Ahmedabad Chronicles IV - Stambh and Minar of Ahmedabad...

While the Mahastambh stands tall in front of Hutheesing Jain Temple, the Jhulta Minara showcases the great craftsmanship. 

Mahavir Stambh

Tall towers have been representing victory and pride since ages. A replica of the Victory tower of Chittorgarh, this 78ft Mahastambh stands tall in the courtyard of Hutheesing Jain temple in Ahmedabad. Having heard a lot about Chittrogarh victory tower, we did not wanted to miss a visit to Hutheesing ni Wadi when in Ahmedabad. The structure is intricately carved with motifs, gods and godddess.

The temple reminded me of the 72 Jinalaya of Mandvi. Dedicated to lord Dharmanath, the main shrine is surrounded by shrines dedicated to 24 thirthankaras and other gods and goddess. Photography is restricted inside the temple premises.

Jhulta Minara

Very close to Kalupur Railway station is Sidi Bashir Minars, well known as Jhulta(shaking) Minara. Built by Sidi Bashir who was famous architect in the reign of Sultan Mahmud Shah I(1458-1511 AD), these 100ft tall minars are famous for their shaking property. If you shake one minar at the top, the second minar vibrates too. Unfortunately, climbing the minar has been restricted recently, but you can enjoy the great craftsmanship on the walls of this three storeyed minar.

 

I got to know about the Jhulta Minara through Sanrachana a series on EPIC channel. Check out the trailer of the episode below.

 

Travel info: 

 Hutheesing Jain Temple

Timing: 09:00 am to 01:00 pm and 05:00 pm, Everyday.
Temple is at Bardolpura, Madhupura, 3.6 km from Ahmedabad Station.

Jultha Minara

Timing: 05:00 am to 08:00 pm, Everyday
Minaras are near Kalupur Railway Station Road, Sakar Bazzar, Kalupur, Ahmedabad

Skywatch - Sabarmati River Front!!!

"Cleanliness starts at home", that is what we felt when we visited the Riverfront Park on the Bank of Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad. The Riverfront Park is so neatly maintained and stands to our PM Modhiji's Swach Bharat campaign.

There is play area for kids and don't expect any good food at the shops on the river front. Best time to visit is evening, when you can spend time in the park and enjoy the park in light as well.

Sabarmati Ashram as seen from Sabarmati River Front

Happy Skywatching!!!

Ahmedabad chronicles III - Gandhian Trail at Sabarmati Ashram..

Staying in Sabarmati suburb during our two days trip to Ahmedabad, this life size photograph of Mahatma Gandhi at the entrance of Sabarmati Ashram caught our sight every time we passed by the Ashram.

Having visited Aga Khan Palace of Pune and Mani Bhavan of Mumbai, other places associated in Mahatma's life, Sabarmati Ashram was of course a much awaited place to be visited for us. Sabarmati, Gandhiji's residence which was set up to experiment on farming, cow breeding, kadhi and other related. Having visited Kutch, I could easily relate to the textile market of Gujarat and Gandhiji promoting hand spinning in Gujarat's handloom industry. 

Which Indian is unaware of Sabarmati Ashram or Dandi March? The final land mark of Sabaramati Ashram in Gandhiji's life was of Dandi March, which was started in protest of the British Salt Law on 12th March 1930, and Gandhiji never returned to the Ashram then after.

Set on the bank of river Sabarmati, Ashram has collection of photographs, audios, videos, life size paintings and relics from Gandhiji's life. Hridaya Kunj(Gandhiji's cottage), Nandini, Vinoba Kutir, Upasana Mandir, Magan Niwas are few of the cottages at the Ashram.

 

 

Coincidently, we got to meet Phalguni Patak at the Ashram during our visit.

Travel Info:

Timing: 8:30AM to 6:30PM, open all days through the year.

Entry free

Visit Ashram website here, to know more about the place.

Ahmedabad Chronicles II - Trimandir, Auto World, Akshardham...

When we planned our trip to Ahmedabad, all my hubby had in mind was a visit to Auto World, Vintage Car Museum. When we planned our day tour of Gandhinagar and around, we planned for Museum. It was around 30mins drive from  Adalaj ni Vav to Auto World, and on the way we planned our visit to Trimandir of Adalaj. 

Trimandir, Adalaj

Adding to the list of Trimandirs by Dada Bhagwan, the temple at Adalaj has 13ft tall marble idol of Simandhar Swami in main sanctum, along with Adinath, Ajithnath, Parshwanath and Mahavir bhagwan. For the first time I had entered a spiritual place, with both Jain and Hindu idols. The temple also has meditation center and cafeteria. Its so refreshing to sit and meditate in the beautiful marble structure.

Auto World Vintage Car Museum Ahmedabad

A personal collection of Mr. Pranlal Bhogilal, the museum has over 100 luxury cars from finest brands like Rolls-Rocyces, Bentleys, Daimlers, Langondas, Mercedeces, Maybach, Packards, Cadillacs, Buicks, Auburns, Cord, Lancias, Lincolns, Chryslers. Its just not the cars but also other vintage bikes, antique vehicles like goat art, horse art, bullock carts which add to the collection. Its a must visit place if you love automobile. They also have fun rides in vintage cars around the museum. There is a cafeteria as well, but it looked no good. There is a small play area for kids too.

 

Akshardham

We reached the temple by 4 in the evening and had accordingly planned for the temple tour and the Water Show in the temple complex which was suggested by many of our friends when we planned our visit to Ahmedabad.
We had visited Akshardham Delhi back in 2014, but being a weekly off, we didn't get to visit inside the temple. When we saw the Akshardham temple of Gandhinagar, it looked way smaller than the Delhi one, but its architectural marvel was no less. A beautiful pink sand stone temple stood in the center of a garden. The temple has the idol of Lord Swaminarayan, the founder of Swaminarayan faith. The temple complex has a museum, which depicts the life of Swaminarayan, a souvenir shop and Sat-chit-Anand Water Show. The museum is quite hug and takes around 3 hours for a detailed visit, you can visit as per your preference and time constraints. By the time we were done with the museum, it was already dark and the temple was light with thousands of candles for diwali celebration. It was completely different sight to view the temple in lights. After spending some time we headed to water show, a must visit show especially if you are visiting with kids. Laser beams, water fountain and showers, fire, timing between the lights and human intervention, makes it a perfect show. Its a limited seating show, so better get your tickets as soon as you visit the temple.
By the time the show was done, there was hug traffic at the temple road and around. On the way we had dinner at Honest Restaurant, a well known vegetarian restaurant chain of Gajarat, on Gandhinagar-Ahmedabad Highway and reached Ahmedabad by 11 in the night.

Travel Tips:

Trimandir:

Timing 5AM to 10PM

Entry free

Auto World:

Timings: 9AM to 9PM

Entry Fee: Rs. 50/- and Rs. 100/- for photography

Vintage car ride: Rs. 500/- for 4 people

Akshardham:

Temple complex:

Entry free

Timings 9:30AM to 7 :30PM(Closed on Mondays)

Exhibition, Museum Timings 10AM to 6PM

Temple is light on Saturdays and Sundays

Water Show:

Timings depending on sunset, usually 7PM. 

45min show.

Fee Rs. 60/- for kids and Rs. 90/- for adults

Due to security reasons mobiles, cameras are strictly restricted in the whole temple complex.

Ahmedabad Chronicles I - Adalaj Ni Vav...

Being in Mumbai I always preferred exploring surrounding Gujarat and near by state than Southern states, with the feeling that South can be explored anytime when we move back to Bangalore for good. My vacations anytime to native are accompanied with trips around anyways. As part of a recent extended weekend we planned our trip to Ahmedabad and Vadodara. Though we had plans of driving down, we had to settle with bus journey at the nth moment. We had planned for 4 days trip with 2 days each at Ahmedabad and Vadodara.

We reached Ahmedabad by 8 in the morning and started with our tour by 9:30. We had booked taxi for the first day to explore places around Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. Our driver suggested us to take the tour of other places and reach Akshar Dham temple at Gandhinagar by 4, so that we could have enough time to spend time at temple and watch the light and sound show. One of the best part in Gujarat for a foodie like me is the pure vegetarian food the state offers at almost every nook and corner. So with no hazzle I could wander around anywhere in Gujarat. After breakfast we drown to Adalaj ni Vav.

Built in Indo Islamic style in 1496AD by Ruda, wife of Vaghela chief Virasimha, this octagonal shaped well has five storeys. Each floor has pillars with intricate carvings, highlight of which are a king seated on a stool under parasol with two chauri - bearers in attendance, scene showing churning of buttermilk, Bhairava, dances, musicians, birds, animals. The carvings of god and goddess are worshiped even today. There is lot to look for and admire the work gone in, decades ago.

The weather was perfect during our visit and was bit crowded too being an extended long weekend. Managed to click these avoiding the crowd.

Travel Tips:

Adalaj Ni Vav is around 18km from Ahmedabad and 5km from Gandhinagar. You can hire a taxi for the tour of tourist places around Ahmedabad or there are autorickshaws too, which take you to Adalaj Ni Vav from both Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. Nearest railway station is Kalupur.