Walking Old Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad is the first of only 2 World Heritage cities in India. Jaipur is the other. We learned this at an ungodly early hour after getting up for the Ahmedabad Heritage Walking Tour. The tour began at sunrise at the Swaminarayan Temple. It made for a lovely start to the day. We watched the sunrise over the elaborate temple, then attended morning prayer. Women of course were not allowed in the front part of the temple to see the idols of the gods up close. We would be too overcome or something.  

Hindus love a loud musical prayer with bells. It’s very stirring and compelling even as a non-Hindu. I moved around from front to back during the service and, while I was at the back watching ladies chant their beads inside elaborate sacks, a friendly lady joined me and attempted to make conversation. I wasn’t clear if she was trying to give information, connect for conversation or was looking for a donation for herself or the temple. She was just really determined to connect. She offered me something all scrunched up. Was it a dirty rupee bill? Some pre-chewed food? I just shrugged my shoulders in confusion. I wandered back to the front to join in singing and clapping. When I came back, she was near the exit where the casts of the soles of the feet of god reside. As you enter or leave, you touch these casts and touch your own face as a blessing. I did this for myself and she saw and came over so I touched the casts again and touched her cheeks giving her a blessing. In return I was blessed with a wide grin. 

She beckoned K & me to this door in the building surrounding the temple and we saw it was a women’s temple. It was bare and plain compared to the main temple, but there was an idol of Swaminarayan and I could suddenly understand what she was telling me. He is her father and this ashram is her home and she is sharing it with me. The music at the main temple changed for the final blessing and she indicated she needed to book it back to be blessed by the priest. I already felt blessed and joined my walking tour mates watching the scene from outside. 

The next 2 hours wer spent walking around the pols of old Ahmedabad. Pols are old gated neighbourhoods. There are 600 in old town alone, full of secret passages to the neighbouring pols in case of invasion. In addition to secret passages, each pol has a birdhouse to feed and water the birds. People all over town take special care to feed and water the wild birds and keep the utensils clean. 

We visited one temple in a family haveli (home with a courtyard) and were offered prasad by the priest. Prasad is food that has been blessed and handed to parishioners to bless them. This particular prasad was popcorn and those scrunched up things my lady had offered me. I took some and put it all in my mouth (yes, the DON’T DO THAT voice was having a conniption fit) and the unknown thing was date-ish. My lady had been offering me blessed food, which made me adore her all the more. 

The tour was fascinating, leading us through ancient gated neighbourhoods connected by secret passages, to a Jain temple, through old graveyards that were now homes and yards with the odd tomb still there, and ended at the Jama Mashid. At the Hindu temple, the tombs of the kings and the mosque, women were not allowed to go fully in. I expressed how I though women should get a discount on the tour since we aren’t allowed to see some of it. Especially considering one man put a plastic fruit basket on his head when told he couldn’t go in the tomb bareheaded. And women are going to be a problem?

Interestingly, each pol, or gated neighbourhood, has a large bird feeder and watering station designed to keep cats and predators away. I’ve noticed that everywhere we have been in the city so far, special attention has been given to the feeding and watering of birds, including our own hotel. 

The tour ended with breakfast at a 125 year old restaurant where Gandhi, Modi and Amitabh Banchan had all eaten. (Gandhi probably just had water.) It was a hole in the wall full of older men eating jalebis and rice. Our guide ordered us all thalis with a selection of the food they served. Aside from the bhaji and jalebi, I didn’t recognize anything. I ate every scrap, though, and it was delicious.

Then we were free to roam old Ahmedabad on our own and accidentally stumbled onto the street full of wedding clothes vendors. February is wedding month in India and no one does weddings like India. These were the most elaborate Indian wedding clothes we had seen. This was a level of embroidery I hadn’t seen in Delhi or anywhere else. It was shop after shop of the most beautiful over the top fairytale dresses and men’s embroidered silk suits. The vendors were kind enough to let the foreign girls touch and photograph some of the embroidery and beading. It was almost enough to make me say yes to the dress.