Oh! Baroda

HAMARA BARODA

Woh room zoom ki pani puri, Woh ellora park ki chaat,
Woh Dairy Den ki ice cream, Waah! usme thi kuch baat.

Woh Ambassodar ki mithai, Woh South Corner ka dosa,
Woh FNF ki pav bhaji aur Payal ka samosa.

Woh rikshaw ka ‘suffer’, Woh Sur sagar ki hawa,
Woh dutch roses ke kante aur Kamatibaug ka sama.

Woh december ki zara si sardi, Woh baarishon ke mahiney,
Woh garmi ki chuttiyan, jab chut-te they paseeney.

Woh holi ki masti, Woh navratri ka garba,
Woh diwali ke patakhe aur ganpati ka shor o sharaba.

Woh R.C. Dutt Road ka mahol, Woh Fatehgunj ki leheren,
Woh doobte suraj ka nazara, Waah! uska kya kehena.

Woh Muffins ke puff, Woh Khokha ki chai,
Woh Jagdish ke bhakarwadi, Woh mahadev ka “Sev Usal”.
Woh Raju aur yusuf ki Omlet,

Woh Rajashree ka samosa aur National Plaza mein shopping,
Woh Sayajigung(homescience)ka nazara aur Concorde building.

Woh Alpana cinema ke queue, Woh black ki pink ticket,
Woh Polo club ka maidan, jahan bachche practice karte hain cricket.

Itni cheezen kehene ke baad, aur kitni karoon mein abaad,
Yeh shehar hain mera apna, jiska naam hai
B A R O D A !!

Vadodara | Baroda: A glimpse into the past

This is a very interesting and insightful collection of writings, prints and images of what Vadodara/Baroda was way back in the past. I had originally received this as a .pdf document [.pdf = Portable Document Format].

In order to be able to share it such that ~TimePass~ readers can actually see the pictures instead of having to download and use Adobe to view the file, I created a slideshow presentation from the .pdf.

Here it is:

To view in Full Screen mode click the |on SlideShare| link in the presentation window above and then the image/icon of a screen to change to full screen mode

Baroda: Architecture

Baroda -An Architechtural Splendour

By Harpreet Kaur

Baroda is also called the cultural and business capital of Gujarat. Baroda or Vadodara was originally Vadapadraka (a village amidst the banyan trees). Historical and archaeological findings date this place back to the 9th century when it was a small town called Ankottaka (present Akota) located on the right bank of the river Vishvamitri. It was flood-prone; so Vadapadraka became the administrative headquarters.

Ankottaka was a famous centre of Jainism in the 5th and 6th century AD. Some of the Akota bronze images can be seen in the Vadodara Museum.

History of Baroda:
The Gaekwads, a Maratha clan who were originally the generals of the Peshwas in Maharashtra, carved out a kingdom for themselves in Baroda. Twenty years later, Damaji’s nephew Pilaji became the founder of the house of Gaekwad.

[Correction; per kind courtesy – Mr Dilip per comment below –
Damaji was son of Pilaji Gaekwad who had conquered Ahmedabad. Palaji went to celebrate the liberation of Ahmedabad at Krishna temple in Dakor where he was killed treacherously by Mughal Subhedar Abhaya Singh. After that Maratha King Shoo (Grand son of King Shivaji) appointed Damajirao Gaekwad to rule Baroda on his behalf.]

Although an English Resident was appointed to the Court of Baroda in 1802, the rulers had a good equation with the British. The wealth of the family is legendary, and stories abound of their priceless jewellery and works of art. The city witnessed a golden age when Maharajah Sayajirao Gaekwad came to the throne in the late 19th century. He brought about many reforms in education, medicine, religious tolerance and administration. Sayajirao was one of the three princes who rated and got a 21gun salute.