Documentary on Gujarat's Vadnagar to premiere on Discovery Channel on Wednesday

A documentary telling the story of the ancient city of Vadnagar in Gujarat through digital reconstructions and experts' accounts is all set to premiere on television on Wednesday.

''Ananth Anaadih Vadnagar'' will be premiered at 9 pm on Discovery Channel and Discovery Plus in India.

''Each episode of the fascinating docuseries, which examines the long history of India's fortified city, focuses on a different time period, starting with Vadnagar's transformation from a small village to a significant city during the Mauryan era,'' a government source said on Tuesday.

Hosted by Manoj Muntashir Shukla, it tells the story of this heritage city through the years, bringing its uninterrupted civilisation, and historical events to life through expert conversations and digital reconstructions using 3D animation, the sources said.

About 100 km from Ahmedabad, Vadnagar in Mehsana district of Gujarat is a historic town with population of approximately 28,000.

The documentary will cover themes such as 2,500 years of existence of Vadnagar and its history and culture; protection of knowledge and contributions of Nagar scholars, artisans and musicians; preservation of culture and diversity; unobstructed habitation, its resilience and continuity; trade and shell bangles industry; archaeological finds, and relevance to current time with views of experts.

In December 2022, ASI officials had said that Vadnagar town and the iconic Sun Temple at Modhera in Gujarat, and rock-cut relief sculptures of Unakoti in Tripura, were added to the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

''This listing on the tentative list of UNESCO heritage sites, will give a boost to tourism in Vadnagar and further in Gujarat,'' the source said.