Taking a walk through history

The best way to know about a country's culture and tradition is to take a walk through history with heritage walks. Anupama Sushil does just that while in Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Most Indian cities have a lot of history, which is reflected in their architecture, style of living and culture. Such areas are mainly limited to the old parts of the city and therefore remain untouched by urbanisation. This however has its own repercussions. While it helps preserve the old culture it also leads to its decay with its inhabitants moving to newer areas and leaving the place unattended.

One of the ways to initiate preservation and learn about history is to walk through it. Heritage walks are an effective way to explore the inner areas of a city and its architectural, cultural and craft heritage. The walk is designed on a specific route that takes visitors through the inner areas and habitats of the people, exploring beautiful buildings, local monuments and experiencing the local way of living.

Driving the economy

With better planning and development, heritage walks can bring about a change in that particular area in terms of land use, restoration and upkeep of the heritage buildings, or even converting part of the property into a cafeteria or a paying-guest accommodation. This can give tourists a feel of the place as well as boost the local economy.

The city of Ahmedabad, one of the major economic centres of the state of Gujarat, has successfully implemented this model with the help of a non-government organisation named Foundation for Conservation & Research of Urban Traditional Architecture (CRUTA), the designer of the walk and the city's municipal corporation. Debashish Nayak, its founder, says, "Heritage walk is an effective way to make people realise the importance of the city. All this requires a dedicated effort by all agencies involved."

The two-hour heritage walk takes the tourist through the various 'pols' that are unique neighborhoods consisting of a cluster of houses around narrow streets with common courtyards, community wells and 'chabutaras' for feeding birds. These close-knit dwellings are usually inhabited by members of the same family or those practicing the same trade or religion. The houses in the 'pols' are unique in nature because of their wooden doors and panels with intricate carvings, wooden pillars, and brackets that are a unique architectural tradition of Ahmedabad. There are a total 1,500 properties in nearly 300 pols and the municipal corporation is continuously making an effort to restore and save all of them.

The walk begins from the beautifully carved and painted Swaminarayan Temple, the very first temple of this cult that was built in 1822 and proceeds to Kavi Dalpatram Chowk (Crossing) effectively guided by the volunteer. At Kavi Dalpatram Chowk is the house of the famous 19th century Gujarati poet Dalpatram with a life-size statute that is complete with every possible detail - the Kathiawari embroidery on his kurta, the worn-out right foot and the contemplative look in his eyes. From here the walk passes through the 'Lambeshwar ni Pol' to the famous Calico Dome - a relic of the city's booming textile era. The Kala Ram Mandir in the Haja Patel ni Pol houses a unique idol of Lord Rama in dark colour in a sitting posture. It is said that the idol resurfaced on its own post independence - hundreds of years after the temple's priest had hidden it to protect it during the Mughal period.

The walk then moves through Doshiwada ni Pol, Zaveri Vad to Chaumukhji ni Pol that have ornate temples with fascinating wood carvings camouflaged under plain exteriors and the aura of Mughal rule, and lanes leading into the 110-year old Harkunvar Shethani ni Haveli that still houses the family. Moving through the historical Fernandez Bridge that passes through Rani-no-Haziro and Chandla Ol brings one to Manek Chowk, named after Manek Baba, and the Manek Baba Mandir where he entered a bottle to show his magical powers to Ahmed Shah, the founder of the city. The walk ends with a visit to Juni Jumma Masjid, the city's oldest mosque with intricate filigree work that was extensively damaged in the 2001 earthquake. The walk gives an insight into the architectural details that the owners kept in mind even in earlier times beginning with open courtyards to let in fresh air, wide open spaces, the concept of rain water harvesting that existed well before time and the unique underground tanks that were made out of a mixture of five essential metals called 'panchdhatu' that enriches the water with essential elements and is approved by the World Health Organisation. The state government is also looking at giving financial assistance to the owners of many heritage houses encouraging them to preserve their properties.

The effort has been successful in the city because of the co-operative efforts of Ahmedabad's municipal corporation that provided basic infrastructure in terms of roads, sanitation, street lights, signage, public amenities, etc. This model is now being replicated with certain additions as per local characteristics in other cities of Gujarat like Dholka, Dabhoi, Nadiad and Lothal Bhuj, Siddhpur, Baroda and Jamnagar. Even cities of other Indian states like Amritsar, Pondicherry, Delhi, Jaipur, Patiala and Jodhpur have launched similar projects.