Madras Ramblings: Carnelian Day One - Ahmedabad and Sarkhej Roza

21st February

It had been a stressful week - with my dear ma in law in hospital and project reports needing to go. There was very much a "can we make it" question before the trip. Thankfully, my ma in law stabilised, and Kamini was there to steady the ship, and so we did finally pack our bags, and I did finally finish the report presentation on the 20th, and we did fly out to Ahmedabad on the 21st afternoon!

Sheila, Sekar and me had signed me up for the Indus Valley Trails trip organised by Carnelian , with the star attraction (for me) being the Indus Valley Sites of Lothal and Dholavira. I did no pre-reading, no looking at map - I have from my childhood wanted to visit Mohenjo daro and Harappa - with the mystery seals and the dancing girl from my history text book in mind - so this was not to be passed up.

There was an unintended hilarious start, a pressure release almost, to our trip. Sheila found herself in the row behind us and as we boarded we decided that we would ask the person in our row, if we could swap. We boarded, and she found that she was seated with the two splendid monks we had seen earlier at the gate. (The said two monks got priority boarding if you please) She kept standing and I wondered why. I kept telling her sit we will swap when the person next to me comes. Turns out the monks at the back wouldn’t sit next to a lady!

The men around were most understanding and nodded wisely. And of course the man next to me dutifully obliged and went and sat next to the monks. We burst into hysterical giggles and raised many questions amongst ourselves. We continued to giggle over biriyani and chatted all the way to Ahmedabad, as Sekar focussed on the scenery out of the window. (He is used to this.)

I had a good laugh at this as we waited for our bags.

It was past 4 by the time we checked-in at the Hyatt on Ashram Road, crossing the Sabarmati river on our way. We were expected down by 5 for meeting the rest of the group and going off on a short excursion in Ahmedabad.

Introductions done, we set off for Sarkhej Roza.

Where we were headed. It was around 630 in the evening by the time we reached and the sun was well on its way to the other side.

Quite a large sprawling space, with many parts to it.

The street stalls outside were busy, kids ran here and there, and there was a general holiday relaxed feel - it was Republic Day after all.

The setting sun framed the various buildings that were part of the complex.

As we walked through the arches, we saw this huge tree filled with Kites! Kites were everywhere!

"Sarkhej" is the name of the village which existed here in the 15th century, and it was an area of weavers and indigo dyers. The Sufi saint, Shaikh Ahmad Khattu Ganj Baksh, retired to this village in his later years. Legend goes that saint Ganj Baksh is the one who asked Ahmed Shah of the Gujarat Sultanate to set up his capital at Ahmedabad, and so in a way is an important persona in the history of the city.

The story goes that a hare was found chasing a dog, on the banks of the Sabarmati, and this unusual role reversal made the place special and "chosen". At this point in time, Ahmed Shah was 19 years old, the new "Sultan", after having poisoned off his grandfather, who had done the same thing to his father! He was on the look out for a new capital - Patan was the existing one ( we were headed there!)

The young king continued to keep the saint as a close adviser, guide and friend and the title "Ganj Baksh" means bestower of wealth. I always thought of Sufi saints as somehow outside the system, mavericks, but it seems that in their day they also wielded much power and influence.

The Dargah

Ganj Baksh lived a long life - some 114 years - and when he died in 1446, Ahmed Shah built this dargah for him here.

It is supposedly one of the largest such dargahs in Gujarat, and each side is a 105 ft long.

The sandstone lattice-work is very Indo-saracenic, and it felt like each panel was unique.

Admiring it from afar, one can see the massive central dome, surrounded by 13 domes on each side

There is a Trust these days managing the upkeep and they have a nice website about the monuments - https://www.sarkhejroza.org/index.html, with some nice pictures as well.

I went in to the dargah, and besides the saint in the central square, there are many others buried there too it seems.

Masjid

To the left of the dargah was this Masjid. In a nice coincidence, as I walked in, the call for evening prayer went out, and it resonated and echoed off the pillars, domes and walls as I stood there, and it was quite a surreal experience, with the sky aglow in the far corner. A few men hurried across the quadrangle to prayer. Stepping in here from the merry din and play of the outer compound, there was a sudden silence and stillness that I soaked in.

Silence is a luxury in modern India, for sure.

The corridor on the left overlooks this HUGE artificial lake and pleasure pavilions built by later rulers - as the complex became a favourite hang-out for the rich and famous of those days.

If you click on the picture, you will get a full view of the lake bed, with the decorated balconies overlooking the waters.

All the various pavilions and palaces that surround the perimeter - all rather dilapidated from the looks of it. Especially in the fading dull light, the buildings looked pretty desolate.

Sultan Mahmud Begada also shows up here - now this name intrigued and caught my attention - I quite like Begada ragam. (This Sultan also got mentioned in other historical incidents across our trip, but this was the first time I heard his name.)

He was Sultan Mahmud Shah - and Begada seems to be a title - because he captured two forts - Pavagadh and Junagadh. (There is a second explanation which is more fun on his Wiki page - "From his mustachios being large and twisted like a bullock's horn, such a bullock being called Begado".

Anyways, Begada was around and deepened the lake, made gardens, built palaces, and then also decided to build his own tomb here!

The board outside said - “This tomb has built by Sultan Mahmud Shah in his life time. It is flanked by a wide terrace overlocking the great tank. The central chamber is reached through two enclosures, each separated by a beautiful stone trellis work with a balcony window projecting on the lake side. The central chamber of twelve pillars, is crowned by a single dome and contains the graves of Sultan Mahmud Shah (died in 1511 a.d.),his son Sultan Muzaffar Shah II (died in 1526 a.d.), great grand-son Sultan Mahmud Shah III (died in 1553 a.d.) the tomb is elegant both in form and detail it is a beautiful specimen of sepulchural art of Western India"

I thus learnt not only about the power of the Sufi saint Ganj Baksh, and the links of Sarkhej Roza all through the years of the Gujarat Sultanate, from the times of Ahmed Shah to Mahmud Shah aka Begada. The Sultanate reached its height under said Begada!

For a monument with what I think a strong link to the city's founding and fifteenth century history, it seems quite neglected, buildings in disrepair. A pity.

That was more than my share of kings and saints for the evening, and we headed out for dinner, to a nice and interesting "ethnic village" called Vishaala for dinner.

They had floor seating plus lounging charpoys, and I have to say it was the best Gujarati khaana of the entire trip - the menu was amazingly extensive, the taste was great and everything felt fresh. I know the leaf is bare - but imagine every inch got filled.
I loved how the roots came with little pots of yummy white butter and gur, there was oondhiyo, sabzis, khadi (which was not like payasam), oh the jilebis and the laddu, khichdi...and some crazy number of salad things which I did not even bother with.

I ate slowly and deliberately, mindfully enjoying every morsel. We sat on tables - not like these cricketing VIPs who sat on the ground!

Hand washing was with hot water, personally poured out....it was all very touristy indeed, but also enjoyably so. I was a tourist after all.

Oh and then there was ice cream and some spicy dates if you please. Pleasantly sated and content at the end of this - I wondered to myself, how our group could continue to chatter on such a full stomach!