Unai Mata Temple & Hot Springs
Rama's arrow raised the boiling kund, in the telling, and pilgrims have bathed in it ever since. Ushnamba Mata's hot-spring temple at Unai.
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- Best months
- Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar
- Time needed
- ~1.5 hr
- Entry
- Free
- Hours
- 07:00–20:00
- Effort
- Easy
Natural hot springs rise beside the goddess Ushnamba, Unai, Mata's temple, and the local telling gives them the Dandakaranya origin this whole belt shares. Unai closes the gap between geology and epic. Rama, asked by Lakshmana to relieve the ailing sage Sharbhang, loosed an arrow into the ground; hot water rose, the goddess appeared amid it, and the sage's bath cured him. The Gujarati 'nahi/nai', bathe, is folded into the town's very name.
The kunds still steam, the bath is still taken for its curative reputation, and the temple runs a full pilgrim day from seven in the morning to eight at night, peaking at Navratri, the temple's mahotsav is listed on the national festival portal, and Makar Sankranti. This is the region's most popular stop that this dataset's travellers usually drive straight past on the Waghai–Vansda road.
Pair it with Janki Van six kilometres away: the Sita-stayed-here garden and the Rama's-arrow springs make one mythology afternoon on the district's western edge.
Highlights
- ◆Natural hot-spring kunds beside the goddess's shrine
- ◆The Rama's-arrow origin legend of the Dandakaranya belt
- ◆Navratri mahotsav listed on the national festival portal
- ◆Six kilometres from Janki Van, the mythology afternoon
History & lore
Lord Rama, at Lakshmana's urging, shot an arrow into the earth to raise hot water for the ailing sage Sharbhang; Ushnamba Mata manifested amid the springs, and the sage's bath cured him. The town's name folds in the Gujarati for bathing, and the goddess is Unai Mata to the whole region.
Traveller tips
- →Pair with Janki Van for the western mythology afternoon
- →Winter mornings give steaming kunds and thin crowds
- →Festival days are the spectacle, go early or go patient
Safety
- ⚠The spring water is genuinely hot, test before immersing, and mind children at the kund edges
- ⚠Festival crowds are dense; keep valuables close
Where it is
Area-level pin, somewhere in the circle; ask locally · 20.8760, 73.3930
Directions to Unai ↗Getting there
Road · On the Waghai–Vansda–Unai road; buses and shared jeeps serve the temple town
Rail · Unai/Vansda Road station nearby; Bilimora Jn for broad gauge
Air · Surat (~88 km)
Last stretch · Level temple-town streets from parking to the shrine and kunds
Questions people ask
Can visitors bathe in the hot springs?
Yes, bathing in the kunds is the tradition, credited with curative properties since the sage Sharbhang's legend. Facilities are pilgrim-basic; carry your own towel and modest bathing wear.
Practical detail
- The road
- Tarred throughout
- Parking
- Temple-town lots; tight on festival days
- Season
- October–March is the comfortable window; the hot bath is best appreciated in the cool months.
- Visiting
- Navratri and Makar Sankranti are the peaks. Expect fair-scale crowds then.
- Photography
- Steam off the kunds in early winter mornings is the photograph; ask before shooting bathers.
- Food
- Temple-town eateries and prasad stalls
- Toilets
- basic
- Guides
- Not needed
Where to sleep
Kilad Nature Education Campsite
The gentlest forest stay in Dang and the perfect base for an early Vansda NP gate slot, Ambika river steps from the cottages.
Forest Department portal prices by tent grade and party size: white-house tents from ₹600 for two, forest tents from ₹650, deluxe from ₹1000, twin bungalow from ₹1950, Asopalav bungalow from ₹2400. School groups block-book in season.
Padam Dungari Eco Campsite
Popular with Surat weekenders, book cottages over tents in monsoon; the Ambika river air soaks canvas.
Forest Department portal lists AC cottages from ₹1800, non-AC from ₹1000, tents from ₹800 and a 14-bed dormitory at ₹3500, plus a ₹20-50 entry fee. Technically in Tapi district but part of the same forest circuit.
Data confidence: Researched · facts last verified 2026-08-10 · 3 field(s) awaiting verification
- Shri Unnai Mata Mandir Navratri Mahotsav, Navsari, festival listing, utsav.gov.in (official)
- Unai Mata Temple and Hot Water Spring, Unai, history, legend and timings (07:00–20:00), gujaratdarshanguide.com