WALK DOWN THE CITY OF

VADODARA

NAME: DHRUV JAISWAL

ID NO: 1 8 -A R G - 1 4

SEM: VII YEAR: 4 TH

 CONTENTS
VADODARA 1
an overview

PEOPLE AND CULTURE 2

EDUCATION 2

CITY METAMORPHOSIS 3

ARCHITECTURE 4
Indo- Sarcenic style

THE ROAD MUCH TRAVELLED 5

SWOT ANALYSIS 6

PRIME ATTRACTIONS 8

CONCLUSION 10
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VADODARA AN OVERVIEW
India map

Vadodara earned its name because of prevalent

greenery and avenue of Banyan trees. ( non existent
now).

Originally known as Baroda, it was distinctly shaped

up under its late ruler Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad.
Gujarat map
The Maharaja was futuristic enough to hire notable
town planners from India and abroad and laid
farsighted guidelines fro future development.

The city got underground drainage system when most

of the cities hadn’t even heard of it. There existed a
multiple lake network designed as a system to
balance water level and overflow. This connection is
now non-existent due to rampant development of in-
between areas.

Gardens were laid out in all parts of the city and scale
Vadodara map
of the area it served governed its size

Lakshmi Vilas palace M.s university SSG hospital

The city has three large campus formations- the palace premises, government hospital and
M.S university. These three premises apart from serving there functional purpose help in
balancing the eco- system an keeping check on environmental pollution even today.

This city was developed as a major educational Centre. This automatically led to industrialization
due to availability of skilled laborers.
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The city was blessed to have leader like Sayajirao Gaekwad, but after him it has failed to see
the torch bearer. The city is still heavily relying on the old infrastructure and the upgradation
though under process needs to happen at much faster pace.

Due to lesser number of developed areas land prices are increasing without any reason
This irrelevant hike can be controlled if roads and the infrastructure are developed in places
where future development is anticipated.

Outskirts of the city need to be linked with road and infrastructure thereby reducing load on
already congested area.

Area 149.95 sq. km

Elevation 129 km (423ft)
Climate tropical Savanna
Population 1,602,424
Languages Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, English, Tamil

PEOPLE AND CULTURE

Being called the ‘Sanskari Nagari ’ the localities have quite a

hectic cultural life throughout the year. The outstanding trait about
Vadodara’s cultural life is that it is remarkably Cosmopolitan due to
benediction for the vision of broad mindedness of Gaekwads,
Vadodara has welcomed a wide variety of people from all over India
and also from all over world.

EDUCATION

The foundation which the Maharaja laid at the time was strong enough to
make the city another metonymy for education. He made sure that the city
turns out to be renowned Centre of education and today it rests over 20
public and over 100 private schools.
Towering benevolently over all is the Maharaja Sayajirao University the
jewel in Vadodara.
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CITY METAMORPHOSIS

Stage 1
Vadodara was set within fortified town built by
Mughals and Nawabs since they came in 1511
which later over ruled by Gaekwads in 1734.

Stage 2
The fortified town started expanding along the
edges showing the extra mural growth.

Stage 3
Later stage in the growth of Vadodara
depicts opening up of the city.

Map shows the movement of habitation of settlement of people

living near the river, later settling in the fortified town. Later map
shows the growth structure of Vadodara.
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ARCHITECTURE INDO SARCENIC STYLE

The city adopts elements from native Indo-Islamic and Indian

architecture combined with Gothic Revival and Neo-classical.

Lotus finial

bulbous dome

drum
chajja

corbelled pillars

1890 AD
Lakshmi villas palace
Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad
Architect- Major Charles Mant

1890 AD
Baroda museum
Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad
Architect- RF Chisholm
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THE ROAD MUCH TRAVELLED

I have been born and brought up in Vadodara. I have been a silent spectator of the growth and
many transformations that the city has witnessed.
Of the many places of the city I would like to take you for journey through main road, a jugular
vein of Vadodara.

I start the journey from Kalaghoda circle with Sayaji baug towards left. Moving ahead towards
left stands temple complex Kirti Mandir in the laps of greenery.
The road further goes to Kothi building adjacent to Suryanarayan baug. Again moving ahead and
you will cross Jubilee baug followed by Sursagar lake.

The lake gives relief to the vision from clustered and chaotic surroundings.
Opposite to sursagar lies MSU Music college.
KALAGHODA SAYAJI BAUGH KIRTI MANDIR

SURSAGAR

KOTHI BUILDING MUSIC COLLEGE

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SWOT ANALYSIS

Power Supply
▪ Vadodara has adequate power supply at present.
▪ However there is no provision for net energy metering.
▪ There is a great opportunity for development of renewable energy sources through
solar plant and waste to energy projects.

Water Supply
▪ Vadodara has adequate water supply coverage and availability for current demand
▪ There is huge opportunity for water saving by DMA planning, water audit and
▪ leak detection for effective water distribution network.

Sewerage
▪ Vadodara has adequate sewerage coverage.
▪ 70% sewage is treated before discharge to Vishwamitri river. However 30% sewage
remains untreated in some of the natural drains. 0.3% is treated by tertiary treatment
plant and used for recycle at Sayaji Baug.
▪ There is an immense opportunity for establishment of tertiary treatment plants and
recycle and sale of treated waste water on a city scale.
▪ Social acceptance of recycled water still remains a challenge and will need to be
tackled through a combination of public awareness drives incentives in user charges
and policy regulation.

Storm Water Drainage

▪ Vadodara city has about 70% storm water system coverage.
▪ Many natural drains have been silted over the years, or blocked due to urban
development.
▪ Cost recovery remains a challenge in drainage projects.
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SWOT ANALYSISI

Solid Waste Management

•Solid waste management system of Vadodara presently has 100% coverage.
•Timely door to door collection however is still inefficient in spite of innovative steps by like
call center for reporting of miss in collection, e waste collection drive etc.
•Segregation is still not conducted at primary or secondary level.
•Augmentation of processing plant to 100% capacity can be taken up through
private sector funding. Recycle of waste and conversion of bio degradable
waste to energy, and extension of scientific landfill are immense opportunities.

Traffic & Transport

▪ Vadodara has adequate road network but a severe lack in public mass transport systems.
▪ No policy restriction on registration of two wheelers or autos. This leads to traffic
congestion, uncontrolled parking and blocking of carriageway and increased air pollution.
▪ Encouragement of Pedestrianisation nonmotorised vehicles, e-vehicles and other mass
public transport systems are needed.
▪ Smart parking systems and construction MLCPs will ease the traffic on roads by reduction
of excessive street parking.

Heritage & Culture

▪ Vadodara has a significant density of heritage buildings and architecture.
▪ However there is negligible restoration or tourism promotion.
▪ Improvement tourism circuit with a focus on heritage tourism and adaptive reuse of
heritage buildings are both opportunities to be explored.

Open Space
▪ Vadodara has large green cover and open spaces. However pedestrian access, signage and
public utilities remain inadequate leading to under utilization.
▪ Private sector participation for development of public amenities and landscaping can be
taken up
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PRIME ATTRACTIONS

Lakshmi Vilas Palace Designed in Indo-Saracenic style of

architecture, the palace built by Maharaja Sayajirao in 1890 is
till date the residence of the royal family. Its ornate Darbar
Hall has an Italian mosaic floor and walls with mosaic
decorations. The palace houses a remarkable collection of old
armory and sculptures in bronze, marble & terracotta.

Vadodara Museum And Picture Gallery Founded by the

Gaekwads in 1894 AD, the museum has an impressive
collection on art and archaeology, natural history, geology and
ethnology. The adjoining art gallery has a great collection of
old European masters: Veronese, Giordano, Zurbaran, some
Flemish and Dutch School of paintings, Turner and Constable,
a collection of Mughal miniatures and valuable palm-leaf
manuscripts of Buddhist and Jain origin.

Kirti Mandir Meaning 'Hall of Fame', it's a memorial for the

Gaekwad rulers. Designed in the Hindu style, it is a magnificent
stone building with domes, terraces, balconies and a central
'shikhara'. It is decorated with murals by the famous Indian
artist, Nandlal Bose.

Nazarbagh Palace: Built in the old classical style, the palace

was used on ceremonial occasions by the Gaekwads. It now
houses the royal family heirlooms.

Makarpura Palace: A beautiful palace designed in the

Italianate style, the Makarpura is now used as a training
school of the Indian Air Force.

.
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PRIME ATTRACTIONS

Pratap Vilas Palace at Lalbag: Built as the residence of

the royal family, the Pratap Vilas is an extravagant and
flamboyant building built in the Indo-Saracenic style. The
palace houses a remarkable collection of old armoury
and sculptures in bronze, marble and terracotta.

Sayajirao Gaekwad University: The erstwhile ruler of

Baroda, Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad built Maharaja
Sayajirao Gaekwad University, also known as MSU, over a
hundred years ago. The University is one of the bigger
universities in Western India and the only one in
Vadodara. The notable faculties here are the Faculty of
Fine Arts and the Faculty of Performing Arts.

Hazira Maqbara
Built on high octagonal platform with smaller gates on
the cardinal directions and five arches on each side. It is
in the style of Mughal tombs at Delhi. The real grave is in
an underground chamber and the false grave in the tomb
chamber. The Quranic texts in Arabic are carved, inside
tomb chamber, on lintels, arches and also above Jali
work on eastern side walls. The extant parapet wall on
the roof terrace is embellished with Merlon designs in
brick red color evident from the traces. The lower
portion of cylindrical dome surrounding the tomb was
covered with thick plaster of brick red color.
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CONCLUSION

Vadodara the cultural capital of Gujarat has gone through many

changes.
The earlier Vadodara with lush greenery spread all over and the
sprawling university campus almost suspended in time filled with
heritage, the gigantic trees with their timeless roots suspended
from branches, has all changed with paced life, the car packed
streets.

The chaotic streets next to station, the vast two wheeler parking
spreading out into seemingly endless ocean wherever there is
slightest hint of space.

Yet the city Vadodara is a city of beautifully crafted museums

showcasing artworks crafted by masters, of beautiful gardens with
exotic plants to lions, from historic toy trains to fully preserved
skeleton of blue whales.

At the center of all this variety, chaos and beauty stands the
timeless palace. Its towering structuring commanding respect
from the entire expanse of Vadodara like guardian reclaiming its
forgotten glory.

As a drive around Vadodara city is enough to convince me it was

not an ordinary city, but a product of much cherished dream of a
great visionary Maharaja.