Time Travel: Champaner, Gujarat.

By Ashima Goyal.

Would you believe me if I say, I travelled back in time? 
That one moment I was in 2013, and one hour later, I was in the 1500s?

Sahar Ki Masjid. Photo by Dimitry B.


Just about an hour outside of Vadodara, lies a town called Champaner. A town whose palaces, forts, mosques and wells stand to tell tales of a time when Champaner was the capital of the Gujarat Sultanate. Rightly called a city “frozen in time”, Champaner is a world heritage site, dotted with a large number of historical monuments.

One Sunday afternoon, we set out with lots of water and a packed lunch, for a day trip to Champaner. As soon as we turned left from Halol on the SH87, we were transported. Suddenly the road was deserted, there was greenery all around, there was a huge mountain in the distance, and while we were still appreciating the change from the state highway, we found our first monument – Ek minar ki masjid!

It was rightly called Ek Minar ki Masjid, because that is all that was left of the mosque; a single minaret! The rest was in ruins.

Champaner Gujarat, heritage sites of India, Gujarat monuments


Normally, a mosque has a pond or other water structure for ablutions. This one had two; one in the mosque compound and one below. First we thought it was for women, but women weren't allowed in mosques back then. So perhaps it was to distinguish between different castes of people?

Champaner Gujarat, heritage sites of India, Gujarat monuments


The helical (spiral) step well, made of stone and bricks. The stairway to the well descends down like the coil of a snake.

Champaner Gujarat, heritage sites of India, Gujarat monuments, step well India


Sakar Khan’s tomb. Notice the four guys perched up on the tomb, having their own picnic in the afternoon. 

Sakar Khan's tomb, Champaner Gujarat, heritage sites of India, Gujarat monuments


Moti Gate: Entrance to the walled city.

moti gate, Champaner Gujarat, heritage sites of India, Gujarat monuments


Champaner is an exceptional example of a pre-mughal township. The architecture and designs of the monuments are a blend of local Gujarati traditions and Islamic designs. As the pictures below show, we simply kept moving from one monument to another.

Shahar Ki Masjid: The private mosque of the royal family. They say that each time you count the number of pillars here, you come up with a different number!

Shahar ki masjid, historical sites of India, world heritage sites of India


Jami Masjid, the most imposing monument in Champaner. There is a single grave in the mosque compound and when we asked one of the locals, he said it was the grave of the priest during Mehmud Begda’s rule.

Champaner Gujarat, heritage sites of India, Jami Masjid


We spent almost an hour admiring the amazingly intricate carvings and stone screen work inside the Jami Masjid.

Champaner Gujarat, heritage sites of India, Jami Masjid


There are in all 9 mosques in the entire walled city and surprisingly, a common motif we saw in all was that of a kalash in the Mihrab (priest’s standing place). An intentional mix of Hindu and Muslim symbols?

world heritage sites of India, Champaner Gujarat


Out trip ended with the pigeons putting up an amazing show, inside the centuries old kabootar khana.

world heritage sites of India, historical sites of India, Gujarat monuments, Champaner Gujarat


Author Bio: is passionate about volunteering and has been working actively with non-profits to encourage volunteerism. She runs small projects aimed at reaching out to the stranger like anonymous letters of love, gifts by hand that are left for people to pick up! She shares resources on volunteerism both for organisations and individuals at www.Volunteer Weekly.org.

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2 comments:

  1. thanks for giving me such nice information it encourages me to go and visit all these places.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Muslim rulers very often plundered and razed the temples and later on while constructing a mosque in its place used the portions which could be put to use. That pillar with a Kalash is one such part.

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