Vadnagar

The town in Mehsana district, Gujarat, continuously occupied since 750 BCE according to ASI excavations led by Jitendra Nath from 2015 — the longest continuous habitation documented in Gujarat. Vadnagar yielded Indo-Greek coinage, Roman amphorae and shell cameos, Satavahana pottery and Solanki-period inscriptions, attesting trade with the Hellenistic and Roman worlds. The ancient Hatkeshwar Mahadev temple (traditional Solanki foundation), the Kirti Toran gates (12th-century Solanki, the only two surviving ancient torana gates in Gujarat), the Sharmishtha Lake and the 4th-century Buddhist monastery (excavated 2015-20) make the town one of the richest archaeological ensembles in western India. Narendra Modi was born here in 1950; the town has become a major pilgrimage after his premiership.