Vadnagar

Vadnagar is a city and a municipality in Mehsana district in the Indian state of Gujarat. everal ancient inscriptions and literary sources mention a town called Anarthapura" or "Anandapura", which is identified as the area in and around the present-day Vadnagar. The Mahabharata mentions the Anarta Kingdom in the norther part of the present-day Gujarat. The oldest Puranic legend about Gujarat is about a king named Anartha. The Junagadh rock inscription of Western Kshatrapa king Rudradaman I mentions a region called "Anartha" in the northern part of the present-day Gujarat. Vadnagar has also yielded an image of Bodhisattva dated back to the 3rd or 4th century AD. This image seems to be brought from Mathura to install in one of the Buddhist monasteries of the town.

The town is also blessed with a magnificent lake named as "Sharmistha Lake" which has a small island like place amidst it. There are scores of temples dedicated to almost every God: Shiva (Daaneshwar Mahadev Temple, Somnath Mahadev Temple and ancient Kashi Vishveshvara temple), The government is developing this island into a beautiful garden. Vadnagar is also known as Skandhpur after Kartikeya, who is identified with Murugan.