Today was a scheduled sight-seeing day for both the undergraduate and graduate groups. I Skyped with the family again first thing in the morning (this time with working video!), then got a quick breakfast before we had to meet at the shuttle buses at 8:30am. We drove a few hours outside of Ahmedabad to the Modhera Sun Temple. It was built around 1026 A.D. of sandstone as a place of worship to Hindu gods. It sits along the Tropic of Cancer, so that two days per year (on each Equinox) the natural sunlight would fill the highest portion of the temple and illuminate an idol of Lord Surya, the Sun God of Hinduism. The carvings of the temple served as pictographs of religion and culture for the uneducated people of the time. Today it is not an active place of worship (idols are not maintained inside), but rather an historical and cultural monument. It was amazing to see the intricacies of the carvings and the archictectural elements that have survived so much time and wear. What a spectacular site to tour! 
Following our visit to the Sun Temple, we returned to the outskirts of Ahmedabad and visited the Adalaj (a community Stepwell). The well was commissioned in 1499 by Queen Roopba as a community water source in honor of her deceased husband, and completed by a neighboring Muslim King. It is intricately carved and five stories in depth, and contains both Hindi and Islamic architectural elements and carved motifs.
Finally, we visited Gandhi's Ashram in Ahmedabad. This is a set of buildings used by Gandhi and his followers as a home and religious community. It was very interesting to read more of Gandhi's life and to see the simple, sparse dwellings in which he and his followers lived and practiced. My favorite part of the Ashram was a simple wall that had a life-size photo next to the phrase (in script) "My life is my message". I love that. That phrase is something I agree with wholeheartedly. Before his death Gandhi began a school on-site to provide free education to the poorest children of the area. It still operates on the premises today (now government-run), and there were many children running around the property and asking our names and to be in our photographs.
After sight-seeing, the undergraduate group went to a local Indian restaurant while the graduate group elected to go back to Pizza Hut (Mainland China was closed, and it was the 4th of July so pizza seemed appropriate anyway). Then we lit our Indian fireworks on the MICA campus to celebrate American Independence Day before turning in for the night.
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