This isn’t an rvu on tourist destination-Ahmedabad. This is just general description of the current city. I didn’t find any topic listed on Cities except in the travel category so I m writing it here itself.

History:

Ahmedabad was founded in 1411 AD by Ahmed Shah. In 1572 Emperor Akbar seized it. It profited from a flourishing textiles trade. In 1630 AD Ahmedabad was destroyed being hit with a famine. After some period Ahmedabad came under British rule and they grew opium here. The introduction of modern machinery re-established Ahmedabad as a textile exporter and it came to be known as the ’’Manchester of the east’’.

In 1915, Mahatma Gandhi made the Sabarmati Ashram on the banks on the river Sabarmati in Ahmedabad and it was from here that he guided India to freedom and in 1930 Gandhiji started his ’Dandi Yatra’ to break the salt laws of the British.

Now that most of the city has been modernized we can still find the stoned walls of the “Quillas” of the kings and the most of them have become historical monuments which are worth visiting when u travel here.

Historical Monuments:

P.S: In Summers mercury soars rite up 42-44 deg. Feelin hot hot hot…

I would say that Ahmedabad is not a tourist spot. I mean u wont find here sea beaches or sea shores but I m sure u’ll enjoy here!

Gandhi Ashram: Gandhiji lived in this Ashram from 1917 to 1930 AD. In this ashram u will find The Hriday Kunj-Gandhiji’s personal cottage, his spinning wheel, writing table, mattresses on the floor and slippers, clothes and utensils associated with his life and also his ashes in an pitcher. It’s a scenic place having shady trees with a peaceful atmosphere.

Bhadra: It was built by Ahmed Shah and later named after goddess Bhadra. Now there is a temple named Bhadra temple which people make sure to visit whenever they come here. People take “lotus” flower and offer to goddess to please her.
To the east just at walking distance is the Teen Darwaza. History says from here the Sultans used to watch the processions from the palace to the Jama masjid. Although its now just an entrance to the heavily crowded commercial area where loads of things are available and is the favorite spot of amdavadis for shopping.

Swaminarayan Temple of Kalupur: This is the first of the Swaminarayan temples in India, built in the 1813. A splendid front gaily painted surrounded by carved balconies and galleries, glittering idols with octagonal dome.

Kankaria Lake & Zoo: it is located at south east of city (Maninagar) so it can be said that its another end of Abad. This is an artificial lake with a summer palace constructed in 1451 by Qutub-ud-Din. It’s polygonal in shape and it best place to view sunset in abad. There is also a zoo on the opposite side.

Moving Outskirts:

Akshardham Temple: It is not in Abad. It is some 30 km away from Abad. I need not say about this world famous temple most of u might be knowing about this temple.

Adalaj Ni Vav: Its about 10-15 kms from Ahmedabad. U might have seen the video Of Bahon mein chale aao from Instant Karma.

Science City: Just a few km outside Ahmedabad there is a newly developed science city which hosts a 3D theatre & is a nice place to visit.

Iskon Temple:Another place to visit just on the outskirts before moving to Bopal. Its a great temple be sure to visit it when you drop in here.

Places to Hang Out:

Multiplexes are all over in Abad now. U find bowling alleys, food joints, pool tables and various games in these multiplexes. So watching movies and enjoying all can be done at a single spot.

Other gr8 place except Multiplexes is DRIVE-IN. Even though Multiplexes occupy most of the crowd of Abad for watching movies but Drive-In has its own charm. Sitting with ur car parked behind in the open sky at night with friends or family watching movies at nites at Drive-In is really a different experience.

Places like University Road, IIM road, Commerce college road, C.G. Road, Municipal Market, Barista are all the places in Abad where young people enjoy sitting in group’s sight seeing.

Well I must say that night life of Abad is practically nil. U won’t find here discos. There is one at City Pulse-Gandhinagar and the other is Slang-Schmooze café but except these there are no discos(even slang cannot be regarded as a Disco) so at nites just roam around with friends and hang out at ice-cream parlors, food joints etc etc. is the best alternative.

FOOD JOINTS:

People of Ahmedabad are mad after food. If u happen to land up at a restaurant on Saturday, Sunday or even a public holiday at nites be prepared to get at least one hour waiting. Food joints like McDonalds, Domino’s Pizza, Pizza Hut, and U.S. Pizza, Copper Chimney are all in Abad with branches in many areas. And for those who like Punjabi and South Indian food well there are countless restaurants here. And for those who relish a Gujarati thali there is the famous Vishala at the outskirts of Abad wherein u’ll have food in a typical gamthi (village type atmosphere) & many other Gujarati restaurants as well.

Beat the heat

In hot summers the best place to relax are water parks and lake resort. There are various water parks at the outskirts of the city where whole day can be spent relaxing.

Shopping:

If u want to shop for any kind of stuff just land on to C.G.Road. Here u’ll find shops like Pantaloons, Westside. Recently Big Bazaar has opened in Abad too. So need not worry for shopping.
For traditional shopping Law Garden is the place to be. Traditional clothes, imitation traditional jewelry all are found here.

Festivals:
Well mostly 3 festivals are grandly celebrated in Ahmedabad. They are Diwali, Navratri and Holi and Uttrayan. and my favorite of the three is of course Navratri-9 nites of total enjoyments when Ahmedabad doesn’t sleep. During navratri u will find people, people and people be it young or old all dancing and enjoying like anything. No wonder many foreign tourists specially come to Gujarat to enjoy Navratri. An Uttrayan well you see whole of Abad on terrace on 14th and 15th of Jan. for Kite Flying. Music all over the air and people all ove the terrace make it a fun day.

Educational Institutes:

The city has world famous institutes like IIM, Nirma, CEPT, NID, MICA etc. and various research institutes like IPR (Institute of Plasma Research), PRL (Physical Research Laboratory), ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), SAAC, ATIRA etc. (Although it wont be possible to enter these institutes without permission!!)

People in Ahmedabad

The people here are kind, helpful and affectionate. They are quite friendly by nature so no sort of problems in adjustment takes place. People here have that easy going nature.

Overall

Although Ahmedabad has been in the news for quite sumtime now because of Killer earthquake that hit in 2001 or be the communal riots that took place last year. But then it’s a cool and much safer place to live in compared to many other cities in India. Moreover everything has positives as well as negatives so nothing to really concerned off!!

Type of Travel:	No Comment
Duration of Stay:	No Comment
Average Expenditure:	No Comment
Group Size:	No Comment
Best Suited For:	No Comment
Best Time to Travel:	No Comment