Gallium nitride (GaN) powder has been synthesised through reaction between metal gallium and ammonia (NI-I,) in a resistively heated quartz reactor. Experiments have been performed for various reaction temperatures (range 900-950 degrees C) and reaction periods (4-12 h). The optimised reaction temperature and period are 950 degrees C and 8 h, respectively. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies have been carried our on the synthesised GaN powder for differtnt growth conditions and the results have been correlated. XRD pattern reveals that the synthesised GaN is of a single-phase wurtzite: structure. The calculated lattice parameter values are a = 3.186 Angstrom and e = 5.174 Angstrom. XRD pattern for the samples prepared for the reaction period of less than 8 h exhibit GaN peaks along with gallium oxide (Ga2O3)peaks. The change in the surface features with respect to the reaction period has been investigated using SEM.