The city of Ahmedabad is legendary for its glorious past. It is associated with the many monuments such as Jama Masjid, Rani Sipri’s Mosque, Sidi Saiyad’s Mosque, and Sidi Bashir’s Mosque, Tombs of Ahmed Shah and His Queens, Ahmed Shah’s Mosque, Rani Rupmati Masjid. Ahmadabad city offers the unique style of architecture, which is a blend of Hindu and Islamic styles (Indo-Saracen style of architecture). The monuments of Ahmadabad mainly date back to the 15th century. Ahmedabad has been known for its industry since medieval times. Presently Ahmadabad is famous for its textile mills and is often referred to as the ‘Manchester of the East’.
Population : 5.49 million
Area : 204.6 sq Km
Languages : Gujarati, Hindi and English
Best Time to Visit: Winters
History of Ahmadabad:
Ahmadabad has experienced a number of high points, followed by declines. Sultan Ahmed Shah, the former ruler of Medieval Gujarat, founded Ahmadabad in AD 1411. Ahmadabad city declined within a century of its well known. In 1572, Emperor Akbar seized Ahmadabad and assimilated it within the great Mughal Empire. Ahmadabad became an important business center during the Mughal period until the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, after which the Ahmedabad city again began to decline. The British seized Ahmedabad in 1818 and set up a number of textile mills here. Ahmedabad became the temporary capital of the state of Gujarat from 1960 to 1970 Best Season, Climate and Clothing.
Ahmadabad city is located in the state of Gujarat, in the western part of India. Ahmadabad lies along the Sabarmati River. Ahmadabad is 440 km north of Mumbai. The climate of Ahmadabad is hot and soggy. Winters are cool and pleasant (November-February) but summers (April-June) are extremely dry, hot in Ahmadabad and the temperature can be as high as 46°C at times. The city of Ahmadabad experiences good rainfall during the monsoon season during the months from July to September. As the city of Ahmadabad experiences a harsh summer season, and is lashed by the southwestern monsoons, the best time to visit Ahmedabad is during winters. Cotton clothing is ideal for most of the months in Ahmedabad. Light woolens clothes are required in the winter months of Ahmedabad. Accessible from both national and international routes, Ahmedabad airport is 10 km north of the Ahmedabad city. Regular flights operate to and fro from the city to various destinations both within and out of the country. The city Ahmedabad is well connected by trains with other Indian cities. Regular trains are available to Delhi, Mumbai, Vadodara and Udaipur.Ahmedabad has a good road network, and is connected with several Indian states of Gujarat as Gandhinagar, Vadodara, Rajkot, Palitana and Jamnagar. For local traveling, taxis, auto rickshaws, and city buses are available. Motorbikes can also be hired from various centers of the city.
Attractions: There are many tourist places around the city. With the help of State Tourism Department people can reach towards monumental places.
Jama Masjid:
Jama Masjid of Ahmedabad is one of the biggest and oldest mosque for Friday prayers. Built by Sultan Ahmed Shah in 1423, the mosque is situated in the centre of the old city. It is one of the finest mosques in India with 260 pillars supporting 15 domes at different elevations. There is a spacious courtyard in marble. Originally, the mosque also had minarets, which were ruined in an earthquake.
Rani Sipri’s Mosque:
This small mosque is also known as the Masjid- e- Nagina, or jewel of a mosque, because of its extremely graceful and perfectly finished design. It is yet another beautiful example of Hindu art in a Muslim monument.
Sidi Saiyad’s Mosque:
This elegant mosque is known for its twin windows of pierced stone, worked in the style of a tree with palm leaves and curving tendrils. A splendid and matchless example of delicate carving that transforms stone into filigree, it was constructed by Sidi Saiyad, a slave of Ahmed Shah, and has beautiful carved stone windows portraying the complex interweaving of the branches of a tree.
Sidi Bashir’s Mosque:
One of the most popular monuments in Ahmedabad is the Sidi Bashirs mosque, known as the mosque with shaking minarets or Jhulta minars. Each minaret of the mosque has three storeys, fastened by carved stone balconies. The master craftsmen of the period crafted them in such a way that they respond to vibration communicated to the other via a stone bridge joining both.
Tombs of Ahmed Shah and His Queens:
The tomb (Bad shah-no Hajiro) of Ahmed Shah; the founder of the city, situated just outside the east gate of the Jama Masjid, is square shaped with porticos on each side and has pierced stone windows. Women are not allowed into the central chamber. Opposite the Hajiro, across the main road is the Rani-no Hajiro where the queens of subsequent Sultans were buried.
Ahmed Shah’s Mosque:
Dating from 1414, this was one of the earliest mosques to be built on the site of a Hindu temple, using parts of that temple in its construction.
Rani Rupmati Masjid:
Rani Roommate’s mosque situated north of the city centre, gets its name after the Hindu wife of Sultan Mahmud Begado. The mosque was built between 1430 and 1440 and epitomizes a harmonious fusion of Hindu and Muslim styles. It has three domes supported by pillars with the central dome slightly elevated which allows natural light to enter the mosque. This mosque too lost its minarets in the earthquake of 1818.
Roza of Sarkhej – Situated in a suburb of Ahmedabad, the Roza contains the tomb of the Sultan Mahmud Begado. The adjoining tomb of Ahmed Khattu Gang Baksh, a Muslim saint, who helped Ahmed Shah to build the city of Ahmedabad, has a great central dome and a shrine with finely carved brass latticework.
The Roza of Shah Alam:
This is another tombstone built in memory of the Muslim saint, Shah Alam. The Roza is supposed to have been built by the brother of the Moghul empress, Noor Jahan, wife of Jahangir. The complex of the Roza is said to contain the Footprints of the Prophet, in marble Bhadra Fort and Teen Darwaja – Built by the city’s founder, Ahmed Shah, in 1411 and later named after the goddess Bhadra, an incarnation of Kali, this fort originally had royal palaces and a garden. It now houses government offices. To the east of the fort stands the triple gateway or Teen Darwaja, from which sultans used to watch processions from the palace to the Jama Masjid. The royal entrance is triple arched and ornately carved.
Huthising Temple:
Apart from the Muslim monuments, Ahmedbad contains a number of Hindu and Jain temples. The Jain shrine, known as the Huthising temple, is one of them. Constructed by Shri Kesarising Huthising in 1848 this temple is dedicated to Dharmanath, the 15th Jain Tirtankra. 52 small temples surround the main temple here.
Kankaria Lake:
Southeast of the city, this circular artificial lake, with an island summer palace was constructed in 1451 by Sultan Qutub-ud-Din. There’s a huge zoo and children’s park by the lake and the Ghatamandal (pavilion) in the centre houses an aquarium.
Narayan Temple:
Enclosed in a large courtyard, this temple dates back to 1850. To the south of this Hindu Temple are the nine tombs known as the Nay Gas Per, or Nine Yard Saints.
Shahi Baag:
Once a part of an extensive garden it today houses the State Governor. The garden with royal palaces and a wall surrounding them was constructed by the great builder, Shah Jahan and is also associated with the poet Rabindranath Tagore who as a boy stayed here with his elder brother, before leaving his famous story “The hungry stones” (Kshudhit Pashan).
Sabarmati Ashram:
7km from the centre town, on the west bank of the Sabarmati River, it was from here, in 1930, that the Mahatma began his famous ‘Dandi March’ to the sea to protest against the Salt Tax imposed by the British. His ashram was founded in 1915 and is still involved in making handicrafts, handmade paper and spinning wheels. The Gandhi Ashram has a memorial centre, library and a Sound-and-Light (Son et Lumiere) display to offer to its visitors. There’s also a bookshop selling books by and about Mahatma. The small house in the Ashram where Mahatma Gandhi lived, ‘Hridaya Kunj’ is preserved as a national monument.
Calico Museum: The exceptional Calico Museum of Textiles is one of the best textile museums in the world. Constructed in 1949, it houses the finest fabrics spun, woven, printed and painted in different parts of India during past five centuries. Also to be found on display are old weaving machines. The museum is in Sarabhai House, a former mansion in the Shahi Baugh Gardens.
Sarkhej: Sarkhej Roza is situated 8kms away in the suburbs of Ahmedabad, on the south highway. This place is a cluster of monuments dating back to the days when the Mughals ruled this place. Sarkhej was home to the Muslim religious leader Ahmed Khattu Gang Baksh, who was the spiritual guide to the founder of Ahmedabad, Sultan Ahmed Shah. This site is the tomb of the Sultan Mahmud Begado with one of the largest mausoleum in India. One of the most beautiful architectural complexes in the city, Sarkhej Roza puts forth a unique complex of beautifully carved buildings. The Roza of Sarkhej is next to the tomb of Ahmed Khattu Gang Baksh, and both are built in the true Mughal style of architecture.