Patan

In childhood you built yourself a fort of sheets and pillows, and discovered that the enclosure gave you the freedom to explore. Now enter the town of Patan, hugged by its fort walls and gates still largely intact, and re-discover the spirit of play.

You meander through the bustling bazaar of this charismatic town. Tucked away among the havelis in the narrow pols you stumble upon rope or bidi (traditional cigarette) makers, working on their doorsteps. You go on a treasure hunt in search of the unique patola and mashru weavers, the snow-white Jain temples, the Hemachandracharya Jain Gnan library of ancient Hindu and Jain texts.

You find yourself leaving the city walls heading north-west, as if something calls you. On your way to Anahilvada Patan, the ancient city that served as Gujarat’s capital for 650 years, you find the 1000 year old Kali temple from where Kali Mata, the kuldevi (family goddess) of the Solanki dynasty, guards the town. Furthest north, you find the Sahasralinga Talav, literally “lake of a thousand lingas”, which is finely constructed to channel water in from the nearby Saraswati, and you begin to realize that it is the sanctity of water that has been and still is, beckoning you. You turn around and come towards the edge of Rani Ki Vav, the “Queen’s stepwell”, and as you descend into the cool air towards the water, the carved stone gods and consorts invite you into their world, the world of spirit and the sacred. Here, in the infinite, your journey is always just beginning.