An Evening at Sarkhej Roja,Ahmedabad

  Sarkhej Roza was the home of the spiritual leader of Sultan Ahmed Shah named Ahmed Kattu Gang Baksh, who was a Muslim religious leader. It contains a cluster of monuments, the origin of which can be dated back to the times of Mughal rule in Ahmedabad.Read more here

Sarkhej Roza,the most tranquil spaces I have ever come across and I think I could visit it umpteen number of times.The inner most mausoleum forms the wonderful realm of architecture within the Roza.Its truly a sacred world.The architecture is mesmerizing. It is a platform where three distinctive worlds coexist, namely royal, religious and social. The palaces and tombs form part of the royal world, the mosque constitutes the religious realm and the tanks and pavilions have given rise to the social world. The carved stone grills create an atmosphere of tranquility, thereby serving as a great retreat for people seeking peace.  Our Driver Johnny was the one who guided us in time at the Roza.When we reached there the sun had started its descend and the atmosphere was bathed in the golden light.What more could we ask for?

"Adhan" the call for Prayer,could be heard from the  loudspeakers there .People rushing for prayers,some of them relaxing under the neem tree,some enjoying the breeze,some involved in gossip  sessions.There weren't much people there at this time of the year.The reflection of light created beautiful impressions as we rushed from buildings to buildings. The play of lights is wonderful and slow and gradually it envelopes the place.Indeed a blessing to be there.We even got permission to see the  backside of the tank.

Adhan and the  play of light and then you enter the mosque the most sacred among all ,and thats a space on its own ,helping us to see the ultimate goal,The god,the Allah as they say..As we entered ,it was filled with prayers the Namaz,a very simple,faithful and mindless exercise.It filled our mind..We could hear the voice of God in ones soul.It was one of the days when I felt in peace with myself and the surroundings.

as we enter the map of Sarkhej Roja

The Lattice work

sun sets and the wonderful play starts

the shadows grew and grew and they ...

they enveloped the place where we sat

the mood,the sanctity of the environment made us bow down to god

noticing that each work is stark different from the other

shadows and shadows

its greener on the other side,as i panned

beautiful and exquisite

the serenity

as we entered

hear the inner voice,prayers filled the space

as we walked

please take note

inshah allah!

as we walked past the corridors,the old photographs,jaalis and shadows

a meeting room

the great tank,usually where bazzars are there during festival time

light awashed buildings

the tank from the mosque area

wonderful for summers,resembled hindu architecture alot

the tank in its entirety

used to get filled with water

sat here and remembered and rethinked a lot of together times..

Images :Lakshmi Arvind
Pl do not copy nor steal images