The place where you can hold a Dinosaurus egg in your hand

This is one of the biggest Dinosaurus hatcheries in the world. This is also the place where you can find evidences of the life and death of the dinosaurus.

Geologists and palentologists believe that at least thirteen species of dinosaurus lived in the area. No wonder, more than 10,000 eggs of dinosaurus have been  discovered here and more and more are being unearthed.

As of now, this place is labeled the third largest hatchery in the world. What is more this perhaps is the only place in the world where you can hold in your hand a dinosaurus egg and other parts of the animal dating back to 65 million years.

Unfortunately, this site is almost unknown outside the scientific community. Though its is located a little more than an hour’s drive from Ahmedabad,  it is still to gain popularity among the lakhs of tourists visiting Ahmedabad and Gujarat.

This is the village or rather small town of Balasinor in Gujarat. The scientific community hails it as home to the one of the largest dinosaur fossils sites in the world. 

This is the very place which can be termed as a nesting ground for the Dino. It would be tempting though to call it a prehistoric burial ground for Dinos because of the presence of the large number of Dino fossils and eggs.

In 2003, palentologists discovered a species of Tyrannosaurus Rex and called it Rajasaurus narmandensis.

All these fossils are preserved in a 72-acre area called Jurassic Park of India. One of the most stunning exhibits is the fossilised remains of a snake that dined on dinosaur eggs.

This 67 million-year-old skeleton was found in a dinosaur nest on the vast grounds of Balasinor.

The 3.5 metre long fossilised snake fed on the hatchlings of sauropods. It was found wrapped around a baby Titanosaur. This is believed to be the first evidence of feeding behaviour in a fossilised primitive snake.

Researchers believe that the surreal scene depicts the snake attacking a hatchling that was just emerging from the egg. It was at precisely this time that a huge storm or any other natural calamity wiped out the Dinos and it also froze this scene for posterity. The site is a geologist’s paradise.

You can see part of a Dino limb fossiled in a rock, remains of skin, bones, fossilised egg rings and even a real dinosaur egg fossil.

You can also feel and touch a 65 million year old egg fossil.

Aaliya Sultana Babi, the former princess of Balasinor,  conducts tours to the dino sites. Her interest in preserving and protecting the site has given her a new name-the Dinosaur Princess. She is one of the very few English-speaking guides.

Balasinor, also called as Vadasinor, is in Kheda district. It was a small princely state ruled by the Babi or Yusufzai Pathans. The kingdom came into existence in 1785.

Balasinor is about one and a half hours drive from Ahmedabad. The distance is 107 kilometres. Tourists can stay in the Garden Palace, a heritage hotel property run by the Babi rulers of Balasinor. You can also stay in Camp Dinosaur tents on site.

(This is the final part of the earlier article in the blog called –The Indian Dino)