Gujarat has played a very significant role in the cultural mosaic of India through the ages. The state derives its name from Gurjara Rashtra, the land of the Gurjaras. Gujarat broadly covers the areas of Kutch, Saurashtra and the regions between the rivers Banas and Damanganga. Its glorious legacy of art and culture and the birthplaces of and institutions founded by Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel have attracted attention of both Indians and foreigners. The people of Gujarat are very enterprising and engaged in both commercial and industrial activities.

Archaeological excavations in some sites in Gujarat have traced back the history of Gujarat to the period of the Indus Valley civilization. Lothal is a major and typical site with a well-laid out city with private baths, public roads and drains. The brick-built houses are lined on both sides of streets. The streets were laid on a chessboard pattern and divided the town apparently into blocks. The excavated remains clearly suggested a systematic town planning. According to archeologists, all the known artifacts of the Harappan culture are present at Lothal; for example, inscribed steatite seals, ornaments of semi-precious stones, human and animal clay figurines. The inhabitants made their living by agriculture, trade and fishing. The structure of a brick-built rectangular dockyard indicates overseas trade activities.

Gujarat has a brilliant artistic heritage. Architectural, sculptural, and painting traditions of Gujarat bear witness to a very high aesthetic standard. The earliest temples of Gujarat, attributed to the Maitrakas of Valabhi, are small structures of a simple plan and design: a tall plain wall of the temple, surmounted by a pyramidal roof of stepped courses. These temples are assigned to sixth and seventh centuries; more than fifty similar temples, with three-to-five tiers, have been located along the coastal region of Gujarat. Under the Solanki kings of Gujarat flourished a distinctive regional building art. The earliest Solanki monument is the temple of Sun-god at Modhera. Dating from 1026, the temple comprises three separate but axially-aligned and integrated elements, namely, the sanctum, the large hall and a paved tank decorated with miniature shrines. The hall is a ‘magnificent pile of pillared splendour’. The temple is a majestic conception with an ornate plinth and a wall embellished with dignified sculptures dominated by the images of the Sun god. This is considered the greatest achievement of the style.

Of all the provincial styles of Indo-Muslim architecture, that of Gujarat is the largest, the most elegant and the most important. Gujarat developed a beautiful style of its own marked by spaciousness and elegance. These qualities blended with the conception of symmetry and proportion of the Khalji style at Delhi. Consequently a new style was born. The Jami mosque of Ahmedabad (1424) is one of the largest and most beautiful mosques in India. With an extensive courtyard enclosed by a spacious prayer hall and pillared corridors on the three sides, it is an imposing structure. The treatment of its facade is impressive due to the graceful curves of its archways. Mention is to be made of the celebrated Sidi Said’s mosque, constructed in 1572-73. This small mosque represents the last phase of the Gujarat Sultanate, and is world-famous for its unique feature of the perforated stone window-screens, filled with various floral and geometric patterns.

Gujarat also boasts of a very rich literary heritage. Jain writers used Gujarati language from the very beginning. Consequently, the earliest period of Gujarati literature is dominated by Jain compositions. Compositions consist of prose-tales, poems and also works on grammar and philosophy. By the 12th century Old Gujarati language fully developed. Among the special literary types, mention may be made of Rasas or long poems, Kathas or stories in prose and verse, Phagus or song - poems on love and nature, Bara - masis or songs of the seasons, and Rasaks or women’s songs. They were later known as Garbas, an important part of Gujarati lyric poetry.

Narsinh Mehta (1415-1481) started a new era in Gujarati literature by introducing the Bhakti School. He composed his devotional lyrics in honour of God conceived in the form of Krishna. He was the first great poet of Gujarati who still lives in the memory and on the lips of Gujarati speakers. It is well known that Mahatma Gandhi was a great admirer of Narsinh Mehta. One of Narsinh Mehta’s devotional poems on the nature of the ideal servant of God (Vaishnava) was a favourite religious song of Mahatma Gandhi. In his spiritual ideas Narsinh Mehta seems to have been influenced by both the North Indian poets and saints and the saints of Maharashtra. Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948), “the Father of the Nation,” was also a forceful writer in Gujarati, his mother-tongue. His style was known for its simplicity and directness. The Gujarat Vidyapith founded by him at Ahmedabad, is well known for its ideal of bringing about the moral, spiritual, economic, political and cultural renaissance of India.

The Gujaratis have a real love for art and letters, being quite sensitive to artistic creations. As in the past, they will continue their cultural tradition in making significant contributions in the future.

Kalyan Kumar Sarkar is an Emeritus Professor of Classical and Modern Languages and Literature at the University of Windsor, Ontario.