Doodles in Sarkhej

In 2009, I made a film on Sarkhej, a place that is situated 8kms from the city of Ahmedabad. It is known to have inextricable links with the medieval history of the walled city. The film focused on a group of monuments protected by The Archaeological Survey of India and they range from a mosque, a dargah to a palace.

I spent nearly a month hanging around the monuments, talking to the visitors, recording audio interviews, generally being a nuisance to the administrators (who were very helpful but invariably became the first targets of my barrage of questions). 

Here are few of the scribbles from those sketchbooks. Some are my own efforts. Some have been drawn by the littlest of visitors to Sarkhej, the only ones that could make those sombre domes ring with laughter.

To watch the film click here.

A man relaxing after prayer time

The Sultan's summer palace with the large door for elephants to enter

A grave in the courtyard of the Queen's summer palace

Ahmed Khattu Ganj Baksh's mausoleum is surrounded on all four sides by such doors

Women, young & old tie bangles to the jali-work of the mausoleum and pray for wish fulfillment

For a lot of lower-middle class households, Sarkhej is a picnic destination to which they go dressed with all their bling

Decorated drainage

Sahana was not interested in drawing her surroundings, just a mouse

Just outside the periphery of the Queen's palace is a cricket ground