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Publication: Times Of India Ahmedabad;

Date: Nov 17, 2009;

Section: Ahmedabad Next;

Page: 2

WALLED CITY

a living museum

Hemang Desai

Heritage means d i f f e re n t things to different people. The heritage movement is rooted in the dislocation and spiritual vacuum created by the industrial revolution in Europe. It came fully in to its own after the traumas of shattered identities unleashed by the two World Wars. The idea of heritage arrived in India through the conduits of the colonial state. All that is left by one generation for the next is heritage – a civilisation, a country, a region in that country, a city in that region, an area within that city has a uniqueness of place. This “uniqueness of the place” is heritage. The entire civilisational experience is heritage, but in the beginning of the movement, the built artifacts were given prominence in holding the keys of understanding a culture. In this perspective, the six hundred years old walled town of Ahmedabad is an astonishing example of heritage.

Actually, the old town of Ahmedabad can be described as a living museum. Some of the finest institutional expressions of the Indian civilization have been its cities; Gujarat has had a long tradition of great towns -Anartpur, Vadnagar, Siddhpur and Patan. The walled town of Ahmedabad is a continuation of this long urban tradition of Gujarat.

The built environment of old Ahmedabad is the collective memory of the Gujarati culture. The building of the fort wall with fourteen gates (made of bricks and veneered by stone) gave the old town of Ahmdabad its semi circular form. It was through these gates that the various parts of the town connected with the commercial hub (Manek Chowk) and the agricultural hinterland. The first city gate, the Teen Darwaza, was built at the same time as the Bhadra Fort, subsequent to the founding of the city in 1411AD. It is in this old town of Ahmedabad that 10,000 ancient houses stand.

The celebrated monuments of the walled city are justly famous and reveal profound traditions of historical Gujarati and Indian architecture. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) scholar, R. Sounder Rajan has noted that “the Gujarat style of architecture (as seen in the monuments of Ahmedabad) is by far the most successful indigenous subversion of the Islamic architectural requirements bearing subtle undertones of the Hindu architectural principles”. It is for this reason that the monumental style of architecture is often described as the glorious weaving.

But, the piece de resistance of the old town of Ahmedabad is of course the celebrated ‘pols’. These 600 pols of Ahmedabad are the exuberant riots of beautiful wooden facades, lovely wooden brackets, lovingly carved fenestrated windows, magical balconies, talkative otlas, whirring chabutaras and action packed chowks. The thousands of years of Indian traditions of making buildings, streets and towns continue to exist in these densely packed clusters of pols. With a surface area of 550 hectares and a population of 440,000 the walled town of Ahmedabad has produced urban and architectural heritage that is exceptional by any standard of the world.

Ahmedabad is not only an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement but also exhibits an important interchange of human values, over a span of time on developments in architecture, monumental arts and town-planning. Especially the last, namely in its traditional town planning, the walled town of Ahmedabad does bear a unique testimony to the traditions of Indian town planning theories which are thousands of years old.

The task of conserving and preserving the heritage is a delicate one. The task would become easy if Ahmedabad were to get Unesco recognition. Funds would flow in for conservation. It would then naturally follow that the city, which is famous for its enterprise, would draw visitors from all over the world wanting to get to the roots of this vibrant city civilisation.

Ahmedabad’s many names

Ahammdava, Ahimmabad, Ahmadpur, Akmipur, Amdavat, Amdavaz, Amdavar, Amadaver, Amdabath Muhrat Ni Pol was the first pol built in the city. Pols were modelled on Patan, erstwhile capital of Gujarat. Every pol has a unique name derived from caste and occupation of residents Bhadra fort was the first building built in city by Badshah Ahmadshah. He later built Jama Masjid. The fort wall was constructed by his descendant Chintamani’s temple was built by Shantidas Jhaveri, an influential businessman

Swaminarayan temple too has some of the best wooden carvings in the country SEVEN-DAY BONANZA: THE WEEK THAT WILL BE … NOV 19-25

Grand inauguration of the Ahmedabad Heritage festival with Indo-Spanish fusion dance and music performance at Vastrapur lake, Open Air Theatre at 7 pm

Heritage walk | 7.45 am, daily walk to explore the walled city

Audio walk | An audio guide to Ahmedabad heritage at House of MG

Night walk | 10 pm at Mangaldas Ni Haveli at Sankdi Sheri

Book festival | Art Book Centre Street Theatres at various gates of Ahmedabad

City Poets Walk by Gujarat Sahitya Parishad

City sculptors to pay tribute to Ravishankar Raval and Bachubhai Ravat at Kumar Karyalaya, Raipur Chakla, Khadia

Festival of traditional crafts & recipes |

House of MG

NOV 19-20

Tabla Concert | Hatkeshwar temple at 9 pm

NOV 20-22

‘Vaarso’, heritage festival at Khadia from 5pm-9pm Chabutra, a painting exhibition, puppet show and book release at Contemporary Art Gallery at 5pm Gospel music | A music festival ‘Celebrating Arts Heritage’ at St Xavier’s campus at 7.30pm

NOV 21

Workshop on heritage interior by Indian Institute of Interior Design at Baronet Haveli, Desai ni Pol, Khadia at 8.30am Sufi Festival | A music festival ‘Celebrating Arts Heritage’ at Sarkhej Roza at 8pm City Gates of Ahmedabad | Exhibition of black & white skteches at Catharsis Art Gallery from 10am to 8pm

NOV 22

Jyoti Sangh Vikas Yatra, a special walk at Khadia cross roads at 8pm Reading of Esther David’s ‘The Walled City’ at ATMA at 4pm

Selection criteria for Unesco site/cities

• To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius
• To exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design
• To bear a unique testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared
• To be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates significant stages in human history
• To be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement
• To be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance
• The protection, management, authenticity and integrity of properties are also important considerations

[Graphic Design by Hiren Mistry & Graphic Rendition by Ayaz Daruwala]