My thing has always been hidden jewels. I do like the great attractions and sights that have been made famous due to years of travelers admiring them. You can’t go to India without seeing the Taj Mahal or doing a tiger safari, but it’s the off the beaten path places that inspire the greatest excitement especially if those out of the way places have a great story to tell. One of those is the city of Ahmadabad. The name doesn’t ring a bell? For most it won’t, yet it is where one of the greatest revolutionary philosophies reached its zenith. It was the headquarters of a man whose teachings would inspire the American civil rights movement, the end of apartheid in South Africa and the fall of the Berlin Wall. And it would get independence for the largest member of the British Empire. Ahmadabad is Land of Gandhi. Ahmadabad is located in the state of Gujurat in the far west of India. Surrounded by near desert conditions, this is an unlikely place for the center of a revolutionary movement. You would think a big city like Delhi or Mumbai or the more wealthy South would be a more likely epicenter for change. For the tourist, Ahmadabad has a number of nearby attractions like the birder’s paradise Sarovar Reserve or the big game lover’s Blackbuck Sanctuary. The area is worth several days if explored on its own. Add to that other Gujarat attractions like Gir National Park and the Rann of Kutch and you have one busy travel experience. In the center of it all, though, is the city of Ahmadabad. Ahmadabad has a population of 4 million. It is a diverse city with much more to it than just Gandhi. It’s architecture can stand on its own. The architectural heavy weight for the city is a very special building style called a haveli. A Haveli, simply put is a 150 to 200 plus year old carved house found primarily in Gujarat. Some of the best examples of these once high class homes is here in Ahmadabad. One Haveli characteristic is its open central courtyard which is designed to let in optimal light and air. This is particularly important in the heat of Gujarat which can reach 110 degrees in the shade. The term Haveli is derived from the Arabic meaning a private space. The term evolved to mean a mansion throughout the Indian subcontinent and was further refined in Gujarat to mean a mansion that exhibited fine carving on its exterior and was primarily wooden. This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The collection comprises of 150, 000+ hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM / SR 1080i High Definition, Alexa, SR, XDCAM and 4K. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world… P
