Shetrunji River (alternate: Satrunji) is an eastward-flowing river in Bhavnagar,

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the 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 fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, in western India.

Geography

It rises northeast of the Gir Hills, near Dhari in

Amreli district Amreli district is one of the 33 administrative districts of the state of Gujarat in western India. The district headquarters are located at Amreli. The district occupies an area of 6,760 km2 and has a population of 1,514,190 of which 22.45 ...

. Its course begins east-northeast along a lineament which runs parallel to the Narmada Fault, passes north of

Palitana Pālītāṇā is a city in Bhavnagar district, Gujarat, India. It is located 50 km southwest of Bhavnagar city and is a major pilgrimage centre ("shashwat tirth") for Jains. It is first of the two vegetarian cities in the world. Histor ...

's hills,

Shatrunjaya Shatrunjaya or Shetrunjaya ("place of victory against inner enemies") originally Pundarikgiri), are hills located by the city of Palitana, in Bhavnagar district, Gujarat, India. They are situated on the banks of the Shetrunji River at an eleva ...

, then in a southeasterly direction past Talaja Hill, through a peninsula, before reaching the

Gulf of Cambay The Gulf of Khambhat, historically known as the Gulf of Cambay, is a bay on the Arabian Sea coast of India, bordering the state of Gujarat just north of Mumbai and Diu Island. The Gulf of Khambhat is about long, about wide in the north and up ...

, approximately north of Goapnath Point. It has two mouths, one situated approximately north of the point, and the other being an additional to the north. Situated eastward of the river's mouth is Sultanpur Shoal. Shetrunji's basin has a maximum length of . The total catchment area of the basin is . Along with the Ghelo, Kalubhar, and the Vagad Rivers, the Shetrunji is a principal river of the district, and the second largest river in the region of Saurashtra. The brackish stream, Gagadio, joins the Shetrunji about from Krankach. Khodiyar Mata is an approximately

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

near Dhari. The topography is a mix of hills and plains.

Features

The Palitana dam was built in 1959 across the river at Nani-Rajasthali and represents Shetrunji's irrigation scheme. This scheme is meant to provide river water to a cultivation area of of land. Shetrunji supplies drinking water to

Bhavnagar Bhavnagar is a city in the Bhavnagar district of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, a States of India, state of India. It was founded in 1723 by Gohil Koli, Bhavsinhji Takhtasinhji Gohil (1703–1764). It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, whi ...

. A small port is located at Sultanpur.

Culture

is situated near the river, serving as the base town for the hills of

upon which are the

Palitana temples The Palitana temples are the large groups of Jain temples located on Shatrunjaya hills near Palitana in Bhavnagar district, Gujarat, India. Also known as Padliptapur of Kathiawad in historic texts, the dense collection of over 800 small shrines ...

, an important place of worship for

Jains Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

.A group of Derasars are located at the banks of the river near to the Shatrunjaya hills. A shrine of Khodiar Mata is situated within the Shetrunji's lower reaches. Middle to

Upper Palaeolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories coin ...

sites have been found along the river. Archaeological exploration along the river has noted 22 settlements which date circa 1st century BCE to 1st century CE. The sites included nine fishing villages, a mixed use fishing-agrarian village, a mixed use agrarian-salt-farming village, as well as a regional centre. Of these, Padri village dates to the Harappan period, while Hathab village was the largest in the lower river valley,

References

{{coord, 21, 19, N, 72, 07, E, display=title, region:IN_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki Rivers of Gujarat Rivers of India