An early morning heritage walk is the best way to unravel the history of UNESCO’s first World Heritage City Ahmedabad.

“One of the best things to do in Ahmedabad is to go on a heritage walk.” These words by my host Bijoy Sengupta, General Manager, Grand Mercure Gandhinagar GIFT City sounded like music to my ears. And soon enough I found myself at Swaminarayan Mandir Road in Old City, Kalupur on a rather cool morning. What ensued was a walk that lasted 2.5 hours, replete with history and heritage and most importantly a wonderful way to discover Ahmedabad’s illustrious past.

The walk takes you though some interesting temples as well. At the corner of Haja Patel ni Pol is Kala Ramji Mandir, amidst a residential locality that has an unusual idol of Lord Ram in a sitting posture carved in black stone called ’Kasoti’ typically used for testing the purity of gold. Said to be an idol that represents the time when Lord Rama was exiled in the forest, the temple was built by Hariprasad who found the idols buried underneath.

Read the full story that first appeared on Passion Passport here: