Multi-faceted Potpouri of Ahmedabad City

‘Bathed in blood and ashes, rose the iridescent bid of paradise, rain bowed a wing with many a hued gold.’ A ritual drenching of blood, the ultimate sacrifice and there was born something almighty and enduringly magnificent. So, rose the grand city of Ahmedabad, the jewel of Gujarat, the seat of its Sultanate; on the death by poisoning of Muzzafar Shah by his grandson, Ahmed. In 1410 AD he assumed the throne, crowning himself Sultan Ahmed Nasir-ud-din Shah. On the other suggestion of his spiritual advisor, he initiated the seeds of the multi-cultural city of Ahmedabad by laying it foundation stone in 1411 AD, almost six hundred years ago.

Ahmedabad, name emblazoned in percussioned notations , many faceted living space, interwoven though craft and guild traditions in threads of identity. A city and its ability to absocultural and economic amalgamations in its journey to growth. The snaking, cobbled alleys of Khadia to the neon, cladded interface of the S.G highway; from mortar and wood of havelis to concrete and plastic of lego monoliths; the ethnic textile playground of law garden casually blending into boutiques on C.G.Road, marginalized ghettos of industrial labor with their frothing pink canals of water to pristine bungalow edifices boing deep within the regolith to charm up water laced with fluorides; the technography of blending the Narmada with the Sabarmati to the surrender of its wayward banks to cuboid, construction extravaganzas; the orderly chaos of the eastern part to the chaotic disorder of the western; a cross-section of peoples, cultural, cuisines and climes, all of which is the jigsaw of riot and colors, animals and people, and urban myths, opium dens and sheesha bars, a contradiction of terms and values such an interesting cityscape that we, the present have inherited. For a visitor, Ahmedabad facets herself differently to different people. For the annals of construction, it is a repository of styles, from the 15th century Indo- Sarcanic to Bauhausian post modernism. Cultural beliefs via hand in hand with abstract modern thought. Traditional craft showcases itself in streets and lanes, a treasure of skills and design. Beliefs are seasoned in modern expressions leading to a pot pourri of flowering. The economic clout and diversity of this city is based on its textile industry paying homage to the title, the Manchester of India’. For students of pacisivim, Ahmedabad is the abode of Gandhi, the beaton of peace and non violence. All of these and much more make Ahmedabad the technological and cultural hub of Gujarat .

The city is an architectural diasporas of a babel of styles ad rots the sultans of yore embellished the city with monuments of dusky brown sandstone where geometric patterns of Islamic thought blended with filigree flowering of Hindu craftsmanship leading to the birth of the Indo Sarsenic in built form. These caparisoned jewels dot the bustling map of a modern city. The Jumma Masjid(1423) one of the largest mosques in India, is a sheer grandeur of space within the stifling congestion of colors that is Manek Chowk. Nearby, the twin banks of a defunct riverine tributary lie the mausoleums of Ahmed Shah and his wives, which form the nexus of a thriving textile craft and metal jewelry market. The delicately perforated stone tracery akin to an abstract tree of life adorn the mosques of Sidi Saiyad(1571) and Rani Rupamati(1439). The planned gardens, Masjid, pleasure palaces and mausoleums surround an artificial lake at the Sarkhej Roza. The remnants of the fort wall embroider the old city with its uniquely elegant gates, reliefed with carefully disguised Hindu motifs.

The Islamic penchant for orchards and gardens synthesized in Shahibaug with its ‘gheru’ and ‘chuna’ governors palace and the now extinct tracts of Amraiwadi and Ambawadi to name a few.

Later incursions by looting Marathas led to the formation of ‘pols’, a unique series of connected living spaces, protectively barricaded with the rear elevation of ‘Havelis’ forming the outer wall. By the end of the 17th century, Ahmedabad was in a sense of turmoil and anarachy. The fort walls had crumbled in places and the ‘Pols’ offered sanctuary and a pocket of calm for a prosperously wealthy city in flux.

Published:Ahmedabad Mirror