Like Delhi and Hyderabad, Ahmedabad also has an ancient city, which is still living in the same period of antiquity. These ancient places take you back to the olden times when these cities were being newly built and where they were slowly developing. These areas have their own special identity which is clearly visible from the environment there.
The biggest feature of Ahmedabad is the residential system of this ancient city which makes it unique. Here the diverse communities live independently, but still, they are bound to each other.
Every day a heritage tour of Ahmedabad is organized by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation which takes you through the old parts of the city.
After organizing these trips over the years, he has now become very adept at this task. I went on this pilgrimage for the first time about 13 years ago and then 10 years after that i.e.
3 years ago I got a chance to go on this journey again and both times I enjoyed a lot during these trips.
The journey starts from Kalupur Swaminarayan Temple, which is situated right in the heart of the city. If you want, you can reach there a little before 8 in the morning and enjoy the fresh and hot breakfast available at the shops outside the temple. The fafda you get there which is served with papaya chutney and jalebi is a must eat.
Before starting this padyatra, a small movie based on the heritage of this temple is shown to the travelers. A travel brochure is also given so that they do not face any problem during the journey.
Poet Dalpat Rai’s house
The first stop on this journey is the house of the poet Dalpat Rai, where there is nothing but the courtyard, which has an open courtyard where a large statue of him stands. Our guide explained to us his life and his philosophical thoughts in detail and also explained how this courtyard has tried to keep him alive.
birdhouse
While roaming the streets of Ahmedabad, we were shown the platforms of various types of birds. These platforms looked somewhat like trees, which were nowhere to be seen in these exuberant streets.
This old city of Ahmedabad is divided into residential clusters, where certain communities live. These communities are formed either on the basis of caste, or on the basis of religion or occupation, or even on the basis of a combination of these three.
There are some secret passages that connect these dwellings to each other like a puzzle. It is impossible for any outsider to explain these routes, which proves very convenient in case of attack.
Seeing this type of building style here, this thought came to my mind, whether attacks and battles have always been an integral part of the culture of this city; Due to which they had to use this method even in residential parts, as is often the case in royal palaces.
Ramji Mandir – Haveli Mandir
We visited about 450 years old Ramji Temple in Ahmedabad which is also known as Haveli Mandir. The Karta-dharta of this temple, that is, the extended joint family of the temple still resides here.
This family temple is also open to the general public. The wooden structures here which are still bearing the weight of this haveli are really commendable.
Ashtapadi Jain Temple
Ashtapadi Jain Temple is very beautiful its typical Jain architecture is commendable. During this, our tour guide told us about the unique rainwater harvesting system there which can preserve the available consumable rainwater for the whole year. You will definitely be surprised to see this random structure, in which many methods are hidden in its structure.
Here not only rainwater is collected, but it is stored using lime and copper piping in such a way that its usefulness is maintained and it is free from any kind of animal or disease.
Sometimes I wonder why and where we have lost this commonly available intelligence of our ancestors, who must have had some local and easy solution for our every need.
Reaching the final stop, the foot march proceeds through the markets, where shopkeepers are seen opening their shops and starting their day.
Like other ancient places in India, this place also has some interesting stories attached to it, but this time I will not share these stories with you so that you can enjoy them yourself when you go there.
While walking through these bazaars, our guide asked us to take a closer look at the various carved wooden objects here, in which the threads of many stories were engraved.
As you can see the influences of different places in the world are engraved on these objects. Often the sizes of these items are a sign of their prestige.
Jami Masjid
The last stop of this hike is the Jami Masjid, which is 200 years older than the Taj Mahal, possibly built on an ancient temple.
Small information boards have been put up by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation along the entire route of this heritage tour, which gives you detailed information about the various places here.
So that if you go on this journey by yourself, then you can easily understand and understand the information related to that place.
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