The Times Of India
TNN | Aug 31, 2015, 01.22 PM IST Ahmedabad
On Sunday, the participants of the TOI-Heritage Walk series were introduced to a city which made the Mughal emperor Akbar ban animal slaughter.The walk revealed how the powerful and influential Jain Madir to Masjid walk community showed the world it was possible to blend different cultures into one form, without unsettling one's individuality. The cultural trek covered exquisite filigreed stone temples and solemn mosque architecture.
The Jain Heritage Walk started from the City Heritage Center (CHC).
Before the walk, the participants were primed into a meditative state by one of India's most celebrated sitarists, Manju Mehta, who is also the sole custodian of the Maihar-Senia Gharana in Gujarat. On Sunday she played the Nat Bhairav and then with a swift tempo ended with Raghupati Raghav bhajan. "Audiences loved it. Only that matters to me," said Mehta, who is the protege of the sitar colossus, the late Pandit Ravi Shankar.
After the sitar performance, a brief introduction sents was given by Jain Walk expert Girish Gupta. The walk took visitors to 33 Jain sites in the Walled City. The walk started from Sankhedi Sheri through Jain temples such as Vasupujya Derasar and Shantinath Derasar, and concluded at the Shamla Parshavnath Derasar in Lambeshwar ni Pol. The two-hour walk, spanning a little less than 2km, is now in cluded in the heritage walk bouquet of Ahmedabad.
"The thriving Jain culture in the city explains why Ahmedabad had become an important centre for the convergence of spiritual cultures," said Gupta. Rajiv Patel of the CHC explained that herit age walks were an important cog in the Walled City's socio-economic revival.