Sabarmati Ashram an Eye-Opener
Who wouldn’t like to know more and more about the great Indian leader Gandhi who led India to the path of victory and who is an epitome of non-violence. Today, it is difficult to imagine resorting to mild measures to get something as important as a freedom of a country in motion, but Gandhiji’s principles are observed and followed by many and they are successful in emulating his ways. So a visit to the Gandhi Ashram, or the Sabarmati Ashram would surely give more such reasons for us to be proud of belonging to the country led by this great national leader. It happens with many visitors that they face problem due to lack of awareness about the place. So to avoid such issues it’s better to follow the Gujarat Tourist Guide properly.
Visiting the Sabarmati Ashram was always an attraction for me as I like to be in the tranquil surroundings of this great place. Situated on the banks of the River Sabarmati, the Sabarmati Ashram is around 4 miles from the Town Hall. This is one of the many residing places of Mahatma Gandhi and is today a national monument and is under the Government of India now. It is a very important sightseeing spot in India, as it has been witnessed to the great Dandi March of 1930.
It is here that Gandhi progressed a great deal with his activities and started a tertiary school that focused on the agricultural process, manual labour and efforts to put the nation towards self-sufficiency. Gandhi also took some steps towards proper literacy here. Again the Sabarmati Ashram is famous in Indian history as the place where Gandhi started the Dandi March in the year 1930 on March 12. He walked with 78 colleagues and protested the Law on Salt imposed by the British. According to the law, the British taxed the Indian salt so that they could promote the sales of the salt brought from Britain in the country. The whole of India got charged up and awakened to a great rebellion and joined him in the march. The jails were filled with more than 60,000 protesters and the government also seized their property. Gandhi felt sorry about this and asked the British to take away the ashram and to leave the property belonging to the masses. The government did not relent and it had decided to take away the ashram and then it was that Gandhi took a vow that he wouldn’t come back to the Ashram till India became independent.
As I entered the ashram with my friend Ajay, I was enveloped with these emotions and I thanked my history teacher for having filled us with this information so well that Ajay, was quite impressed that I made such an impromptu tour guide.!
We went to the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya. This is a museum that has been constructed in the year 1963 and has been built by Charles Correa. The activities of the memorial started with the construction of this museum. The Sangrahalaya was actually started in “Hriday Kunj” Mahatma Gandhi’s residence but then shifted to the beautiful building that exists today. This was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in the year 1963 on May 10.
We then went to Nandini which lay to the right of Hriday Kunj. This guest house is a place where the foreigners stay when they come to visit this place.
Then we went to Vinoba Kutir which is so named as here is where Acharya Vinoba Bhavestayed. Today it is also known as Mira Kutir as Gandhi’s disciple Mirabehn started living here. Mirabehn was the daughter of a British Admiral and lived here following Gandhi’s principles.
Ajay was quite struck by the serene ambience and the tranquil atmosphere. It really is a great rejuvenation spot. Then there is the Upasana Mandir we went to which is an open air prayer ground which is located between the Magan Kutir and the Hriday Kunj. Magan Kutir is the residential place of the manager of the ashram, Maganlal Gandhi. Gandhi also used to be here and ponder on questions asked by individuals. He did this after his prayers. He used to sit here and solve people’s problems.
The Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya had around 35,000 and more books, all dealing with the life and works of this great freedom fighter and national leader. His teachings, and all subjects related to the freedom movement are stored here. Besides there is a reading room housing around 80 periodicals in Hindi, English and Gujarati. Around 34,117 letter written to Gandhi and by Gandhi are preserved here and the original as well as photocopies have been maintained with equal care. Then you have the manuscripts of Gandhi’s writings which total around 8,781 pages. More than 6,000 photographs of Gandhi and his friends and colleagues are stored in the Sangrahalaya.
Ajay also got some books from the Ashram book store which is a non-profit shop which sells memorabilia and other related works of Gandhi.
Visiting the Sabarmati Ashram was always an attraction for me as I like to be in the tranquil surroundings of this great place. Situated on the banks of the River Sabarmati, the Sabarmati Ashram is around 4 miles from the Town Hall. This is one of the many residing places of Mahatma Gandhi and is today a national monument and is under the Government of India now. It is a very important sightseeing spot in India, as it has been witnessed to the great Dandi March of 1930.
It is here that Gandhi progressed a great deal with his activities and started a tertiary school that focused on the agricultural process, manual labour and efforts to put the nation towards self-sufficiency. Gandhi also took some steps towards proper literacy here. Again the Sabarmati Ashram is famous in Indian history as the place where Gandhi started the Dandi March in the year 1930 on March 12. He walked with 78 colleagues and protested the Law on Salt imposed by the British. According to the law, the British taxed the Indian salt so that they could promote the sales of the salt brought from Britain in the country. The whole of India got charged up and awakened to a great rebellion and joined him in the march. The jails were filled with more than 60,000 protesters and the government also seized their property. Gandhi felt sorry about this and asked the British to take away the ashram and to leave the property belonging to the masses. The government did not relent and it had decided to take away the ashram and then it was that Gandhi took a vow that he wouldn’t come back to the Ashram till India became independent.
As I entered the ashram with my friend Ajay, I was enveloped with these emotions and I thanked my history teacher for having filled us with this information so well that Ajay, was quite impressed that I made such an impromptu tour guide.!
We went to the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya. This is a museum that has been constructed in the year 1963 and has been built by Charles Correa. The activities of the memorial started with the construction of this museum. The Sangrahalaya was actually started in “Hriday Kunj” Mahatma Gandhi’s residence but then shifted to the beautiful building that exists today. This was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in the year 1963 on May 10.
We then went to Nandini which lay to the right of Hriday Kunj. This guest house is a place where the foreigners stay when they come to visit this place.
Then we went to Vinoba Kutir which is so named as here is where Acharya Vinoba Bhavestayed. Today it is also known as Mira Kutir as Gandhi’s disciple Mirabehn started living here. Mirabehn was the daughter of a British Admiral and lived here following Gandhi’s principles.
Ajay was quite struck by the serene ambience and the tranquil atmosphere. It really is a great rejuvenation spot. Then there is the Upasana Mandir we went to which is an open air prayer ground which is located between the Magan Kutir and the Hriday Kunj. Magan Kutir is the residential place of the manager of the ashram, Maganlal Gandhi. Gandhi also used to be here and ponder on questions asked by individuals. He did this after his prayers. He used to sit here and solve people’s problems.
The Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya had around 35,000 and more books, all dealing with the life and works of this great freedom fighter and national leader. His teachings, and all subjects related to the freedom movement are stored here. Besides there is a reading room housing around 80 periodicals in Hindi, English and Gujarati. Around 34,117 letter written to Gandhi and by Gandhi are preserved here and the original as well as photocopies have been maintained with equal care. Then you have the manuscripts of Gandhi’s writings which total around 8,781 pages. More than 6,000 photographs of Gandhi and his friends and colleagues are stored in the Sangrahalaya.
Ajay also got some books from the Ashram book store which is a non-profit shop which sells memorabilia and other related works of Gandhi.
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