Friday 18 April 2014

Ahmedabad, a city full of warm hearted people -- Part II

The first part of the blog is here

Sabarmati Ashram

After visiting Hatheesing Jain Temple, our auto driver took us to Sabarmati Ashram situated on the banks of the river Sabarmati. Gandhi Ji and his wife lived here for twelve years.

  It is from here that Gandhi Ji started the famous Dandi march in 1930. The march had a strong influence on India's freedom movement and in recognition of that, the Government of India has established the ashram as a national monument.

  We saw the simplest of the simple room where this great man used to stay. There was also a demonstration on how the "charka" is used.

  There is also a museum in Sabarmati Ashram where many of Gandhi Ji's letters, writings, photographs are on display. While going through each one of them, my realisation of this great man increased more and my respect by leaps and bounds. The world is indeed blessed to have Gandhi who taught us non violence and self control.


Statue of Gandhi Ji



Original seating arrangement of Bapu

Vinoba Kutir - Mira Kutir

Kasturba - the Ashram's Mother

Mother and infant parakeet at Sabarmati Ashram



Sarkej Roza

  Our nest stop was Sarkej, which is 7 kms from Ahmedabad. It is the most famous Rozas in Ahmedabad. It was once an important centre of Sufi culture in India.

  The intricate stone carvings of the complex reflect the beauty of the soul of the Roza's patron-saint Ganj Baksh. Upon his death in 1445, the reigning monarch, Mohammed Shah ordered a mausoleum built in his honour. The credit for Roza's architecture goes to Azam and Mu'azzam; two Persian brothers. The complex was originally spread over 72 acres, surrounded by elaborate gardens on all sides.

  This was pretty much for the day's sight seeing. Our auto-walla dropped us at our hotel. We had been doing the city rounds for almost 6 hours at a stretch !! Our auto driver Akbar was indeed a nice man. In case you visit Ahmedabad and plan for sight seeing you can take his services.


Sarkej Roja

Adalaj Step Well

  We could not cover Adalaj on the first day we reached Ahmedabad. There are too many things to see in the city itself and so we had to keep Adalaj for the second last day of our Gujarat tour.

  Adalaj is situated little far from Ahmedabad city, almost 18 km towards Gandhinagar. It is better to book an auto or car for this trip. We reserved an auto for covering the to and fro journey.

  The Adalaj step well is magnificent and should not be missed. We kept almost 2 hours for seeing this vav. It is a five storied step well and the walls have intricate beautiful carvings. The design on the walls include flowers, elephants, leaves, trees and patterns.


Adalaj Step Well

Art work at Adalaj Step Well

Adalaj Step Well

Adalaj Step Well

  In the evening we went to the nearby Law Market. I don't think any shopaholic can afford to miss this place in Ahmedabad. There are rows of small shops on either side of the road that opens in the evening. Most of them sell dresses that are hand embroidered by the local artisans of Kutch. The dress colours are mostly bright and have exquisite embroidery and mirror work. One can always do some bargain before buying. I brought these four beautiful bandni ( tie and dye) pieces. Aren't they beautiful ? :)

Bandni Pieces
keywords: sabarmati ashram, ahmedabad, gandhi ji, travel, photography, ahmedabad travel blog, 

6 comments:

  1. Completely agree. Visited Ahmedabad Jamnagar and around few places last July. Amazing Gujarath. Beautiful pictures you have there. Yes, bought those cotton salwar suits too. Got smitten by Ahmedabad and the Gujarat roads and safety.

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    1. Cant agree more with you,we are so much smitten by Gujarat that we are still raving about it :)

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  2. Beautiful Photographs and nicely compiled Photo Journey !

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    1. Thank you so much for the lovely compliment :)

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