Ahmedabad was the first Indian city inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list, and the reason is not any single monument but the polsPolA gated residential quarter of old Ahmedabad — a self-contained lane of courtyard houses entered through a single doorway.Read in the glossary — six centuries of dense residential neighbourhoods east of the Sabarmati, entered through gates, threaded with secret passages built for escape, and hung with bird-feeders that the households still fill each morning.
The city holds two other legacies without apparent strain. Sidi Saiyyed's stone lattice, cut so fine the tree it depicts appears to move, has become the emblem of Gujarati craftsmanship. And a modest compound upriver — spinning wheel, bare floor, a few rooms — is where a man planned a walk to the sea for salt and unsettled an empire.
Signature Experiences
- ◆Dawn heritage walk through the old city pols
- ◆Sabarmati Ashram
- ◆Sidi Saiyyed's stone lattice
- ◆The Adalaj stepwell, five storeys down into the cool
Optional, By Arrangement
- ◆The Calico Museum of Textiles, by advance booking
- ◆Manek Chowk's night food market
- ◆The modernist circuit — Le Corbusier, Louis Kahn and B. V. Doshi in one afternoon
- ◆A block-printing workshop in the artisan quarter
Where We Place Our Guests
- The House of MGA 1920s textile magnate's mansion on the old city's edge, restored by the family who built it.
- ITC NarmadaThe city's fullest-service hotel, west of the river, for travellers who want scale and a pool.
The Table
- Gujarati thali — the subcontinent's most generous table
- Old-city street food at Manek Chowk after dark
- Heritage haveli dinner at the House of MG
Curator's Advisory
The dawn heritage walk through the pols is the finest city walk in western India, and it has to be dawn — the courtyards are awake, the bird-feeders are being filled and the lanes are still cool. The Calico Museum's textile collection is exceptional, strictly by advance slot and not photographable; it is booked with the journey rather than on arrival. Gujarat is a dry state, and permits for visitors are arranged through the hotel.
Journeys Through Ahmedabad
The Journal
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