Ahmedabad (or Amdavad) is the commercial hub of Gujarat. But the city also boasts of being a centre for educational tourism, a textile hub and a tourist destination. Among the places to visit in Ahmedabad city are magnificent mosques, tranquil temples and lovely lakes. This city has a mix of historical charm and modern lifestyle.
As an amalgam of art, culture and innovation, Ahmedabad has something for everyone. The Old City has carved monuments, grand gateways, historic forts, pols and Havelis as a reminiscence of the past. Lying on the other side of the timeless Sabarmati River is the modern part. It is characterised by wide roads and malls, in stark contrast to the crowded bazaars of old Ahmedabad. And the Nehru Bridge connects both the worlds.
Sabarmati Riverfront
Sabarmati Riverfront is a waterfront developed on the banks of river Sabarmati in Ahmedabad. Started with an objective for sustainable development and environmental improvement, the place has now become a major tourist attraction owing to its lush green promenades, beautiful parks and plazas and an all-around soothing ambience.
Lal Darwaza
With lots of hawkers selling various items from clothes to electronics items, Lal Darwaza is crowded yet one of the most famous markets of Ahmedabad.
Sharpen your bargaining skills and shop to your heart’s content. You can eat a variety of local food in the area like pani puri, samosa, dhokla, flavourful paan at Lal Darwaja. Lal Bazar is quite popular for the famous dhosa here.
World Vintage Car Museum
Located in the Dastan of Kathwad, the Auto World Vintage Car Museum is a connoisseur of over 120 vintage cars including old utility vehicles, motor vehicles and ancient carriages. It is organised and maintained by the Vintage and Classic Car Club of India. The museum also houses a cafe and a museum shop with ample parking space and toilet facilities.
Started by Shri Pranlal Bhogilal Patel who transformed his private collection into a renowned museum, the Auto World Vintage Car Museum is presently managed by the Director, Mr Nitin Dossa. The museum also houses an array of royal cars and carriers ranging between 1900 to the 1970s.
Most of them belonged to some of the most prominent Kings or Maharajas of the time and some notable colonisers of the country as well. The signature exhibits include the 1949 Rolls Royce, 1906 Minerva, 1927 Phantom I and the 1923 Silver Ghost including the iconic French Hotchkiss cars. The oldest antique here is the 1903-model of Fiat.
Dada Hari Wav
Situated in Asarwa, 15 km from Ahmedabad, the Dada Harir Wav, initially known as the Bal Harir Stepwell is among the two famous step-wells of the region. Established during the Mehmud Begda era, this octagonal stepwell designed in sandstone is a remanence of the Solanki style of architecture. It is a space of respite for the locals during the summers.
The seven-levels of the stepwell, which is a great source of water conservation, can also accommodate several visitors at the same time. Located right behind the Dada Hari grave, this unique construction showcases three stairways to the bottom of the well from the first storey. The whole structure of the Dada Harir Wav is a masterpiece of Gujarati design and intricate artistry in stone
Bhadra Fort
Located at the walled city of Ahmedabad, the 44 acre-Bhadra fort composes of intricate carvings, latticework and frescos alongside impeccable arches and inscriptions at the entrance. Built in 1411 by Ahmed Shah I, the walling is said to have been established to protect the Gujarat Sultanate, reigned by Ahmed Shah I at the time.
Also known as the Arak Fort, the Bhadra Fort is said to inherit its names from the Bhadrakali temple installed by the Marathas here. This red stone-fort located along the Sabarmati river was revamped by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (the AMC) and the Archaeological Survey of India (the ASI) in 2014. Bhadra Fort is also an important venue for significant events such as the Republic Day and the Independence Day of the country.
Calico Museum of Textiles.
This museum contains one of the world’s finest collections of antique and modern Indian textiles, all handmade and up to 500 years old. There are some astoundingly beautiful pieces, displaying incredible virtuosity and extravagance. You’ll see Kashmiri shawls that took three years to make, and double-ikat fabrics whose 100,000 threads were each individually dyed before weaving. The main textile galleries can only be visited in the morning session. The tours last two hours with a maximum 25 people – 15 by group booking and 10 on a first-come-first-served basis. Be there by 10 am to maximize chances of getting in. The afternoon tour (maximum 15 people, all first-come-first-served) is devoted to the Sarabhai Foundation’s collection of religious art, which explores depictions of Indian Gods and a textile gallery.
Sabarmati Ashram
Once the residence of Mahatma Gandhi and his wife Kasturba, Sabarmati Ashram is the site where Gandhiji started the famous Dandi March from. Situated in the 5km north of Ahmedabad’s centre, it is located on the tranquil and serene stretch of Sabarmati River. Also referred to as the ‘Gandhi Ashram’, ‘Mahatma Gandhi Ashram’ and most importantly, ‘Satyagraha Ashram’,
In gratitude of the substantial impact Dandi march had on the Indian independence movement, the Indian government has recognised the Sabarmati Ashram as a national monument. The Mahatma Gandhi Ashram has a number of other establishments within its bounds. The most famous among them is the museum ‘Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya’ which has some of Gandhi’s personal letters and photographs on display.
Law Garden Night Market
The Law Garden Night Market, situated at the Law Garden in Maharaja Society is a prominent night market in Ahmedabad. Housing an array of authentic stalls from Kutch and Saurashtra, the top buys here include traditional clothing, wall hangings, bandhej sarees, long colourful skirts (chaniyas) antique jewellery, traditional footwear and home decor items.
The night market is also lined with food trucks serving some delicious local dishes and street food. It is recommended to visit between 8 and 9 PM as it is convenient to drop by the neighbouring Happy Street thereafter.
Ahmedabad Ni Gufa
An underground art gallery exhibiting paintings and sculptures of noted artist M.F. Hussain, located on the campus of the Centre for Environmental Planning & Technology in Ahmedabad.
The form of roof shells is guided by computer designs and the structure, built in ferrocement, is in the form of skeletal skin and wire mesh, sandwiched on each side by layers of cement.
Sidi Saiyyed Ni Jali, old city Ahmedabad
The Sidi Sayed Mosque is famed for its exquisite jali windows, spider web fine, depicting the intricate intertwining branches of the ‘tree of life’ that is best seen from the road that runs along the back of the mosque. The central arch of the mosque is also bereft of the intricate latticework, making the eyes go straight to the main stunning work at the back wall. The mosque still functions as a place of prayer.
Shreyas Folk Museum
This museum, 3km west of the river in Bhudarpura, displays impressive range of Gujarati folk arts, including woodcarvings, metalwork and some wonderful embroidered textiles and amazing tie-dyed quilts. Included in the ticket is the Kalpana Mangaldas Museum, with festival masks and dolls from around India and, just to round things off, an elephant skeleton. It’s all set in the peaceful, peacock-dotted grounds of the Shreyas Foundation.
Akshardham Temple, Gandhinagar
Akshardham is a majestic, intricately carved stone structure that stands amid sprawling gardens set in a 23-acre plot at Gandhinagar (Gandhinagar district). It is built in 6000 tonnes of pink sandstone and not a bit of steel has been used. The temple is 108 ft in height, 240 ft in length and 131 ft in width. A point worth noting is that this modern monument to Hinduism was built as per the injunctions of Vastu Shastra. The monument enshrining the seven-foot high, gold-leafed Murti (idol) of Lord Swaminarayan is the focal point of the complex.
The monument stands on 7 sculpted pillars, 210 single-piece stone beams, 57 window grills, M domes, eight ornate zarokhas, etc. The sanctum sanctorum contains the 1.2 tonne gold-plated idol of Lord Swaminarayan, the founder of the sect that bears his name, shown in a sitting posture with his right hand raised in abhay mudra. He is flanked by Swami Gunatitanand on his right and Swami Gopalanand Swami on his left. Both of them were his disciples. Swami Gunatitanand is called Swaminarayan’s Akshardham, the eternal abode. According to the Swaminarayan philosophy whenever Lord Swaminarayan incarnates on this planet he brings with him his Akshardham.
Gunatitanand Swami is also called Aksharbrahma and ranks second in the hierarchy of the Bochasanvasi Akshar Purushottam Sanstha which built the Akshardham monument. Inspiring episodes and incidents from the glorious history of Sanatan Dharma are presented in sound and light form for the benefit of the visitors. The show takes visitors through various facets of Hinduism. The wisdom of the Vedas, the epics, the Puranas are depicted on a crowded canvas by the exhibition. The visitor comes face to face with personages who have made this land what it is.
It is a perfect mix of modernity and ancient values. Apart from Lord Rama going in search of his kidnapped wife, the visitor can see Shravan- the dutiful son, the Pandavas losing the game of dice in the Hastinapur palace, etc. Besides the visitors can also see Sabari’s long wait for Lord Rama and Draupadi’s humiliation in the Kauravasabha.
The Hall of Harmony projects world religions side by side. The monument is ringed by a parikrama containing 365 stone pillars. The temple also houses the Akshardham Center for Applied Research in Social Harmony (AARSH) which is a futuristic research center with a rich library, study stations, and archives. Access to the library is confined to enlisted scholars.
Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum
A Padma Bhushan awardee in 1968, Kasturbhai Lalbhai was a well-known business tycoon and textile industrialist. He was also a friend of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and was one of the most respected philanthropists and an extremely sought-after visionary head of the Jain community. A lover of arts and literature, his association with the Jain muni Punyavijayjee led to the restoration and study of ancient Jain manuscripts.
The Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum campus in Ahmedabad, built on his ancestral property, comprises three buildings. The main building, a colonial style ancestral house, once popular as Lalbaug, was built in 1905 by Shri Lalbhai Dalpatbhai and continued to be in use as residence of his youngest son, Shri Kasturbhai, and family until 1997. Restored and renovated by architect Rahul Mehrotra and his team, it reopened as a museum in January 2017. It mainly houses the art collection of the renowned Tagore family of Bengal, a collection that was subsequently acquired by Shri Kasturbhai Lalbhai in the 1940s to help the Tagores out of their precarious financial condition. The paintings on display are from varied traditions and styles — Persian, Mughal, Deccan, Pahari and Rajasthani school, Tibetan thangkas, Company school portraits, modernist paintings from the Bengal school, and painted postcards from the pre-independent India. The museum also houses art in stone, metal, wood and Bidri that go back a thousand years.
The other two buildings are the Claude Batley House, which originally served as the servant and kitchen quarters for the Kasturbhai’s huge joint family, and the Rahul Mehrotra gallery positioned on the right side of the main building, which was originally used as the tennis court by the family. Both these spaces house temporary exhibitions — retrospectives of artists and display of works by young artists. When not in use for temporary exhibitions, Sanjay Lalbhai (grandson of Kasturbhai) and his wife Jayshree Lalbhai’s modern and contemporary art collections are displayed here. Besides, there is also an amphitheatre space on the left of the main building. The Jain temple, which was earlier part of this family estate, can now be approached through a separate gate.
Some of the artefacts housed at the museum include ‘The Ramayana’ painting by Nandalal Bose, made with wash and gouache on handmade paper depicting scenes from the great epic Ramayana; Rasamanjari paintings from the 18th century, painted by masters from Nurpur in the Punjab Hills illustrating the different moods and reactions of love of the Nayaka and the Nayika as composed by Bhanudatta in his Rasamanjari, a 15th century text of Indian aesthetics associated with the Reeti-kavyaa classical stream of Hindi poetry; Basholi painting of the Devi, composed during the 18th century, which shows Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh (Shiva) worshipping the Devi (the Goddess) seated on a throne; and a unique group of painted postcards from 1913 to 1940 illustrating the development of the Bengal school of art and also the beautiful camaraderie shared between its teachers, students and associates. The museum in the past years has organised lecture series on contemporary art and mythological story-telling sessions for children and the owner Mrs Jasyhree Lalbhai would like the
Experience Ahmedabad Heritage walk in the morning
The walk starts from at 7:45AM from Kalupur Swaminarayan temple and ends at Jumma (jama) masjid by 10AM to 10:30AM. Ticket price (at the time of writing) – As the heritage walk is organized by Ahmedabad municipal corporation, the fees for this entire guided tour is very nominal.
Click on the below link for more information
https://ahmedabadcity.gov.in/portal/jsp/Static_pages/heritage_walk.jsp
