WelcomHeritage Mani Mansion is a 93 years old property. The present house was built by the Jain businessman and philanthropist Manibhai Dalal in 1923. The family members have held prominent positions in the city over the decades. Their love for art and literature made this a popular gathering place for artists, writers and poets. Doyens of Gujarati literature like Jyotindra Dave, Jay Bhiku and Chandravadan Mehta have stayed here for months working on their project. Legendary artistis like Ravi Shankar Raval and theater personality jay Shankar Sundri were also guests of this house.

Among the many other guests hosted by the family are Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, former Prime Minister of India Morarji Desai, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, Olympian Mary Kom, actress Asha Parekh, Padmashree Shubha Mudgal and Bombay Jayashree.

Some of the rooms on offer in the heritage hotel are those graced by such eminent personalities.

The property is situated in Paldi, which has many colonial-period buildings and Art Deco period houses.

Mani Mansion property has a beautiful swimming pool with a paved deck furnished with garden chairs. The health club has modern equipment.

The owners are actively involved with sports and cultural activities, and can help arrange clubbing, bridge, golf and tickets for cultural events in the city of Ahmedabad.

Mani Mansion has an a/c Banquet Hall and a Lawn, which can be booked for Meetings, Conferences, Parties, Social Events, Birthday Parties, CMEs and Exhibitions.

The property can be hired for shooting on location.

The Paldi Museum, called Sanskar Kendra, was designed in 1957 by Le Corbusier. The City Museum here is neatly laid out with sections dedicated to diverse subjects such as the history of the city, urban growth, sociological development, the freedom movement, religions, industry, architectural trail, festivals, contemporary art and photography, and the emergence of world renowned institutes in the city. There is also a Kite Museum in the building. Sanskar Kendra houses sculpture, folk and modern art, paintings of literary figures, etc, and also early-20th century vehicles like a fire engine once used by the city’s municipality. The campus also has Tagore Hall where performances are held from time to time.

The National Institute of Design (NID), India’s premier design institute, is also located in Paldi. Its gallery houses exhibitions from time to time.

The Riverfront is a landmark riverfront development project that has created a wonderful garden along the Sarbarmati.

About 3 km from Mani Mansion, the old city of Ahmedabad has magnificent monuments like the 16th century Sidi Syed Mosque, the 15th century Badhra Fort, the 15th century Jamma Masjid, the historical square called Manek Chowk, and the unique Shaking Minarets.

Another interesting route from Mani Mansion covers the historic Ellisbridge, the elegant Rani Sipri Mosque, Magen Abraham Synagogue, British period churches, and Kankaria Lake which is one of Ahmedabad’s best known landmarks. Kankaria Lake was built by Sultan Qutbuddin in the 15th century and was known as Hauzi-i-Qutb. The lake is polygonal in shape, with 34 equidistant sides, with a circumference of about 2.30km. The water can be approached by sloping ramps and stone cut steps. Exquisite sluice gates are among the lake’s architectural highlights. This recreational spot of the Sultans, and later the Mughals (there are tales of Jehangir romping with Noorjehan at Nagina Wadi), became a public entertainment zone in 1951 with a zoological park (first called Hill Garden Zoo and later renamed Kamla Nehru Zoological Park) and a children’s park called Chacha Nehru Balvatika (with a Noah’s Ark themed nature library, hall of mirrors, rides, etc) , sprawling over mounds probably created during the excavation of the lake, and an esplanade where people specially couples and families began to gather for strolls, sitting out by the lake’s embankments and indulging in street food. Later additions included an aquarium, a natural history museum and boating facilities.

The lakefront has been redeveloped in recent years with a pedestrian-only zone around it, a mini-train that runs along the perimeter of the lake, rides for children, tethered hot-air balloon that offers a panorama of the lake and the Maninagar urban area, and shows. Near the entrance to the lakefront esplanade, Kids City is an indoor infotainment park with recreated workplaces like a bank, a fire station, a science lab, a radio station, a police station, court room , hospital, theatre, town governance office, IT centre, news room, ice-cream factory, etc where children learn by role-playing as firefighters, radio jockeys, broadcasters, doctors, etc.
Balvatika, the children’s park accessible from the lakefront, has added a waterpark and planetarium. There is a Natural History Museum bearby with evocatively displayed stuffed birds (the star attraction is the stuffed great Indian bustard), dioramas of life in the world and informative photographs.

Covering hillocks along Kankaria lake, this zoo has a good collection of large and small mammals. The bird section has rarities like the Nicobar pigeon. This zoo is also known for its reptiles like crocodiles, water monitor (it was perhaps the first in the world to breed them in captivity) and the Reptile House with snakes.

ATTRACTIONS IN 100KM RADIUS OF THE PROPERTY

About 30 minutes from the property, Gandhinagar is a modern, planned and greened capital of Gujarat. It is developing into a hub for education and technology. On the outskirts of Gandhinagar, the 15th century Ruda Vav in Adalaj is one of India’s finest stepwells. Pethapur village of Gandhinagar is one of the few places where wooden blocks for printing are produced by woodcarvers.

Akshardham is one of the greatest of modern temples – it has superb gardens, a majestic pink stone temple, museum and ultra-modern shows.

Ahmedabad makes an ideal base to visit Important Bird Areas like the Thol Bird Sanctuary, the Kheda Wetlands and Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary, all within 65km radius of the House of MG.
The Harappan archaeological site of Lothal, about 82km from House of MG, offers an insight into the Indus Valley Civilisation that thrived here from 2400 to 1900BC.

Mahudi Jain temple is much visited by pilgrims.