Ahmedabad: A Three Hour Tour (insert Gilligan's Island theme song here)

Ahmedabad, which is 3+ hours from our home base in Rajkot, is considered to be the cultural capital of the state of Gujarat. We visited three sites: Lothal,  Gandhi's Ashram at Sabarmati and  the Adalaj Step Well

We are here during monsoon season, so the landscape is lushly green and large pools of rain water irrigate the farmland.  Our first stop on the way to Ahmedabad was the ancient city of Lothal. Dating to 2400 B.C.E., Lothal means "Land of the Dead" and was discovered in 1954. The ruins are not protected by any barriers and are out in the open at the whim of the weather. A brick was knocked loose from a building and the guide just picked it up and placed it back in the correct position. There isn't a strong sense of preservation of antiquities and many Indians I have spoken to are ashamed of this. Museums are a Western construct and it's only recently that India has began regulating and preserving artifacts and ruins. I was impressed that the ruins suggested the Harrapans had a drainage system, a commode, a charcoal filtration system for water, a grainery and bakery.

This was a dock that the Harrapan civilization created to make loading and unloading trade more efficient.

We then went to the Sabharti Ashram, also known as Gandhi's Ashram. This is where the historic Salt March began and was Gandhi's spiritual retreat.

On the grounds of the ashram.

The last place we visited was the Adalaj Step Well and it was majestic. "The Adalaj Step Well was built in 1499 by Queen Rudabai as a resting place for travelers. The step well is five stories was built to serve not only as a cultural and a utilitarian space but also as a spiritual refuge for the villagers who came every morning at the well to fill water, offer prayers to the deities carved on the walls and to interact with each other under the cool shade of the vav or step well"(Journeymart.com). Again, there is very little preservation for this site, but the intricate reliefs, shadows and light are still stunning.