Old Surat, how many faiths?
Old Surat prays in a dozen ways. A port this old collected faiths the way it collected traders. Walk the old city and you cross them all:
1. Rander, older than Surat itself, was a rich Jain port before Arab traders arrived. Its four-storey Jama Masjid rose in the 16th century.
2. Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah, the Dawoodi Bohra Arabic university, has taught here since 1810.
3. The Swaminarayan temple, a cluster of carved sandstone shikharas, is one of the busiest Hindu shrines in town.
4. Bhimnath Mahadev, a Shiva shrine that glows at dusk over the Tapi.
5. Masjid al-Moazzam, the grand Bohra jamaat mosque with its long golden calligraphy facade.
And two faiths too quiet for a single photo but too big to skip: the Chintamani Jain temple, a 17th-century wooden temple with ceiling paintings in natural colour, now protected by the ASI, and the Parsis, who keep two of India's only eight Atash Behrams right here in Surat. Every photo is a real Surat place, sourced from Wikimedia Commons and credited on each slide. Which one is closest to your home? Tag someone who should visit.
Swipe → and tell us which one you're going to first. 👇
🔖 Save this for the weekend
#IamSuratCity #surat #suratcity #suratlife #suratdiaries #suratgram #instasurat
Udhna, Surat | Aug 25, 2026 
