Mahisagar District Guide: Balasinor and the Dinosaurs

Mahisagar is a district created in 2013 from parts of Panchmahal and Kheda, named for the Mahi river that runs through it, and it holds one thing of genuine international significance that hardly anybody outside Gujarat knows about: the dinosaur fossil beds at Raiyoli, near Balasinor, among the largest such sites in the world and one of the most important dinosaur nesting grounds ever found.

Around it, the district offers a heritage palace stay run by a family whose most prominent member is known nationally as the Dinosaur Princess for her work promoting the site, the Kadana dam and reservoir on the Mahi, the twelfth-century Galteshwar temple, and quiet rural country in the eastern part of the state. For families with dinosaur-age children it is one of the best two days in Gujarat.

Why visit Mahisagar

For Raiyoli. The fossil beds near Balasinor have yielded very large numbers of dinosaur eggs and bones from the late Cretaceous, and the site is significant both for the sheer quantity of nesting material and for the species associated with it, including Rajasaurus narmadensis — a large predatory dinosaur named from Indian finds in this broad region. A fossil park and museum have been developed at the site, with interpretation, reconstructions and, crucially, in-situ fossil beds you can actually look at.

And for the story around it. The site was identified through geological survey work in the 1980s, and for years its significance was poorly protected and locally under-appreciated — fossils were reportedly taken and the land was quarried. Aaliya Sultana Babi, of the Balasinor royal family, became the site's most visible advocate, campaigning for its protection and guiding visitors around it, which earned her the nickname that has stuck. The family's Garden Palace at Balasinor operates as a heritage homestay, and staying there with a guided visit to the beds is the way to do this properly.

One of the largest dinosaur fossil sites in the world, in a district almost nobody visits.

What to do

1. Visit the Raiyoli fossil park and museumThe developed site near Balasinor, with interpretation, reconstructions and in-situ fossil beds. Confirm current opening arrangements before travelling.
2. Stay at the Balasinor palace homestayThe Garden Palace, run by the former royal family, with guided visits to the fossil beds. The single best way to experience the site.
3. Ask for a guided walk on the bedsBeing shown which lumps in the ground are eggs, and which are not, transforms an unremarkable-looking field into something extraordinary.
4. Kadana dam and reservoirOn the Mahi river, a large reservoir with pleasant surroundings and birdlife, and a straightforward half-day drive from Balasinor.
5. Galteshwar templeA twelfth-century Solanki-period temple in a fine riverside setting on the Galti and Mahi confluence, with good carving and very few visitors.
6. Lunawada and the district townsWorking market towns with bazaars, useful for a sense of ordinary eastern Gujarat rather than for sights.

How to get there

Balasinor is roughly 90 km from Ahmedabad, about two hours by road, and around 110 km from Vadodara. Ahmedabad has the nearest international airport and main railway station; Vadodara is the other practical gateway. Lunawada is the district headquarters, further north-east.

There is no useful rail access to Balasinor itself and buses are slow, so a car is effectively required — particularly since the fossil site, the dam, Galteshwar and the palace are spread across the district. Roads are reasonable. If you are driving between Ahmedabad and Vadodara or heading east towards Panchmahal, the district is an easy detour.

Where to stay

The Balasinor palace homestay is the obvious and by far the most rewarding choice — a heritage property run by the former royal family, with a small number of rooms, home-cooked meals and hosts who can take you to the fossil beds and explain them. It needs booking well in advance because the number of rooms is small.

Otherwise, accommodation in the district is basic — simple hotels in Balasinor and Lunawada, adequate and no more. Ahmedabad and Vadodara are both around two hours away with the full range, and a long day trip from either is entirely feasible if the palace is full. For a family trip, though, the homestay is much of the point.

Best time to visit

October to March. The fossil beds are open, exposed ground with no shade, and the difference between January and May is very substantial — this is hot inland Gujarat and a midday visit in the hot season is unpleasant and unproductive. November to February is ideal, with early morning the best time on the site.

April to June is hot. The monsoon makes the district green and the Mahi river country attractive, and the Kadana reservoir is at its fullest, but the fossil beds are muddy and much harder to interpret, and rural roads become awkward. If the fossils are your reason for coming, the dry cool months are the clear answer.

Practical tips

• Book the Balasinor palace homestay well ahead; it has few rooms and it is the best way to see the site.
• Arrange a guided walk on the fossil beds — unguided, they look like an ordinary field of rocks.
• Go early in the morning; the beds are open and shadeless and interpretation is much easier in low light.
• Confirm the fossil park's current opening arrangements before travelling.
• Combine with Galteshwar temple and the Kadana dam, or continue east to Champaner and Jambughoda.

Frequently asked questions

Mahisagar is a one-thing district and the one thing is world class: fossil beds near Balasinor that constitute one of the largest dinosaur nesting sites ever found, in a field that looks entirely unremarkable until somebody shows you what you are standing on. Book the palace homestay, ask for a guided walk on the beds, go early in the cool months, and add Galteshwar temple and the Kadana reservoir around it.