Ahmedabad: Land of Textile and Monuments

Indian cities listed for the vigorous rate of growth can’t be completed without the mention of Ahmedabad, Capital of Gujrat state till the 1970. History reveals that the city was in existence in the 11th century and was named as Ashapalli or Ashawal. During the 13th century King Karandev of Solanki dynasty after the victory over the King of Ashaval established a city called Karnavati on the bank of river Sabarmati. At the same place in the year 1411 sultan Ahmed Shah reconstructed the city Ahmedabad which works as the capital of sultanate [Kingdom].In the year 1487 grandson of Ahmed Shah, Mohammad Begada started and completed the construction of city wall of 10 km. in circumference with 12 gates and 189 bastions.

You can bifurcate city into two parts; Old city unplanned structures, narrow roads and much crowded during the rush business hours and new city much satisfactory and to some extant planned infra structures, sufficiently wide roads and shops and business complexes to meet with modern trends of shopping. From the centuries the city has been nick named as Manchester of east due to reliable textile industry. In the recent past skillful native population has added Chemical Industry also in the business horizon of the city to make it more versatile and competitor for the other markets of the world. Ahmedabad is on the national highway 8 that connects Delhi with Mumbai. Being the past capital of state city is well connected with all other major cities of country by road also.

The city is famous for the “Sabarmati Ashram” monument related with Mahatma Gandhi, Father of Nation and “Akhshar Dham” Temple. You can find here numerous monuments scattered here and there. Dandi, place related with famous salt agitation of Gandhi ji and Dwarka related with Lord Krishna are in the vicinity of the city. Some of the famous monuments and places of tourist attraction are

Kankaria Lake, Aquarium & Zoo [Constructed by Sultan Qutub-ud-Din]

Step Wells [Caves with interiorsof carvings in stone]

The Palace of Shahibaugh [Build in 1622 A.D. Presently Sardar Patel Memorial]

Jain Temples (Derasars) [Situated in old city]
Dawazas(Gates) of Ahmedabad - Teen Darwazas
- Lal Darwazas- Delhi Darwazas

Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram [Built on the banks of river Sabarmati]

Sidi Syed Mosque [Near Lal Darwaja and world famous for magnificient craved stone work]

Jumma Masjid [illustration of Islamic Architecture with 260 pillars and 15Domes, constructed by Sultan Ahmed Shah in 1423]

Apart from these there are many museums reflecting old culture of the city. The city is a real image of ancient glory and modernization.

Agra: Lover’s Paradise: The Monument of Everlasting Love

Valentine day is just forty days away and I dream last night that I got rebirth as feminine and God is asking me about the lover that I will prefer to have. Will any one like to provide words for my desire? Please don’t try as I know my desire is as strange as my dream was. My desire is to have a lover like Shah Jahan who can make yet another Taj Mahal to express his love for me.

Taj Mahal along with other heritage monuments Fatehpur Sikari and Red Fort makes the city of Agra, the most prominent and frequently traveled spot of the world tourism map. Geographically Agra is situated in the Uttarpradesh state of India and is a district place and well connected with other cities of the country as being on the cross roads of national highways 2, 3 and 11. Though in the present times Agra and Taj Mahal are used as synonymous but the Indian history pages are showing the presence of city even in the era of Mahabharat with the name Agrabana. It is believed that city was constructed by Raja Badalsingh who ruled the area around the 1475 A.D. The city is situated on the banks of river Yamuna and water of this river adds glitters to Taj when seen as the shadow in the water.


Taj Mahal
An architectural beauty, beyond comparison, inspiration of poets and writers, a dream desire of each and every lover. It is said that Mumtaj Mahal [Arjumand Bano] the heart queen of King Shah Jhan [Khuram] was with desire to have unique Makbara [Rest place after the death] and to fulfill this desire king decided to construct Taj. It has taken almost 22 years [from 1630 to 1652] and craftsmanship of 20,000 workers to build this perfect symmetrical beauty in marvel.
History reveals that Mumtaj Mahal was died in 1631 at Burhanpur [Presently in the state of Madhya Pradesh] and her dead body was shifted from there to Agra only after the construction of Taj was completed. Today not only the lovers but also the common people are visiting this wonder of world. The scenario become more worth to watch and photogenic on the night of Full Moon day.

Fatehpur Sikari

This is yet another evidence of excellence in architectural craftsmanship by the Mugals, which was constructed by King Akbar. History narrates that after being hopeless about the heir King Akbar went [necked footed on the hot sand of desert] to the famous sufi saint Shaikh Salim Chishti of Sikari [almost 40 km. away from the Agra city] and prayed to bless with a son. Blessings of saint forced God to fulfill the desire of King and after having a male child King Akbar build this structure and made it capital city. Though due to water storage problem the city was not remained the capital and mist of time had covered it but still the marvelous tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti is attracting tourist to visit the place and pray the sufi saint for granting the blessings.

Agra Fort [Red Fort]

The fort, for which construction orders and initial structure was constructed by the Mugal Emperor Akbar in the 1565 but the work was on for the fort of total perimeters of 2.4 km till the time of his grandson Shah Jhan. The crescent shaped fort goes on to become flattened on the eastern side especially the wall facing river. The construction is made from the red sand stones with bastions at regular punctuation.

Other Tourist Spots

Agra is the most famous tourist city of India. The city is with the traditional heritage of Mugals and North Indians, this is reflecting not only from the dress code of local people but also from the food habits. Here you will find sweet dish like Gazak and Petha, Snacks like Shola Bhatura showing the north Indian taste along with Non Vegetarian Mougalai food stuffs. Other tourist attraction the predominantly attracts the tourists are

Sikandara: Resting place of King Akbar

Itmad-ud-Daulah: Tomb of Mirza Giyas Beg [A tomb constructed by Queen Noor Jhan for her father]

Radha Swami Samadhi : The garden palace with the holly ashes of Baba Shivdayal Ji founder of this religious and spiritual thought stream. [for more details http://www.thesindhuworld.com/rf_radhaswami.htm ]

Chinni Ka Roza : Evidence of influence of Parsian architectural.

Mariyam’s Tomb: Famous for some exceptional carvings.

Jama Masjid: A wonderful assimilation of Iranian architecture.

Some Famous Religious places KAILASH TEMPLE
MANKAMESHWAR TEMPLE
BALKESHWAR TEMPLE
PRITHVINATH TEMPLE
RAJESHWAR TEMPLE
GURU KA TAL GURUDWARA
BAPTIST CHURCH
CATHOLIC CHURCH
DIGAMBAR JAIN MANDIR

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