India Travel

Betore the Mauryan empire took hold in the fourth century BC, the greatest empire in India was the Indus Valley Civilization. Well-planned, sophisticated settlements dating back to 2500 BC were first discovered in 1924 on the banks of the River Indus in present-day Sind (in Pakistan), at Mohenjo Daro (which means “mound of the dead” in Sindi). Further excavations in 1946 on the banks of the Rivet Ravi in Punjab revealed the city of Harappa, dating from the same era, on which archeologists based their knowledge of the entire Indus Valley Civilization. In its prime, this great society spread from the present borders of Iran and Afghanistan to Kashmir, Delhi and southern Gujarat, covering an area larger than the Egyptian and Syrian dominions put together. It lasted until 1900 BC when a series of heavy floods swept away the towns and villages in the delta regions of major rivers in Sind, Saurashtra and southern Gujarat.

A prosperous and literate society, importing raw materials from regions as far west as Egypt and trading ornaments, jewellery and cotton cultivated in the fertile delta plains, it also had a remarkable, centrally controlled political system. Each town was almost identical, with separate areas for the ruling elite and the “workers", and all buildings built with bricks measured according to a system distinctly similar to that laid out in the Vedic She astras (the earliest Hindu treatises). A uniform system of weights and measures, corresponding almost exactly to modern ounces, was used, and the complex, efficient drainage systems were unmatched by any other pre-Roman civilization.

Towns established on river deltas were perfectly placed for trade. Lothal, close to the Gulf of Cambay in southern Gujarat, was a major port, and also the source of shells which the Harappans made into jewellery. Some four thousand years later, Cambay is still the largest producer of shell jewellery in India, and southern Gujarati artisans make their wonderful beadwork using barely altered materials and techniques.

Although much about this complex society remains unknown - including their impenetrable script - similarities do exist between the Indus Valley Civilization and present-day India. While their most important deity appears to have been a horned god, there was also a strong custom of worshipping a mother goddess, in the same way as Hindus. The peepal tree was revered as it is by Buddhists today, and there is evidence, too, of phallic worship, still strong among Shaivites. Altars bearing the remains of animal sacrifice have been discovered in Lothal and, in every settlement, large baths suggest a belief in the purifying quality of water. For more about the Indus Valley Civilization and its significance in Indian history, see p. 1471.

Evidence has been found here of an even older culture, perhaps dating from the fourth millennium BC, known because of its red pottery as the Red Ware Culture. You can see remains from this period and from the Indus Valley Civilization in the illuminating site museum (daily except Fri 10am-5pm; tree). Among the jewellery collection, a necklace made from gold beads, each a mere 25mm in diameter, provides evidence ot sophisticated skills and great wealth. Seals, delicately carved with animal motifs, were used by the Harappans to mark packages; one from Bahrain, imprinted with a dragon and a gazelle, is testimony to the extent of their trading links. A range of accurate weights and compasses testifies to the Harappans’ knowledge of geometry and astronomy. From the Red Ware Culture, the museum displays bowlsjars, ceramic and terracotta pots and toys - including touchmgly familiar spinning tops and marbles.

Remains of the Harappan (Indus Valley) civilization that once spread across what are now western India and eastern Pakistan have been discovered in over fifty places in Gujarat.The largest excavated site is at Lothal (daily dawn-dusk; free), close to the mouth of the River Sabarmati, roughly 100km south of Ahmedabad, and an easy journey by bus (change at Dholka) or train (3hr).The only decent accommodation is 7km away at Utelia in the shape of the impressive Palace Utelia, bookable through North West Safaris in Ahmedabad (079/630 2019, 630 0692).

Foundations, platforms, crumbling walls and paved floors are all that remain of the prosperous sea-trading community that dwelt here between 240U and 1900 BC, when a flood all but destroyed the settlement. A walk around the central mound reveals the old roads that ran past ministers’ houses and through the acropolis, where you can see the remains of twelve baths and a sewer. The lower town, evident today from a scattering of fragmented bricks and foundations, comprised a bazaar, workshops for coppersmiths, beadmakers and potters, and residential quarters. On the eastern edge of the site, shattered walls enclosing a rectangle indicate the existence of a dock - the only one discovered of its kind, suggesting that Lothal was probably a port serving a number of Harappan towns.

A 35-kilometre journey southwest of Ahmedabad by bus or train brings you to DHOLKA, and its three majestic ruined mosques. The modestly proportioned Masjid of Hilal Khan Qazi (1333), featuring detailed tracery work, and the Tanka Masjid (1361), decorated with elaborate Hindu carvings, are both unaffected by Islamic design. More dilapidated, the Mosque of Alif Khan (1453) is distinctively Persian, dominated by solid square towers on either side of the facade. Dholka village is famous for its pomegranate and guava orchards, and also has a stunning wooden haveli temple.

A visit to Nal Sarovar, set in 121 square kilometres of wet grasslands some 50km southwest of Ahmedabad, is best between November and February, when the reserve attracts colonies of flamingoes, cranes, storks, pelicans, ducks and geese. Nal Sarovar is seen as a valuable asset by conservationists campaigning for a reduction in road building and industrial pollution, both fast drying out Gujarat’s remaining expanses of wetland.

Just under 10km southwest of Ahmedabad (bus #31 from Lai Darwaja), in the suburb of Sarkhej, is a complex of beautifully fashioned monuments arranged around an artificial lake. The square tomb of the revered saint Sheikh Ahmed Khattu, the spiritual mentor of Ahmed Shah, who died in 1445, is the largest mausoleum in Gujarat, with scores of pillars inside supporting the domed roof. Tracery work and inlaid marble decorates the upper walls and the outer wall supports rows of arched wooden doors and brass screens. The mausoleum was constructed by Ahmed Shah’s successor,

Mohammed Shah, in 1446. The later Sultan Mohammed Beghada (died 1511) so deeply admired Sheikh Ahmed that he added palaces, a harem and a vast lake to the site, and finally chose to build his own tomb here as well. Sarkhej became a retreat of Gujarati Sultans, who added gardens, pavilions and tombs to the elaborate complex. While some of the buildings are tailing into ruin, it remains a charming place, usually teeming with brightly dressed Gujarati holiday-makers, and has a serene beauty comparable to that of Udaipur in Rajasthan.

The second state capital after Chandigarh to be built from scratch since Independence, the uninspiring city of GANDHINAGAR is laid out in thirty residential sectors in an ordered style influenced by the work of Le Corbusier, who designed Chandigarh and had a hand in conceiving the layout of New Delhi. Its near-symmetrical numbered streets are wide and strangely quiet, lined with a total of sixteen lakh trees - that’s 26 per head of the city’s population.There’s little to warrant spending much time here, but the headquarters of the Swaminarayan sect, Akshardam. is worth a look. This vivacious Hindu revivalist movement, established in 1907 by Brahmaswarup Shastnji Maharaja, promotes Vedic ideals pronounced by Lord Swaminarayan (1781-1830).Born in Uttar Pradesh, the saint settled in Gujarat where he built six temples, wrote religious discourses and proclaimed that his presence would continue through a succession of saints, the most recent of whom is a Gujarati named Pramukh Swami Maharaja.

The Akshardam may advocate simplicity and poverty, but the colossal Swaminarayan complex on J Road, Sector 20 (daily, but most attractions closed Mon, 7.30am-9.30pm), a centre for representing the precepts and practices of the sect, is hugely extravagant. Built of pink sandstone, all six thousand tonnes of it brought from Rajasthan, with domed roofs raised on almost one hundred profusely carved pillars, it’s furnished inside with Karnataka rosewood. The statues of Swaminarayan and two other prominent gurus shimmer with a gold leaf coating. The Hall of Holy Relics, containing possessions of Swaminarayan, also has a state-of-the-art display of images projected onto fourteen screens.There are three exhibition halls too (daily except Mon, Nov-Feb 9am-6.30pm, March-Oct 10am-8pm: Rs25). In Nityanand Hall, fair-com-plexioned figures represent themes from the great Hindu epics, while the works of Indian mystical poets such asTulsidas and Kabir are shown and models of sadhus tolerantly “discuss” world religions with a view to attaining universal harmony. There’s a Centre for Applied Research in Social Harmony in the landscaped gardens.

Regular buses run between Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (lhr), but there’s only one train a day in each direction (lhr) and the station is rather inconveniently placed, out m Sector 14. Although the town sees few tourists, it does have a tourist office on Gha Road in Sector 16, 200m north of Road #4. Should you want to stay, the Capital Guest House, next to the tourist office (entrance round the back,02712/32651), is acceptable.There’s a youth hostel 300m behind it (02712/22364) with spartan dorms and a discount for cardholders, and the a/c Hotel Haveli (02712/24051, 24057; 0H» in Sector 11, 300m behind the bus stand. Note that to telephone Gandhinagar from Ahmedabad you need to replace the 02712 city code with 82, and in the opposite direction, replace 079 with 89.

One of Gujarat’s most spectacular step-wells, or vavs, Adalaj Vav (daily Sam—6pm; free), stands in lovingly tended gardens about lkm from a bus stop on the route between Ahmedabad, 19km away, and Gandhinagar. Once a Hindu sanctuary, the well is now totally out of use; local women wash clothes and cooking utensils at modern water taps nearby.

The monument is best seen around noon, when sunlight penetrates to the bottom of the five-storey octagonal well shaft. Steps lead down to the cool depths through a series of platforms raised on pillars. Alive with exquisite sculptures, the walls, pillars, cornices and niches portray erotica, dancing maidens, musicians, animals and images of Shiva in his terrible aspect, Bhairava.

Stone elephants, horses and mythical animals parade around the sides of the shaft, where green parrots swoop down to rest out of the glaring sun. Before descending you’ll see several Sanskrit inscriptions etched into the walls just above eye level, one of which records the building of the well by Ruda, wife of a local chief, in 1498.

The most obvious day-trip from Ahmedabad is north to Adalaj, with its impressive step-well, and perhaps on a little further to the new capital of Gandhinagar, which has the extraordinary Swaminarayan religious complex, but is otherwise a characterless conglomeration of landscaped grids. South of town, the lake, pavilions and mausoleums of Sarkhej make a pleasant break from the crowded city. Further south, beyond the Nal Sarovar bird sanctuary, is Lothal, an excavated ancient Harappan site which dates back four thousand years, giving a sense of the area’s ancient past; the mosques in Dholka en route date back to the fourteenth century.

Airlines, International Air India, off Ashram Road near the High Court 079/658 5657; Air France, Paduban House near Ellis Bridge town hall 079/544 2391; British Airways, Nijhawan Travel

There are three daily express trains to Bhavnagar (5hr 25min-7hr), and two nightly to Junagadh (8hr 20min-9hr 55min) and Veraval (1Ohr 25min-12hr 5min), of which the Girnar Express #9946 is faster. Of the five to seven trains serving Rajkot and Jamnagar, the overnight Saurashtra Express #9215 continues to Porbandar, while the Saurashtra Mail #9005 also serves Dwarka and Okha- For Bhuj, the quickest route is to take the late-night Kutch Express #9031 to Gandhidham and pick up one of the five daily connections there. For Vadodara (2hr), there are no less than 14 trains daily, most continuing to Surat (4hr 30min), seven to Vapi (for Daman; 6hr), and seven or eight to Mumbai Central (9-1 Ohr) - to arrive early in the morning, catch one of the evening departures, the #2902, #9144 or #9006. Alternatively, the Shatabdi Express #2010 will speed you to Mumbai in just over seven hours (daily except Friday), calling at Vadodara (1hr 35min) and Surat (3hr 30min). Of the three daily services to Delhi, the overnight Ashram Express #2915 is by far the fastest (16hr 30min) and most convenient, also calling at Jaipur very early in the morning, though the Rajdhani Express #2957 (Mon, Wed and Fri) takes over two hours less. Udaipur has an overnight express (8hr 45min), and a daytime passenger train (10hr 30min) which continues to Chittaurgarh (17hr); to Jodhpur, the best train is the nightly Suryanagari Express #4846 (9hr 5min). For fast-track services further afield the daily Navjivan Express #6045 goes all the way to Chennai (37hr 30min), the daily Ahmedabad-Howrah Express #8033 to Calcutta and there are direct trains on certain days to other destinations like Bangalore, Hyderabad and Trivandrum.

For journeys within Gujarat, it can be less hassle to opt for a bus, which at least travels at sociable hours. The ST Bus Stand serves a variety of local destinations including Gandhinagar (every 15min; 1 hr), Dholka (for Lothal, half-hourly; 1 hr 30min), and Nal Sarovar (1 morning departure; 2hr), Mehsana (every 10min; 2hr), and Dhrangadhra (half-hourly; 3hr). In Rajasthan, there are buses to Mount Abu, Udaipur and Jaipur (overnight). There are also overnight services to Mumbai, Indore and Bhopal, but none to Delhi. More comfortable and expensive private buses to various destinations both in Gujarat and interstate are run by Punjab Travels, 3 Embassy Mkt, off Ashram Road just north of the tourist office (079/658 9200) and by any of a cluster of agencies in Paldi, just west of Sardar Bridge, from where most services leave. One agency that takes phone bookings for sleeper coaches to Bhuj and other towns is Patel Tours and Travels at 8 Schroff Chambers, Paldi (079/657 6492). Other private bus operators can be found near the ST stand and the railway station.

Flights to Delhi are operated by Indian Airlines (2-3 daily) and Jet Airways (1 daily); both airlines also fly to Mumbai (3 each daily). Other destinations served by Indian Airlines are Bangalore (1 daily), Calcutta (6 weekly), Hyderabad (4 weekly), and Jaipur (3 weekly). Ahmedabad is undergoing expansion as an international airport with Air India now operating a daily flight to New York via London and on most days to Chicago via London or Frankfurt; Indian Airlines has flights to various Gulf states on most days. Express Travels, just off Ashram Road near the tourist office (079/658 8602), can arrange all flights.

See Travel Details at the end of this chapter for more information on journey frequencies and durations.

Service, off Ashram Road 079/656 5957; KLM. in the Shefali Centre. Paldi 3079/657 7677; Delta and Swissair, c/o Samveg. in the Surayarath Building behind the White House. Panchvati 079/640 2798; Alitalia,

Cathay Pacific and Kenya Airways, c/o Ajanta Travels, off Ashram Road 300m south of Income Tax Circle 079/640 5077. Banks and exchange Facilities for US or sterling cash and travellers’ cheques are available at the Bank of India in Khas Bazaar, the Central Bank of India opposite Sidi Sayyid’s Mosque, and the State Bank of India opposite Lai Darwaja bus station (all Mon-Fri 11am-3pm, Sat 11am-ipm). For Visa encashment, go to the Bank of Baroda’s Ashram Road branch on the west side of the river, 300m north of Nehru Bridge. There’s a branch of Thomas Cook at 208 Sakar III. off Ashram Road near the High Court (079/550 5312]. Bookshops For maps, guides and books try Sastu Kitab Ghar on Relief Road 100m east of Salapose Road, or People’s Book House 100m further down. The New Order Book Co, on the west side of Ellis Bridge, sells books on Indian philosophy, architecture and crafts. Mapin, at 31 Somnath fid, just off Ashram Road in Usmanpura, publish glossy books on Indian art and culture, and stalls under Fernandes Bridge on MG Road have a lot of tatty paperbacks among which you might find the odd gem.

Cinemas Advance Cinema on Salapose Road opposite the Relax Hotel and Krishna Cinema on Relief Road by the Chetna restaurant are very popular. The Natraj on Ashram Road often shows English films.

Internet access Facilities available at It Baag, 308 Nirman House, near the Times of India, Ashram Road. Turn off down a small sidestreet just south of the turning to the tourist office. A convenient outlet in Bhadra is AbrarTelelink, on Salapose Road opposite the Advance Cinema. Hospitals VS General. Ellis Bridge (079/657 7621) is a large government hospital; for traditional treatments, try Akhandanand Ayurvedic, Akhandanand Road (079/550 7796). Motorbikes Buy an Enfield or have one repaired at Shaik & Co Agency, round the back of Swastik Supermarket, on Ashram Road near the tourist Office 079/214 9522.

Post office Salapose Road (Mon-Sat 8am-8pm, Sun10.30am-4.30pm). Photography Gujarat Mercantile Co, 100m south of the GPO on Salapose Road 079/550 5421; Scanner Fotoshop on the first floor, Padshah Pol, opposite Pragati Co-op Bank, Relief Road, 100m east of the Chetna restaurant 079/535 7358. Shopping The SEWA craft shop (Mon-Sat 10am-7pm) on the east side of Ellis bridge, a few doors from the organization’s reception centre.

Airlines, Domestic Indian Airlines, on the road from Sidi Sayyid’s Mosque to Nehru Bridge 079/550 3061; Jet Airways. Ashram Road opposite Gujarat Vidyapith 079/754 3304.