Ahmedabad
UNESCO World Heritage Site: Historic City Of Ahmadabad (2017), India'S First World Heritage City · Ahmedabad, Gujarat
The largest city of Gujarat, founded in 1411 by Sultan Ahmad Shah on the Sabarmati river, and in 2017 declared India's first World Heritage City for its walled old town. That old city is a dense network of pols, gated neighbourhoods of carved wooden houses built around shared courtyards, wells and bird-feeders, which the city's morning heritage walk explores. Among them stand some of the finest Indo-Islamic buildings in India: the Jama Masjid of 1424, and the Sidi Saiyyed mosque, whose carved stone window of intertwined trees has become a symbol of the city. Across the river is the Sabarmati Ashram, Gandhi's home from 1917 to 1930 and the starting point of the Salt March, now a quiet museum. The Calico Museum holds one of the world's great textile collections, on tightly controlled tours. Ahmedabad also has buildings by Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn. By night, Manek Chowk becomes a food market. The city explodes with kites at Uttarayan on 14 January and dances through the nine nights of Navratri. Gujarat is a dry state.
Manek Chowk, Old City, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, 380001, India
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED; confirm before planning. The typical pattern: the heritage walk starts early each morning, around 8; the Sabarmati Ashram opens daily from early morning to early evening; the Calico Museum runs limited morning tours by booking and closes one weekday (check which); mosques are open outside prayer times; Manek Chowk's food market opens late evening and runs past midnight. The traps: arriving at the Calico Museum without a booking, and Manek Chowk before 9 pm.