6 Must See Museums In Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Most big cities have museums that showcase all that is important and precious about that city and region. They chronicle history through tangible pieces of it, for the current generations to see with their own eyes. I pick up 6 Museums in Ahmedabad that showcase 6 different dimensions of the city – from its political lineage to its industrial heritage to its cultural threads.

Museums in Ahmedabad – You must visit

Calico Museum

If there are must-see Museums in Ahmedabad – it has to be the Calico Museum of Textiles. This museum takes you back to the textile history of the Indian subcontinent with meticulously preserved ancient textiles, some of which go back hundreds of years. The history of textiles is closely associated with the history of both Ahmedabad and Gujarat. What makes this museum unique is the way an old house has been conserved and used for museum displays. The whole ambiance just takes you back in time, as you go up and down in haphazard houses and see the finely carved woodwork all around.

Textiles are handled with the utmost care and you are not allowed to go close to them, forget about touching them. The museum draws its inspiration from Ananda K Coomaraswamy – the noted art historian.

Calico is the strictest museum you would ever see in India. You can only see it as part of 2 conducted tours, 6 days a week. One must pre-book the tours as only a limited number of people are admitted on a day. You must leave all your belongings – especially the camera and mobile phone at the gate and must follow the guide and her instructions all the time. The guide is not very knowledgeable but you really do not have a choice, she can be gentler is a feeling you would step out with. They do have a unique museum shop where you can buy some books and prints that are difficult to find in the market otherwise.

Entry – Free

Website – The Calico Museum of Textiles

Time – Morning tour at 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM and evening at 2:30-4:30 PM

Photography – Not allowed

Vintage Car Museum

If you have an eye for vintage cars, World Vintage Car Museum is a go-to place for you in Ahmedabad. The museum showcases the car collections of Pranlal Bhagilal Patel and his family. Our guide in a lighter vein said, when Sardar Patel was uniting India by bringing these kingdoms together, this Patel went around buying their cars. The oldest car here is a 1906 Minerva and the youngest is the 1972 Lincoln. A fair share of these cars come from erstwhile royal families of pre-independent India and the curator has smartly put red boards to announce which car was acquired from which kingdom.

On my tour, I could spot vintage cars from Mysore, Indore, Jaipur, Baroda, Jamnagar, Jhansi, Chettinad, and Hyderabad. Another gallery – and gallery here means an open-air covered garage-like space – has American cars, followed by one on British cars.

You need a good half a day to go around this museum that is designed like a theme park. Our guide informed us that all the cars are in working condition and are regularly driven to ensure that. The maintenance of cars is impeccable as their shining colors and clean surfaces testify. We were told that these cars can be rented too, and apparently, a lot of them get hired for wedding processions.

Located on the outskirts of the city, with no signboards pointing towards it, it’s a bit of an effort to reach this museum, but it definitely worth the effort.

Entry – Ticketed and includes a guide fee. I paid Rs 100/- but check for the latest price.

Website – World Vintage Car Museum

Photography – Allowed

Time – 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Museum

This quaint museum is located on the campus of L D Institute of Indology in Navrangpura near Gujarat University. It is a traditional museum with a collection of Indian sculptures, manuscript paintings, miniature paintings and drawings, woodcarving pieces, ancient coins, and some exquisite beadwork. The collections belong to Seth Kasturbhai Lalbhai and were opened to the public in the shape of this museum in 1984.

Some of the exclusive collections here involve painted manuscripts, mostly belonging to the early Jain literature. The beadwork panels are also very local and are not seen in many places across the country. N C Mehta Gallery of Miniature Paintings is a part of this museum too. You can see folios of Gita Govinda, Kalpasutra, and scenes of various royal palaces.

You need a couple of hours to see the museum at leisure. Do not miss some of the displays in the garden.

Entry – Free

Time – 10:30 – 5:30 Tuesday to Sunday, closed on public holidays

Photography – Not Allowed

Website – L D Museum

Kites Museum

Come Sankranti festival, in the middle of January, and Ahmedabad skies, are full of colorful kites. If you cannot be there in January, the next best thing to do is to visit the Kite Museum and see the scenes of that celebration and also understand the historical relevance of kites in the life of an Ahmedabadi. Kite Museum is a rather small museum located in the Sanskar Bhavan that was also designed by Le Corbusier who is better known for designing the city of Chandigarh.

You can see both the kites and the pictures of the kite festival where people are flying them from their rooftops. It is a small museum that you do not need more than an hour to see in detail.

Sanskar Bhavan also has a museum dedicated to the city of Ahmedabad – documenting its history and evolution.

Entry – Free

Time – 10:00 – 6:00 Tuesday to Sunday

Photography – Not Allowed

Sardar Patel Museum – Must-Visit Museums in Ahmedabad

This is a museum I discovered by chance when I was waiting for the tour to begin at Calico Museum. This fort like a building is dedicated to the memory of Ahmedabad’s favorite son Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. It documents his life and times through neatly designed displays. A lot of his personal belongings can be seen along with a depiction of all the houses he ever lived in. Photographs, of course, re-create the era of the freedom struggle.

A maze-like building takes you through a basement that is created like a jail with dioramas of Indian leaders inside the jail to remind you of the kind of life they led to give us freedom. It is one of the better-documented and displayed museums of modern India.

You need about 2 hours to see it properly. A 3D laser show is also available on weekends for an additional ticket.

Entry – Rs 20/- for adults, Rs 10/- for children

Time – 9:30 – 5:00, Closed on Mondays

Photography – Not Allowed

Website – Sardar Patel Museum

Vechaar at Vishalla, A Utensils Museum – Top Museums in Ahmedabad

Anyone who goes to Ahmedabad gets a recommendation to visit Vishalla for that authentic Gujarati thali served in the traditional way where you have to sit on the ground in front of a wooden chowki. A part of the Vishalla complex showcases the collection of traditional utensils by Mr. Surendra Patel under the guidance of Art Historian Jyotindra Jain. The museum itself is a mud structure.

Displayed on a tiered structure these utensils are a part of the cultural heritage of Gujarat. When you go around this museum, look at the material used to build them. The size of utensils to understand how many people would have been fed with the food cooked in them, the shapes to fit the oven of the yesteryears. Finally, look at the artwork that each of them carries making each piece unique even when it is a part of the ensemble. There are more than 3000 utensils of different kinds on display. The design of the display space impressed me as much as the displays did.

Entry – Rs 10/-

Time – 3:00 – 10:30 PM All Days

Photography – Not Allowed

Website – Vechaar Utensils Museum

Put together, all these museums present a potpourri of the city’s history and heritage. Add these museums in Ahmedabad to your Places to visit in the city list. Plan your trip accordingly.

Recommend you to read the following travel blog on Places to visit in Gujarat.

Understanding the Architecture of Sun Temple, Modhera

Carved Gates of Dabhoi

Ahmedabad Heritage Walk

Historic Pavagadh Hill

The legacy of Queen – Rani Ki Vav