Approximately 200 kilometres South of Ahmedabad - where the Pratiti Initiative established its roots - is Surat. And so, it should come as no surprise that Ahmedabad and Surat seem to share a history as it pertains to the administrations it has seen.
| Location Surat |
Typology Public park |
Site area 5,700 sq. m |
The city has been the site of many significant events leading up to the independence of India. Not only was the city the site of the 1907 Split, where the Indian National Congress was divided into moderates and extremists - an event that impacted the trajectory of the freedom struggle, but it also participated actively in the Quit India Movement resistance of 1942.
Key among the social activists and freedom fighters in Surat was Maharaj Ravi Shankar Vyas - a freedoms fighter born in 1884. Influenced by the ideology of Arya Samaj, he met Mahatma Gandhiji in 1915, supporting him through the freedom struggle movement.
Near the Circuit House in Surat, in the South-West Zone is an approximately 5700 sq.mts garden that is dedicated to the memory of this social reformer and freedom fighter. The Ravi Shakar Maharaj (Vyas) Udyan was opened to the public in 2008, and in 2024, it was redesigned and refurbished as part of the Pratiti Initiative.
While the garden is not as active as the Jyotindra Dave Udyan - another garden in Surat that has been redesigned as part of the initiative, this park utilises a similar kit of parts that includes play areas, and play courts, lawns, and dense plantation below which is seating.
However, this garden does distinguish itself by its choice of plant material and composition - with some of the plant species being more experimental when compared to the gardens’ planting palette otherwise.
The garden is now poised to be integrated into the everyday interactions and movements of the residents of the city, as it was intended to do.
