Legend goes that centuries ago the great yogi Dhoramnath – in a state of repentance after destroying the city of Mandvi – decided to do tapasya (meditation) on a lonely hill. First he climbed the highest hill he could see in the north, but ‘weighed down’ by the immensity of his sin, it shrank becoming Nanao (small). The second hill he climbed too couldn’t bear the burden of Dhoramnath’s guilt, and collapsed coming to be known as Jhurio, or ‘broken down’.

Finally he found a sturdy mountain – the ‘patient bearer’ Dhinodhar – on which he stood upside down on a betel nut for 12 long years of intense mediation. He was served by a Charan – cow-herding woman – who would bring him milk during these years. The gods grew alarmed with the power of his penance, and asked him to stop. He warned them that when he opens his eyes his gaze will burn whatever comes in front of it. So they turned him to face the sea. The blaze from his opened eyes scorched the sea, leaving a lush grassland in its wake – called Banni. Imagine – a land born out of the power of meditation!