Heritage Walk: A Walk to Remember

Ahmedabad, named after Sultan Ahmed Shah, can amaze you with its modern amenities.  Yet what makes the city appealing is the carefully preserved heritage. To experience the rich heritage, the fusion of different cultures and religions, one must travel to the “old city”. And if someone wants a crash course on it, the “Heritage Walk” is the event to go.

I had the opportunity to take the walk a couple of days back with my good friend and fellow quizzer, gamer Aditya, and was mesmerized by the sheer beauty of it.  The walk starts at the Swaminarayan Mandir and continues along some of the well preserved ancient structures, temples and mosques. We walked through several pols (derived from Sanskrit word Pratoli meaning gate or entry), self-contained neighborhood with a large number of people dwelling within it. Every community has separate pols, with religious places and water supply. Apart from the entry section, all the pols share some special features. All the pols had bird feeders, where wild birds are offered food and water. Some pol even had squirrel feeders, where a happy number of squirrels were “sunbathing”. When the world is struggling for the conservation of wild life, this mutual harmony prevailed in the city from 15^th century. We as quizzers were pleasantly surprised when we came to know that some of the British era structures were designed by Buckminster Fuller. 

Apart from this, each pol has some beautiful wooden carved houses which showcase the rich culture of the city. The architectural beauty is appealing and one can see fusion of cultures there. Some buildings have Persian elements (grapes carved in wood), some pure Indian buildings (with carved elephant trunks). One can find even a fusion of Indian and Chinese culture with elephants and dragons carved side by side. 

The old city is also a beautiful example of civil engineering. The sewage system built by the British is so efficient that the old city has never been flooded till date, while the modern city has been submerged numerous times. The buildings are intelligently built and such old buildings from early 15^th century have survived the 2002 earthquake. As pointed out by our guide, the modern addition to the buildings had formed cracks during the earthquake, but the old structures stood there majestically and unscratched.

The Jain temples had another surprise in store for us. They have adapted rain water harvesting, an area where the modern civilization is still lagging behind. It made me ponder on the fact that as the civilization has modernized we have distanced ourselves from Mother Nature and our duty towards the environment while our ancestors have always lived in harmony with nature.

Navigating through the pols, under the Fernandez Bridge, through Manek Chowk we finally arrived at the Shahi Jumma Masjid, the final checkpoint of the walk, which I think should be an inspiration for secular India. The mosque made by Sultan Ahmed Shah, is fusion of Mughal, Hindu and Jain architecture. One can see the signature blooming lotus of Hindu and Jain architecture in the mosque. The domes being a Mughal signature, are carved inside, which again signifies Hindu architectural inspiration. When the entire India is debating on secularism, especially in Gujarat scenario, I think we have a lot to learn from these ancient beauties.

The walk rightfully called “from the temple to the mosque” not only takes one through the rich heritage of the “old city’ but also offers some brilliant teachings. And the walk is a perfect opportunity for shutterbugs, to capture the rich emotions of the streets and the beauty of a bygone era.

Words can't do justice to the beauty and thrill of the heritage walk. A two and a half hour walk through ancient Indian history and culture, is surely "a walk to remember."