Girnar Arohan-Avrohan Competition

What is the Girnar Arohan-Avrohan Competition?

Girnar Arohan-Avrohan Competition is an annual state-level stair-climbing race organised by the Sports, Youth and Cultural Activities Department of the Government of Gujarat, through its Commissionerate of Youth Services and Cultural Activities. The commissionerate runs its work through four branches; youth, adventure (sahas), culture and celebration, and the Girnar climb sits in the adventure branch, alongside the department's other outdoor and endurance programmes.

The venue is Girnar hill at Junagadh, the granite massif whose stone stairway climbs past Jain and Hindu temples to the summit ridge, and which is walked by lakhs of pilgrims every year. The competition takes that stairway and turns it into a timed athletic course. The name says exactly what the event is: arohan is the ascent and avrohan the descent, and competitors are ranked on how fast they complete the climb.

The course

• Men: 5,500 steps.
• Women: 2,200 steps.

A competitor who does not complete the required number of steps is not ranked. The two categories are scored separately.

The prize purse

A total of Rs 8,40,000 in cash prizes is distributed among the top 10 finishers, with the split by position set out in the department's notification for that year's edition. The purse is large by the standards of state amateur sport in India, and it is the reason the event draws serious endurance athletes alongside local hill runners from Junagadh and the surrounding Saurashtra districts.

Why the state runs it

The department's stated purpose in the adventure branch is to promote physical fitness, endurance sport and adventure activity among Gujarat's young people. The Girnar climb serves that purpose in a specific way: it needs no stadium, no equipment and no club membership, so a fit young person from a village near Junagadh competes on the same terms as an athlete from Ahmedabad. That accessibility is why the eligibility rules are as open as they are.

Who is eligible for the Girnar Arohan-Avrohan Competition?

You can take part if:

• You are a resident of Gujarat.
• You are physically fit for a steep timed climb and can produce a medical fitness certificate if the organisers ask for one.
• You can complete the required distance, 5,500 steps for men, 2,200 steps for women.
• You register within the window announced for that year's event.

The competition is open to all individuals regardless of caste, religion, gender, education or income. No reservation, quota or special category applies, and no income or caste certificate is called for. No age restriction is published.

You cannot take part if:

• You are not a resident of Gujarat. The competition is a state event.
• You are not physically fit for the climb, or you cannot obtain a medical fitness certificate where one is required. This is a safety condition, not a formality. A timed ascent of thousands of stone steps is a serious cardiovascular load, and organisers do turn entrants away.
• You register after the closing date. The entry window is short and closes well before the event so that bibs and verification can be arranged.
• You are looking for a welfare benefit. This is a sports competition with ranked cash prizes, not an assistance scheme. Simply entering and finishing earns nothing; only the top 10 are paid.

What documents are required?

How to register for the Girnar Arohan-Avrohan Competition

1. Watch for the annual notification from the Sports, Youth and Cultural Activities Department at https://sycd.gujarat.gov.in/ and from the Commissionerate of Youth Services and Cultural Activities at commi-synca.gujarat.gov.in. The notification carries the event date, the registration window, the category-wise prize break-up and the reporting time.
2. Get a medical fitness certificate from a registered medical practitioner before you register, since it is normally required at entry rather than on race day.
3. Register through the announced channel — the department opens entries ahead of the event, with the district sports and youth services offices and the Junagadh district administration handling entries locally. Ask your district youth services office which route is open for the current year.
4. Submit the entry form with your Aadhaar, residence proof, photograph and fitness certificate, and collect the acknowledgement or competitor number.
5. Report for verification at Junagadh at the time stated in the notification. Carry your original Aadhaar and the acknowledgement; entrants without original identity documents are not allowed to start.
6. Complete the climb to 5,500 steps for men, 2,200 for women; within the rules announced by the organisers.
7. Provide your bank details if you finish in the top 10, so the prize can be transferred.

There is no published entry fee. Do not pay any intermediary who claims to be able to secure a place or a bib.

When is the competition held?

The Girnar Arohan-Avrohan Competition is an annual event on Girnar hill at Junagadh. The Sports, Youth and Cultural Activities Department announces the date and the registration window each year in its notification. No permanent fixed calendar date is published on the department's site, so intending competitors should check sycd.gujarat.gov.in or their district youth services office rather than assume a repeat of a previous year's date.

How to check your entry and result

1. Keep the acknowledgement or competitor number issued at registration; it is the reference for every query.
2. Confirm your entry with the district sports and youth services office that accepted your form, a few days before the event.
3. Results are announced at the venue and published by the department after the race. Prize distribution normally takes place at the closing ceremony.
4. Prize money is credited to the winner's bank account after the results are finalised. If a credit has not arrived, contact the department on the numbers below quoting your competitor number and finishing position.

Common reasons an entry is refused

• Registration after the closing date. The window is short.
• No medical fitness certificate, where the notification requires one.
• Residence outside Gujarat.
• Original identity document not produced at pre-race verification, even where the entry was accepted earlier.
• Not reporting at the stated time on race day.
• Not completing the required number of steps, which means no ranking and no prize regardless of the time recorded on the ascent.

Help and contact

• Sports, Youth and Cultural Activities Department, Block No. 2, 8th Floor, Sardar Bhavan, Sector 10, Gandhinagar 382010.
• Phone 079-23251374 and 079-23252995.
• Email secsyc@gujarat.gov.in.
• Website https://sycd.gujarat.gov.in/.
• Commissionerate of Youth Services and Cultural Activities: commi-synca.gujarat.gov.in, which runs the adventure branch programmes.
• District Sports and Youth Services Officer, Junagadh. The local office for entry, verification and race-day queries.

Participation costs nothing beyond your own travel. The Government of Gujarat does not authorise any agent to collect a registration fee for this competition, and prize money is paid only by bank transfer to the winner's own account.