Strangely enough, thousands come each year to meditation centers and yoga resorts amid the chaos and turmoil of India to seek spiritual relief from the chaos and turmoil of their daily lives. Today we found solitude and serenity, not in a Hindu ashram, but in the 16th Century Islamic mosques at the Champaner-Pavagadh Archeolgical World Heritage site.
Champaner lies in the state of Gujarat, about 50 kilometers from Vadodara where we are staying. While hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Indians crowded into the other part of the World Heritage site, Pavagadh, to hike the pilgrimage trail to the Kalikamata Temple atop a 2500 foot high, ragged, rugged mountain, we wandered alone in the sanctuary of the Citadel where nary a soul asked us for a photo!
Intricate carvings
The once deserted walled Citadel of Champaner again hosts a shabby village – and three very different mosques. Throughout our travels we have developed a fondness for Islamic art and architecture. Whether in Turkey or Spain, Morocco or Malaysia, we enjoy the perfect proportions, the integration with the surroundings, and the simple elegance of the mosques. When you add a touch of Hindu style, the result is wonderful.
Jami Masjid
We had the entire Saher-ki Masjid (mosque) to ourselves. It is simple in its design with low ceilings, plentiful columns and towering minarets. Kevda Masjid is the most distant and the oldest of the three. If we had a flashlight we could have ascended to the second level and even into the minaret. Another missed opportunity. The piece-de-resistance is the massive Jami Masjid. You enter through an entry porch onto a grassy courtyard guarded by tall minarets. Inside is even more spectacular; sun dappled columns, massive ceiling rosettes and even a screened area from woman.
Decorative ceiling rosette
Hiring a taxi for these excursions seems expensive at first; today cost about $50. A bus would have been much cheaper but less comfortable. But when you weigh the cost against a daily rental charge, fuel, the likelihood of getting lost and the unpredictability of Indian drivers, it is a bargain.
