Streets of Vadnagar

From Arjun Bari gate, continue walking along Sharmishtha lake and turn right after about 200 metres towards Ram Mandir.

As you walk through the old streets of Vadnagar, you will notice that this is not a town laid out in straight lines, but one that has grown organically over centuries.

These neighbourhoods, known as madh or mohallas, are typically organised into colonies called ‘pol’. A pol is a tightly packed cluster of houses, with shared walls, often protected by a gate. In fact ‘pol’ comes from the sanskrit ‘pratoli’, meaning ‘enclosed by gates’. The residents of a pol would usually be from the same trade or community. Shared interests bound them together.

The streets themselves are social spaces. Most houses open directly onto the road, with no boundary walls. It is common to see shops at the street level and homes above, blending work and residential life seamlessly.

One of the features you’ll often notice in towns across Gujarat is the Chabutaro, an ornate tower designed to provide a nesting and feeding place for birds. You will find Chabutaro everywhere, in street corners and squares. They come in many shapes and sizes. You’ll find several of them here in Vadnagar too. Even today, residents gather to feed birds here, reflecting a long tradition of compassion for all forms of life.

Excavations reveal that Vadnagar has been rebuilt many times over. Slight shifts in the alignment of old walls suggest disruption, perhaps even earthquakes. Gradually, the town adapted and grew again. At the Vadnagar Archaeological Museum, you can see a Disha Suchak Yantra, a circular brick structure with lines indicating cardinal directions. It may once have helped people find their way through these winding streets.

The town itself is built over an ancient mound rising gently towards its centre. At its highest point are the remains of an old citadel known as Darbargadh, once the heart of the settlement.