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A Tryst with Gandhinagar
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Gandhinagar has been christened after the great Bapu, the Father of the Nation,
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. In 1960, when the old Bombay State was divided into
Maharashtra and Gujarat, the city of Bombay went to Maharashtra. It was then decided
to construct a new seat of power for Gujarat. This served as the origin of Gandhinagar,
a city well planned, to give Chandigarh a tough fight. Gandhinagar occupies an area
of 57 sq. kilometers. It has 30 sectors with each sector having its own shopping,
health, housing colonies and community centre. Initial plans were to rope in the
renowned American architect Louis Kahn to build the city to rival Le Corbusier’s,
Chandigarh. But, the plans were cancelled due to pressure to make the new city an
Indian enterprise. So, the charge of making the new city was given to Indian architects,
H. K. Mewada and Prakash M. Apte. The city is the administrative centre, the power
block of the state of Gujarat, as it encompasses almost all the important offices
of the state. The city is a dedication to greenery and aptly does justice to the
goals of the tri colour.
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The Knowledge Park
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Gandhinagar can boast of being one of those cities of the country where education
is the buzz word. Having in its boundaries, one of the premiere institutions of
India, this city is surely a Knowledge Park. The Institute for Plasma Research,
a scientific research organization is the city’s best research centre. The Institute
was moved to its present campus in Gandhinagar in the year 1998 and is a prestigious
and much sought after plasma physics research centre of India. The Indian Institute
for Advanced Research in Koba, which is primarily concerned with biotechnology based
advanced research, is also an asset to the educational infrastructure of the city.
Dhirubai Ambani Institute of Information and Technology was established in the year
1995 and has a reputation of being one of the renowned technical institutes of the
country after the IIT’s and NIT’s. The National Institute of Fashion Technology
serves as a centre of creativity and verve and thus adds to the charisma of this
intellectually gifted city.
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Religion and Travel
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Akshardham is a renowned temple of the “Swaminarayan Sect,” which is the most prosperous
sect in the world. It is a popular and spiritually healing superstructure built
in Gandhinagar in divine remembrance of Lord Swaminarayan. Inspired by H. D. Pramukh
Swami Maharaj, Akshardham is a spectacle, which is the reflection of multiples of
free individuals, who worked day in and day out to change a mere plot of land into
a focal point of divinity and solace.
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The Indroda Dinosaur and Fossil Park in Gandhinagar, contains the second largest
hatchery of Dinosaur eggs in the world. The extensive and ingenious Park was established
by the Geological Survey of India and happens to be the only Dinosaur museum in
the country. The only reel life character that the Park misses is the reel life,
touch-and-go, Tyrannosaurus Rexes and rapine raptors of the Spielbergian epic, “Jurassic
Park”. Otherwise, Indroda has it all for the dedicated Paleophile.
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A Step Closer
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The Airport, linking up Gandhinagar is Ahmedabad
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The Railway Stations are Gandhinagar Junction and Ahmedabad, Kalupur.
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The State transport buses connect various centers of Gujarat. It is situated 32
Kilometers north east of Ahmedabad. The Sarkhej Highway, the Sabarmati highway and
the road through Indira Bridge are the tried and trusted thoroughfares, which will
lead you on to Gandhinagar and finally to the all important Gujarat National Law
University in Sector-26. Further down the road you can drop in at the Shiva Temple
near the intervening Railway crossing which will finally lead you on to the epicenter
of all that is positive and bright about Gandhinagar, that is, The Hall of Residence
of GNLU. GNLU is situated in the old National Institute of Fashion Technology building,
which is a delectably designed structure. A combination of intellectually independent
and legally correct students, GNLU is for sure a flower yet to blossom.
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