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A Diwali evening around Kankaria and Maninagar
Shopping, sweets, the lake and the crowds: a local’s guide to east Ahmedabad in festival week.
Our store sits in Maninagar, a few minutes from Kankaria Lake, and in Diwali week the whole area turns into one long festival market. If you are coming to pick up an order, it is worth making an evening of it.
Start in the late afternoon at Maninagar’s market lanes for rangoli colours, diyas, toran and marigold strings. Prices drop sharply after the Dhanteras rush, so the two days before Diwali are good for decorations. For sweets and farsan, the shops near the railway crossing make fresh mohanthal, ghughra and mathiya through the week; go before six to avoid the longest queues.
Kankaria Lake is lit up through the festival, with a walkway around the water and food stalls near the gates. It gets crowded after dark, especially on weekends, so families with small children often go around five, walk for an hour and leave before the evening rush. There is an entry fee for the lakefront.
Come to us last, so your crackers do not sit in a hot car or a crowded bag while you walk. Bring your WhatsApp estimate number and collection takes ten minutes outside peak hours. Traffic on Kankaria Road is heavy from seven to ten; the back route through the society lanes to Jawahar Chowk is usually faster. And if you are carrying crackers home on a two-wheeler, place the carton in front, not on the back seat with a child.
