Nadiad - City, History & More...
There are many things about Nadiad city that we generally don’t know. Nadiad city of Gujarat is a place of rich history and tradition. Nadiad city also holds an important milestone in the Indian freedom struggle. Nadiad is a birthplace of great Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Also, the city of Nadiad is known for its best in the state literacy rate and scholarly personalities.
Nadiad is an administrative headquarter of the Kheda District. The history of Nadiad city and the origin of its name is good to know and very interesting. It is vastly believed that the city was inhabited by the rope dancers, who generally stays away from the common localities. These rope dancers were known as “NATAS” in local language and from that, the first name given to Nadiad was Natapadra or Natpur. Then the city started to be known as Nandgram and slowly it turns to Nadiad as the current name of the city. In the late 12th century to early 13th century, the city was governed by the Gurjars and then by the Thakor of Dakor. Afterward the Muslim ruler Mohammad Begda ruled the city till the 15th century. The city has been ruled by many rulers of Muslims & Gayakwads of Baroda. And later it falls to the rule of the British Empire before independence.
Nadiad City Image Gallery
Historical Importance of Nadiad
Nadiad and people from Kheda District played an important mark in the Indian Independence Movement lead by Mahatma Gandhi. Nadiad was a very significant part of the freedom struggle. During the freedom struggle, the Dandi March or Dandi Satyagraha which was a salt march that Gandhiji led from the front had an important stopover at Nadiad. Gandhiji stayed at Hindu Anath Ashram, an alms-house which he renamed as Satyagraha Mandli later on.
Religious Places In Nadiad: The city of Nadiad also marked its importance to the religious history of Gujarat. Nadiad city is also known as the Temple Town as there are many religious places located in and around the city. Some of the most famous temples in Nadiad are Santram Mandir, Shri Mai Mandir, Anand Ashram, Hari Om Ashram and the ancient temple of Lord Swaminarayan. The sect of Swaminarayan in the early 18th century started nearby Nadiad only and spread its wings worldwide today. The first temple of the sect was established at Vadtal of Shree Swaminarayan still signifies its historic importance.
Shopping In Nadiad: No trip can be complete without shopping. Be it a collectible or souvenirs for friends and family or even a box of sweets especially when you are traveling in Gujarat. But when it’s Nadiad, you have many things to fill your bag starting from local artwork and dress materials, traditional Gujarati women wear, decorative articles and even sweets. Shopping in Nadiad is also fun activity when you pass through the old town street market of Nadiad town. There is a mixed box of traditional items and modern contemporary artwork when it comes to shopping in Nadiad. There are modern infrastructure shopping malls, supermarkets and hyper-local markets in Nadiad in one side while on the other side there are small-town shops that sell locally famous food, textile materials, art, home décor and modern articles at a bargain rate. There are both modern feeling as well as budget bargain of yesteryears you can experience while traveling and shopping in Nadiad. The city of Nadiad has good shopping varieties for jewelry, traditional women’s dresses like Chaniya Choli, traditional Gujarati Sari, artificial ornaments, traditional male wear and more. Also, you can shop varieties of footwear here. While for food lovers there are many options too, you can shop for famous Nadiadi Mix Chavanu, Nadiadi Papdi, Papad Chavanu, Papad & Mathiya. Especially for Papad, no other city can give you more options than what Nadiad offers to shop for, you can get varieties of Rice Papad, Garlic Papad, Methi Papad, Plain Papad, Mix Papad, Udad Garlic Papad, Extra Garlic Papad, Moong Dal Papad and more. Sukhadia Garbaddas Bapuji and Shri Das Barfiwala are some of the famous brands for sweets and namkeen in Nadiad. For all the NRIs from Nadiad, the list of shopping is always long when they visit their hometown.
Santram Mandir of Nadiad: This is the most popular, a place must visit in Nadiad for any traveller. It is the biggest temple in the Kheda district. Thousands of people visit this temple every day. Also, the number goes up during the Full Moon night (Poonam) of each month. The temple also manages the Santram Kanyashala, a girls school in Nadiad.
Shree Narayan Dev Swaminarayan Temple: This is one of the historic Swaminarayan temple built in the 1824 AD with the help of British Priest and Collector of Baroda. The meeting between the founder of Swaminarayan Sect Shree Sahajanand Swami, the Collector Williams of Baroda & Bishop Heber was held in Nadiad. Mr. Williamson briefed Bishop about the socio-religious work done by Bhagwan Shree Swaminarayan, the reforms he brought to the society. Heber was very impressed by the work of Lord Swaminarayan.
There are many things about Nadiad city that we generally don’t know. Nadiad city of Gujarat is a place of rich history and tradition. Nadiad city also holds an important milestone in the Indian freedom struggle.
Food In Nadiad: Food in Nadiad is famous for a few items. You can enjoy pure Gujarati delicacy with many restaurants and food joints. Also, namkeen, sweets and shrikhand from Nadiad city is very famous. There are many street food options available in Nadiad too.
Education & Literature Of Nadiad: Nadiad shares one of the highest literacy rates in Gujarat for many years. There are many famous institutes and colleges are established in Nadiad. Dharmsinh Desai University of Nadiad, popularly known as DDIT is one of the best in the state of Gujarat for engineering education. The Ayurvedic Medical college of Nadiad, J S Ayurved Mahavidyalay is also best for BAMS education. Also, the city has its own taste when it comes to Gujarati literature. The famous novel Saraswatichandra written by Shree Govardhanram Tripathi was from Nadiad. The home of Govardhanram is been preserved as an important monument of history and one of the places to see in Nadiad. Also, the Gujarati poet and novelist Manilal Dwivedi was from Nadiad city.
Nadiad is very much accessible from other cities of Gujarat through rail and road networks. Also, it falls between the busy train route of Ahmedabad-Mumbai and many trains pass through Nadiad daily. Both airports of Ahmedabad and Baroda are fairly accessible from the Nadiad city through rail and road.