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Mysteries of Pols of Ahmedabad

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The word Pol conjures up an image of an old world charm and a series of innovation in sustainable architecture
dovetailed into the built form. Pol architecture is an interesting evolution in urban living space. The earliest Pol to be
incorporated was aptly christened Mahurat Pol and was built adjacent to Manek Chowk.

These enclosures housed individual, interconnected living spaces, each growing according to the dictums imposed
upon it by the twin appendages of need and space. The use of lime mortar and wood in the construction not only
strengthened but also proved to be earthquake resistant due to the judicious combination of materials used. Exquisite
facades intertwining reliefed in wood illustrated the grandeur and opulence of the inhabitant. The entrance porch was of
height allowing it to be parallel to carriages and carts to make for easy cartage of goods and people. Iron rings were
attached to the stone base to hitch the dray animals connecting alleys and lanes, paved over by well worn flat stones,
were deliberately slowed to enable a planned drainage system. In fact, the old city had a concealed drainage system
which in parts is still in use. Key points had wrought iron poles serving as escapes as vents for the subterranean tunnels.
Each pole was crowned with a directional arrow indicating a nether bifurcation of the tunnels, this forming a dotted map

Each pole was crowned with a directional arrow indicating a nether bifurcation of the tunnels, this forming a dotted map
of the entire system.
The upper floors of the havelis had overhanging balconies and windows, casting a complete shadow on the streets
below, maintaining a cool atmosphere for comfortable locomotion through the ho days. Each haveli was built on a
tanka or water reservoir. Rainwater harvested from the multileveled, jig sawed rooftops, brought down in a series of
copper pipes, filtered through a layer of charcoal, lime and pebbles found its way to the storage tank. The tank kept the
structure cool and supplied nourishing liquidity to the residents. Thick walls kept the structure cool and resilient. Secret
passages and tunnels formed a maze of clandestine connectivity between living spaces. These fascinating edifices in a
poetic interplay of stones and woods gave rise to a sustained employment for a variety of skilled artisans, each fulfilling
a niche within the grid of urban Ahmedabad. The intricate jharokas and balconies were first exported to the adorn
palatial abodes in France and England, enamored by all things colonially Indian by Sheth Huthereing in the early part of
the 19th century generating a unique colonial influence in European architecture.
Due considerations and allowances were made in the urban concrete to accommodate acclimatized birds and animals
within the cityscape. Deliberate holes and apertures carved into the outer facade created nesting possibilities for
squirrels and birds such as sparrows and parrots. Peacocks and civets scurried and pattered on awnings and crannies
nooking sloped rooftops in acrobatic manifestations of adaptivity. Central courtyards of pol had aesthetically
ornamental bird feeders in carved wood and stone with communal granaries attached offering seuraed possibilities in
strewn grains. Sinewey trellises engraved in metal jalis fronting widow openings afforded an operatic play in light and
shadow. Thus pol architecture in living spaces was a blend of functionality and aesthetic design, analogizing a marriage
of need and beauty. The pol gradually transmogrified into virtual fortresses of calm and safety as the hold of the
Imperial court in Delhi weakened and skirmishes and fiefdoms arose waving banners of defiant revolt and
independence in various parts of a fractured kingdom, assailed internally by ambitious and disgruntled warlords and
externally by flexing colonial European powers in an elusively notorious search for spices and a controlled amalgamated
assimilation of territories. The Marathas had also begun to muscle their way in through Malwa and the central provinces.
Most of Gujarat was thrown into a state of anarchic disarray where connecting links were maintained through diligent
commerce and trade. A situation much in vogue until the advent of the British and the restoration of semblance of
colonially exploited law and order which through a subjugated colonization offered a serene platform for the regrowth of
trade and commerce.
Repeated egress by Maratha marauders and other 'visigothic' elements had pretty much depleted the fortified rampant
of the Ahmedabad city wall. Paucity of funds and the grind of a beurocratic British machinery did the rest. The fortified
gates adorning pol entrances were maimed and disabled by the English after the uprising of 1857. The death knell of
the city wells was finally sounded in the early part of the 20th century, when the Ahmedabad Municipality under Sardar
Patel authorized expansion and suburban assimilation to foster growth and create a great cityscape.
Published:AhmedabadMirror

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