Veer Kshetra Vadodara
Surat to the south of Bharuch. Vadodara to the north. 'Veer. Vadodara' sung by Premanand. The capital of Gaekwad. The previous Gaekwad kings developed it as an administrative center, while the imaginative and far-sighted royals
Sayajirao made it a well-developed and beautiful city. He decorated it with beautiful gardens, wide roads, palaces like beautiful architectural models and beautiful sculptures. He enriched it not only with palaces but also with beautiful courts, colleges-educational buildings, museums etc. as well as industries.
Vadodara city = remained the best city of Gujarat and one of the best in India. The splendor, beauty, peace and grandeur of Sayajirao's time are gradually decreasing now. Yet Vadodara is still a beautiful city among the cities of Gujarat.
Although there may not be any jewels or gold and silver cannons, there are amazing specimens to be seen in the royal family's weapons museum and Manikarao's armoury. The zoo is still alive and a planetarium has been added to it. The college has developed into a university, the music school has been transformed into a fine arts faculty.
Some things have remained, some have gone, some have been added - some have changed, so although not the same as before, the present Vadodara still retains its unique personality. The buildings of Lahiripura Darwaza, Mandvi and Nyayamandir seem to retain the original personality of Vadodara. The paintings of Nandalal Bose on the walls of Kirtistambh and Kirtimandir, the valuable manuscripts lying in the Oriental University and the archaeological research institutes are preserving the legacy of the culture-loving royal.
The original city was small. In the center, Mandvi and Chopas have four gates: Laheripura, Champaneri, Baranpuri and Pani Darwaza. The inner area is the original village area. Near Mandvi, Njarbagh is the original palace. Then it expanded and has expanded a lot in the last two decades. The industrial areas of Chopas, including refineries and petrochemicals industries, and Fertilizer Nagar nearby
As a result, the pace of development and expansion of Vadodara has increased significantly. The villages beyond Vadodara, even Makarpura, have now become suburbs. Similarly, it has expanded in other directions and is still expanding. The industries of Vadodara, which were considered important earlier, such as Alembic Chemicals, Alembic Glass, Jyoti Engineering, Sayaji Engineering, are now considered small - such big and such diverse big industries have been concentrated there. Just nearbyalso contributes to the development of Vadodara.
Nandesari, Gorwa, Makarpura, Akota-Dabhoi road are bustling with industries. But three big complexes are notable among these: the fertilizer factory of the 'Gujarat State Fertilizer Company' spread over a vast area near Bajwa, the Koyali Refinery established in 1965, which refines mineral oil coming from the oil fields of Ankleshwar to North Gujarat, a factory that works on chemicals and its products. These national-international level industrial complexes around Vadodara are very important not only for the development of Vadodara but also for the development of Gujarat and the entire nation.
This is a city of luxurious buildings. Among them, the courthouse, the Kirti Mandir that preserves the memorial of ancestors, the magnificent domed college, the Sursagar Lake, the museum, etc., are many buildings that are worth seeing for their architecture and artistry. The palaces, roads and parks of Vadodara are full of many exemplary sculptures. The entire city is like an artistic museum.
But Vadodara also makes us realize that Maharaja Sayajirao was not only fond of collecting animals, books or artistic objects. The names of the streets of the city and the paintings placed here and there remind us of the names of many great personalities. Sayajirao settled many great personalities in Vadodara. Badruddin Tyabji and Manubhai Diwan, Romesh Chandra Dutt and V. T. Krishnamachari, Tribhuvandas Gajjar and Kavi Kant, Professor Arvind Ghosh (who later became a Maharishi and settled in Pondicherry), Ambedkar etc. are just a few of them. The rich Sayajirao
Due to the interest in industry, institutions like Kala Bhavan and Sangeetshala came into existence in Vadodara and besides scientists, musicians like Maulabaksh and Khan Saheb Kaiyaz Khan also settled there. People like Motibhai Amin were also involved in library activities.
He helped in the development. A unique organization like 'Gujarat Library Cooperative Society' was established due to his inspiration.
The Central Library of Vadodara is considered exemplary. The Maharaja has enriched it by gifting the library of his palace. This largest library of Gujarat has been given the status of a state library. There is also a copyright department here. Another such large library is the 'Hansa Mehta Library' of M. Sayajirao University. The library of the Oriental Institute is also very valuable. In addition, the Jayasimhrao Library is a hundred years old.
It has thousands of books. Thousands of manuscripts have been preserved in the Oriental Institute. Many inaccessible manuscripts of Bhojpatra, Tadpatra etc., written in ink or gold-silver colors, are continuously studied by many scholars from home and abroad. For this, modern machinery has also been added. Many books have been published as a result of these researches. In addition, two catalogues of more than fifteen thousand manuscripts have also been published and work is still in progress. There is a statue of the great poet Premananda in its courtyard. Fine Arts
The faculty of high arts that conducts studies is also famous all over the country. The services of the famous artist Late. Bendre was benefited as its first dean. So in the field of drama, the people have benefited from artists like Shri Shivkumar Shukla through this institution. Similar progress has been made in the field of dance. In all these institutions, apart from the traditional preservation of arts, modern trends are also being introduced here and new experiments are being done. Vadodara is considered one of the famous art-coyali refinery centers of India. In the field of cinema, Jeram Patel, Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh and Bhupen Khakhar have achieved international fame. So in music, R.C. Mehta was benefited as a teacher. This is the only institution in Gujarat that offers degrees in music and dance.
Similarly, the museum, which gave away the art collection of its mahalaya to the public and then continuously nurtured, is famous throughout the country for the excellent and rare art works collected in it. So, the gymnastics activities of Chhotubhai and Ambubhai Purani as well as the gymnastics activities of Prof. Manikyarao have received welcome and encouragement here. The ‘Vyayam’ monthly started by Abasaheb Mazumdar about 50 years ago is still running. Wrestlers wrestle after drinking milk from Vadodara Dairy. Even today, the influence of all these is felt while moving around in Vadodara. The statue of martyr Bhagat Singh placed near the courthouse is the only statue in Gujarat. It convinces the continuity of vitality of this city.
This is a special city of writers from Premanand to 2. V. Desai and after that of Suresh Joshi, as well as Srimannrisinhacharya and Vishwavandya Upendracharya, Prof. Arvind Ghosh and Prof. K.T. Shah, Prof. Gajjar and poet Kant. Even amidst the hustle and bustle of industries, the tunes of the music of the 'Khansahebs' are heard there. There is no Sathmari racecourse, but Vijay Hazare, Dattaji and Anshuman have been born. Vadodara has also given skilled wicketkeepers like Kiran More and Nayan Mongia. Also, Sam Pitroda, who brought a revolution in communication in India, is also from Vadodara. Dramatic activity flourishes. Artists gather. Libraries are crowded. Vadodara is not only worth seeing - but worth living in and not just seeing but also knowing by living!
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