Pirotan
| Pirotan | ||
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| Waters | Arabian Sea | |
| Geographical location | 22 ° 35 '59 " N , 69 ° 57' 20" E | |
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| length | 1 km | |
| width | 500 m | |
Pirotan (also Pirothan , Gujarati : પિરોતન , Hindi : पिरोतन , Pirotan ) is an island in the Arabian Sea and part of the Marine National Park of the Jamnagar District , Gujarat in India. It is located about 12 km off the coast of India near the port city of Bedi . The neighboring island of Rozi is about 10 km southeast. The island is part of a protected area comprising 42 islands, to which visitors only get access with rare special permits.
history
Originally the island was known under the name Pir jo thaan , which means something like place of holy Khwaja Khizer Alaihisalaam . A shrine that was built in his honor still testifies to this today .
In 1867 a flagpole was installed on the island to facilitate navigation for passing ships. In 1898 this was then replaced by a 21 m high lighthouse , which was finally built over from 1955–1957 with a 24 m high new tower that can still be viewed today. In 1996 the solar cells were installed, the old diesel generators are now only used as emergency power generators .
Flora and fauna
Characteristic for Pirotan are mangroves and long sandy beaches. In particular, the mangrove species Rhizophora , Avicennia and Ceriops can be found here. On the island itself, on the neighboring islands and in the sea, there is a rich variety of species : seahorses , anemones , octopuses , flamingos , gulls , sea snakes , sea urchins and various types of crabs .
In 1982 the island, the neighboring islands and 3 km² of coral reefs were elevated to India's first maritime national park .
Population and tourism
Few people live permanently on the island. This includes the park administration, the staff of the lighthouse and the mujhavar of the shrine of Khwaja Khizer.
The administration of the protected area rarely issues licenses for visiting the island. In addition, these are only valid for a day's stay. The approach to the island takes about 1½ hours and due to the water level required for landing, it can only be done during high tide.
