Sarkhej Roza

Sarkhej owes its fame to the celebrated Saint Shaikh Ahmed Khattu better known as Ganjbaksh. After journeying extensively Saint came to Gujrat in 1398 A.D. and settled at Sarkhej. He was one of the four Ahmeds who laid the foundation of Ahmedabad city in 1411 A.D. Sultan Ahmed Shah(1411-1442 A.D.) was devoted to him. The Saint died in 1446 A.D. Sultan Muhammad Shah (1443-1451 A.D.) began to erect a splendid tomb and mosque to his memory which was completed by his son and successor Sultan Qutubuddin Ahmed Shah II.

                                                         Well this is all about the history that I could gather now something about my first hand experience. On the road itself, I noticed Gujrat Tourisism’s board…amongst all the places I’ve been to, in the Muslim pockets of Ahmedabad, this was the only place where I noticed this board. That automatically makes this place special. I entered through the main arched gate…found a big clock right in front silently ticking along time. Then there was this shoe rack big empty rows where we kept our shoes and entered through the grill gate. On the left, there was a row of pillared structures which was beautiful though we did not enter. In the middle there was this vast expanse where a huge structure held high its crown, beautifully calming ambience. But we chose to go towards right where laid the tomb of Ganjbaksh.           

             A massive structure, the speciality of this place is its, JHAROKHAS…..yeh kisi sanche mein dhel kar nahin bana….its all painstakinglhy carved out of stones….hats off to the craftsmen.Its grand structure, light and shade effect through the jharokhas was absolutely dramatic. The doors were beautiful. Now comes the room where the tomb was well women are not allowed to enter that specific room, so while my husband and son entered with their head covered, I waited outside.

                                                        After praying, we decided to walk along, so we noticed huge pillars, hundreds of them all lined up as if guarding something. I can’t tell you how different the experience was for me.

It was a very calming and balming moment for us. I had a great time there…and I was so impressed by this, that I am promoting it…anybody if you happen to be in Ahmedabad then please make sure to visit “Sarkej Roza”.

Jai Sai Ram

When we were in Radhanpur, once my husband had to go on a tour to Ahmedabad, my baby was say, 7 months old …so I said “Oh no, I’ll not sit back here alone, I’m coming with you.” Next day we started out in the morning at about 7am. It was a long drive through the seemingly unending highway. At a point our driver stopped the Gypsy and said this is “Chanasma” and “madam, here we have this beautiful Sai Temple”.

So we all got down with ofcourse my baby in arms. From outside only, I saw a big welcome gate nicely carved. Then what surprised me was the greenery. The green garden, was pretty well maintained. Trust me, it was a great relief to the eyes. Then we walked towards the temple. Structure is not very majestic but somehow …dekhke ek aastha jaagte hain man mein…its very soothing…the whole temple with its surrounding is so calming to the nerves ..so peaceful…one must experience it to believe it. Sai Baba is sitting on a silver throne looking majestic as ever. Then we took rounds of the temple and while doing so I noticed in the nearby tree there was a weaver bird’s bottle nest. It was so amazing to see that in this otherwise dry piece of land, they could thankfully take shelter in these woods. It was a very good experience.

Since then every time whenever we passed by that lane we always stopped there. But one day due to some reason we could not. So while passing by the temple …man hi man we promised …we shall definitely come by while returning home. We reached Ahmedabad. My husband was out in the evening for his work. Next morning I woke up early as we were to return, I went to the balcony and stood for a while sipping in the morning breeze. Then I noticed that the window opposite to our balcony was open and there was a Sai Baba’s photo. I don’t know, how to put it, to sound more believable, but it’s true that the very sight of him was as if a reminder that, “do not forget your promise”. My husband felt his share of reprimand. That day when we went back to the temple we promised that today on whenever we shall pass by …whether we are late or not, whether it’s too hot or cold or even raining …we shall always walk up the road to reach you.

Another thing which needs a special mention is a person, the shopkeeper of the temple shop, who was selling photos, mala, books, agarbatti etc. I’ve till date never seen such a person who is quite selfless. He always had a smile on his face and words that stuck to his tongue were “Jai Sai Ram”. Usually a shopkeeper decides upon you, as per your pocket. But this man was an exception, there have been days when we did not even stop by his shop still he would take notice and shout out to us “Jai Sai Ram”. He looked a fellow with humble means but still he always seemed much contended. What else can we ask for?