, Ramchandraji, Radha- Krishna and Shiva are worshiped in this temple. Mani Mandir is made out of Jaipur stone with excellent workmanship and exquisitely carved elements-arches, brackets, jalis,chhatris and shikhara. Wellingdon Secretariat is an excellent example of the application of principles of Rajput architecture by master craftsmen, at the turn of the century.
The prosperous city Morbi has much of the built heritage and town planning is attributed to the efficient administration of Sir Waghji, who came to the throne in 1879 and ruled till 1948. Sir Waghji acted as the Ruler, Manager, Patron and Policemen of the state with great authority, always keeping the citizens' interests in mind. Sir Waghji, like other contemporary rulers of Saurashtra, built roads, Railway Network of 70 miles connecting Wadhvan and Morbi and two small ports of Navlakhi and Vavania for exporting the state's production of Salt and Cloth. The railway station of Morbi is a beautiful example of Railway architecture, combining Indian and European architectural elements. In 1979, the city was badly affected due to flooding caused by morvi dam burst. But one can see the spirit of people of Morbi as today it is one of the most growing industrial cities of the state.

Morvi Floods (1979)

In 1979, western India witnessed devastating floods. Thousands lost their lives and property worth crores were lost in towns and villages across Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. But the worst-hit area in the 1979 floods was, undoubtedly, the Morvi-Malia belt near Rajkot in Gujarat.
About 1,200 people died in the Morvi region alone after the frenzied Machhu river overflowed into the town and its surrounding areas in the last week of August. A visit to the site revealed sights of mass destruction. According to relief workers, bloated bodies and animal carcasses floated through the streets, and survivors were seen hanging onto trees and rooftops. There were also some heart-wrenching scenes. Relief workers found the body of a young girl clutching the rakhi on the wrist of her brother. Father and son were found frozen to death on their easy chairs. But the most unfortunate incident occurred in a temple situated in the Vajepur area of Morvi. As soon as worshippers realised that water levels were rising, they got hold of a ladder and started scampering up the temple. However, the ladder broke mid-way, people waiting to climb to safety were soon washed away by the swirling waters.
Relief operation was hampered for days on end as foot-long layer of slush covered the entire town. With no mode of transport and electricity, work of collecting bodies was painfully slow. In fact, on the first day of the relief operation, only 30 bodies were lifted.
To help survivors get over the tragedy to help rebuild the township, the Times of India set up a relief fund. Started with an initial contribution from the Times Group,the fund's collection was used for constructing a primary school building in a village in Morvi. In another village, where women and children had to walk for three to four km for drinking water, TOIRF provided them with drinking water supply in thier own village.