Tara Mandir (Nehru Planetarium), Porbandar

Tucked into Porbandar's leafy civic quarter beside the well-loved Bharat Mandir hall, the Tara Mandir — commonly called the Nehru Planetarium — is a modest domed sky-theatre that has been quietly introducing coastal Gujarat to the night sky since 1977.

• It was established, by tradition, through the philanthropy of the Porbandar-born industrialist Nanjibhai Kalidas Mehta, whose family endowed several of the town's educational and cultural institutions.
• The result is an unusual small-town treasure: a proper projection dome, far from the big metros, where schoolchildren, families and curious travellers file in to watch the constellations wheel overhead.
• Inside the darkened dome, a star projector throws a canopy of stars, planets and mythological sky-figures onto the curved ceiling, narrated in Gujarati, Hindi and English across different show slots.
• The programmes are pitched squarely at families and school groups — an accessible tour of the zodiac, the planets, eclipses and the changing seasonal sky rather than a specialist astronomy lecture.
• For children on a Char Dham circuit that is otherwise dense with temples and legend, it is a welcome half-hour change of pace, and the air-conditioned dome is a genuine relief from the Kathiawar heat.
• The planetarium sits within easy walking distance of Porbandar's headline sights, so it slots neatly into a heritage morning.
• A few minutes away stand the Kirti Mandir — the memorial marking Mahatma Gandhi's birthplace — and the adjoining ancestral house, along with the Sudama temple and the arched Sudama Setu footbridge over the creek.
• Bharat Mandir next door, with its large relief map of India and rows of carved figures, makes a natural pairing.
• Star shows typically run in afternoon and evening slots for a small, nominal ticket; timings and languages vary by day and the dome sometimes closes for public holidays, so it is worth confirming the day's schedule locally before you plan around it.
• For a meal afterwards, Porbandar is comfortable territory for vegetarians.
• The reliable choice is one of the pure-veg Gujarati thali houses clustered near Bharat Mandir and along MG Road, where an unlimited Kathiyawadi thali arrives with bajra rotla, garlic-spiked sev-tameta, dal, kadhi, a farsan or two and jaggery on the side.
• For something lighter, the town's farsan and snack shops near the Sudama temple turn out fresh khaman, dhokla, fafda and ganthiya through the day, and simple bhojanalayas around the bus stand serve honest pure-veg rice-and-roti plates.
• As across Gujarat, this is a dry town, so expect chaas, lassi and cutting chai rather than anything stronger.