Ahmedabad Heritage and Monuments: Heritage Walk

Heritage Walk in Ahmedabad

he Heritage Walk of Ahmedabadis conducted by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation with NGO, CRUTA Foundation like most Indian cities, has a long history and strong architectural and urban character. The AMC has been, since 19th Nov1997- as a part of World Heritage Week - conducting this Heritage Walk of Ahmedabad as a part of its cherished project " Getting the City to the People ". The Heritage Walk of Ahmedabad is a guided walk of two and a half hours. This daily affair by the AMC is extremely well designed in guidance and co-operation with CRUTA and Swaminarayan Trust, being operationalised by a group of young volunteers. There is also a half hour special slide show running through pages of the city's history unfolding back its birth from a 10th century AD ancient site known as Ashaval to the present walled city re-founded during the period of Ahmedshah and onwards.
The walk begins from the picturesque Swaminarayan Mandir in Kalupur and ends in the most glorious architectural legacies the Jumma Masjid, covering in between the numerous pols, havelis, ornamental facades, workplaces of artisans and number of magnificent Hindu and Jain temples. Our walk effectively anchored by our volunteer Rajesh Gajjar, proceeded from Kavi Dalpatram Chowk - which housed the great 19th century Gujarati poet - in Lambeshwar ni Pole, to the classic reminisces of the city's textile era - the Calico Dome to the century old Kala Ramji Mandir in the Haja Patel ni Pole with a unique idol of Lord Rama in dark colour and in a sitting posture.
A special feature of Ahmedabad is the plan of the old city, comprising numerous pols, self contained neighborhoods, sheltering large numbers of people, traversed by narrow streets, usually terminating in squares with community wells and chabutaras for feeding birds. The walk moving through Doshiwada ni Pol, Zaveri Vad to Chaumukhji ni Pol saw ornate temples with their fascinating wooden carvings hidden under plain exteriors camouflaged beneath the aura of Mughal rule, and lanes punctuated with intriguing chabutras (bird feeders) to a three foot wide alley leading into the 110-year old Harkunvar Shethani ni Haveli. Moving through the historical Fernandez Bridge brought us to Manek Chowk where amidst the deafening traffic and full of parked vehicles Rajesh told us the legend of Manek Baba after whom the chowk was named and the Manek Baba Mandir at the site where he shrank and entered a bottle to show his magical powers to Ahmed Shah, the founder of the City. "Heritage is the soul of the city" remarked Ms.Parker as we walked into the Rani no Hajiro through the Badshah no hajiro to finally culminate at the magnanimous Jama Masjid.

Kavi Dalpatram Chowk Lambeshwar ni Pol

Kavi Dalpatram Chowk is famous for the house of the famous 19th century Gujarati poet Dalpatram who resided there. The chowk houses a statue of the great poet with complete details like – the kathiwari embroidery on his kurta, the worn-out right foot and the meditative look in his eyes.

Kala Ramji Mandir Haja Patel ni Pol

This unique temple houses a dark color idol of Lord Rama in a sitting posture. The idol was hidden by the priest of the temple to protect it during Mughal period. It is believed that the idol resurfaced on its own after several years.

Swaminarayan Temple- Kalupur

In the year 1822, Lord Swaminarayan built the first ever Swaminarayan mandir in the Kalupur area of Ahmedabad. It is believed that Lord Swaminarayan first came to Ahmedabad as Nilkanth Varni in 1799 and stayed at Lake Kankaria.

Badshah no Haziro

Badshah no Hajiro is located outside the east gate of Jama Masjid. It is the tomb of Ahmed Shah, the founder of Ahmedabad. It is square in shape and has porch on each side and has perforated stone windows. The tomb has cenotaphs of Ahmed Shah’s son and grandson. Women are not allowed into the central chamber of the structure.

Rani no Haziro

Rani no Haziro lies across the main gate opposite to the tomb of Ahmed Shah. This tomb is in a courtyard and not a chamber. It is said that the queens of subsequent sultans were buried here.

Mandvi Pol

There are many other places worth visiting. One of them is Mandvi Pol. It is one of the largest pol in Ahmedabad. It has around 55 smalls pols located within its vicinity. Then comes Kansara Pol, well known for the family trade of molding metal sheets into pots and vessels.

Baba Maneknath Temple

Baba Maneknath Temple is located in Manek Chowk. The history of this place is quite interesting. It is believed the great Hindu saint, Baba Maneknath, used his magic to ruin Ahmed Shah’s plan to build a new capital on his own turf. On knowing this, Ahmed Shah invited Maneknath baba to demonstrate his magical powers by entering into a small jar. Ahmed Shah then closed the jar and buried it. This was Manek Chowk was named after Baba Maneknath. In baba’s honour Ahmed Shah laid the foundation stone of the city in a bastion named Manek Burj.

Chandol Ol

Chandol Ol is a street that sells religious paraphernalia. You can also find a number of workshops where goldsmiths melt and remold old gold and silver. One can even watch the process if interested. Kandoi Ol is another place which once possessed 80 sweet shops. Now only few shops are left in that area. Then comes the busiest book market which is located at Fernandes Bridge.

Kutbi Mazar

Kutbi Mazar is a massive monument which was built in the memory of Syedna Qutubuddin Shaheed, the high priest of Bohra community. This is also worth a visit.