Sabarmati Ashram
Sabarmati Ashram (also known as Gandhi Ashram, Harijan Ashram, or Satyagraha
Ashram) is located in the Sabarmati suburb of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, adjoining
the Ashram Road, on the banks of the River Sabarmati, four miles from the
town hall. This was one of the residences of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi,
generally called Mahatma Gandhi, who lived there for about twelve years
along with his wife, Kasturba Gandhi.
It was from his base here that Gandhi led the Dandi march also known as the
Salt Satyagraha on March 12, 1930. In recognition of the significant
influence that this march had on the Indian independence movement the Indian
government has established the ashram as a national monument.
History
The ashram was originally established at the Kocharab Bungalow of Jivanlal
Desai, a barrister and friend of Gandhi, on 25 May 1915. At that time the
ashram was called the Satyagraha Ashram. Gandhi had wanted to carry out
various activities such as farming and animal husbandry, in addition to
other pursuits which called for the need of a much larger area of usable
land. So that some two years later, on 17 June 1917, the ashram was
relocated to an area of thirty-six acres on the banks of the river Sabarmati
and came to be known as the Sabarmati Ashram. It is believed that this is
one of the ancient ashram sites of Dadhichi Rishi who had donated his bones
for a righteous war. His main ashram lies in Naimisharanya, near Lucknow,
Uttar Pradesh. The Sabarmati ashram is sited between a jail and a
crematorium, and Gandhi believed that a satyagrahi has invariably to go to
either place. Mohandas Gandhi said, "This is the right place for our
activities to carry on the search for truth and develop fearlessness, for on
one side are the iron bolts of the foreigners, and on the other the
thunderbolts of Mother Nature."
While at the ashram, Gandhi formed a tertiary school that focused on manual
labour, agriculture and literacy, in order to advance his efforts for the
nation's self-sufficiency. It was also from here that on March 12,
1930,Gandhi marched to Dandi, 241 miles from the ashram, with 78 companions
in protest at the British Salt Law, which increased the taxes on Indian salt
in an effort to promote sales of British salt in India. It was this march
and the subsequent illegal production of salt (Gandhi boiled up some salty
mud in seawater) that spurred hundreds of thousands across India to join in,
either in the illegal production, buying or selling of salt. This mass civil
disobedience in turn led to the jailing of some 60,000 freedom fighters by
the British Raj over the following three weeks. Subsequently the government
seized the ashram.
Gandhi later asked the Government to give it back but they were not willing
to do this. He had by then already decided on 22 July 1933 to disband the
ashram, which then became a deserted place after the detention of so many.
Then local citizens decided to preserve it. On March 12, 1930 Gandhi had
vowed that he would not return to the ashram until India had gained
independence. Although this was won on 15 August 1947, when India was
declared a free nation, Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948.
Present Day
The ashram now has a museum, the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalay. This had
originally been located in 'Hridaya Kunj', Gandhi's own cottage in the
ashram. Then in 1963, having been designed by the architect Charles Correa,
the museum was built. The Sangrahalay was then re-located into the
well-designed and well-furnished museum building and was inaugurated by
Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India on 10 May 1963. Memorial
activities could then continue.
Other buildings and sites within the ashram are:
Nandini: This is an old ashram guest house where visitors from India and
abroad are accommodated. It is situated on the right hand side of 'Hridaya
Kunj'.
Vinoba Kutir: This cottage is named after Acharya Vinoba Bhave who stayed
here. Today It is also known as Mira Kutir after Gandhiji's disciple
Mirabehn who later lived there, following Gandhi's principles. She was the
daughter of a British Rear-Admiral.
Upasana Mandir: This is an open -air prayer ground, where after Prayers
Gandhiji would refer to individual's questions and as head of family would
try to analyse and solve these queries. It is situated between Hridaya Kunj
and Magan Nivas.
Magan Niwas: This hut used to be the home of the ashram manager, Maganlal
Gandhi. Maganlal was the much loved cousin of Gandhi who he called the soul
of the ashram.
Museum Features
- "My life is my message" gallery, consisting of 8 life-size paintings and
more than 250 photo-enlargements of some of the most vivid and historic
events of Gandhi's life.
- Gandhi in Ahmedabad Gallery, tracking Gandhi's life in Ahmedabad from 1915
- 1930.
- Life-size oil painting gallery.
- Exhibition showing quotations, letters and other relics of Gandhi.
- Library consisting of nearly 35,000 books dealing with Gandhi's life,
work, teachings, Indian freedom movement and allied subjects, and a Reading
Room with more than 80 periodicals in English, Gujarati and Hindi.
- Archives consisting of nearly 34,117 letters to and from Gandhi both in
original and in photocopies, about 8,781 pages of manuscripts of Gandhi's
articles appearing in Harijan, Harijansevak, and Harijanbandhu and about
6,000 photographs of Gandhi and his associates.
- An important landmark of the ashram is Gandhi's cottage 'Hridaya Kunj',
where some of the personal relics of Gandhi are displayed.
- Ashram book store, non-profit making, which sells literature and
memorabilia related to Gandhi and his life's work, which in turn supports
local artisans.
Ashram Activities
- The Sabarmati ashram receives about 7 lakh (700,000) visitors a year whose
needs have to be catered for. It remains open for visitors every day of the
year from 8.00 am to 7.00.pm.
- Collecting, processing, preserving and displaying archival materials such
as writings, photographs, paintings, voice-records, films and personal
effects.
- The charkha used by Gandhi to spin khadi and the writing table he used for
writing letters are also a few of the priceless items kept and looked after
here.
- Charkha kept at Gandhi Ashram Microfilming, lamination and preservation of
negatives.
- Arranging exhibitions on different aspects of Gandhi’s life, literature
and activities.
- Publication of the "Mahadevbhani Diary," which chronicles the entire
history of the Indian freedom struggle.
- The Ashram Trust funds activities that include education for the visitor
and the community and routine maintenance of the museum and its surrounding
grounds and buildings.
- Helping and undertaking study and research in Gandhian thought and
activities. Keeping in contact with those being helped. Publishing those
results of study and research together with allied literature, for the
benefit of all.
- Observance in a suitable manner of occasions connected with Gandhi’s life.
- Maintaining contact with the youth and student community and providing
facilities for them to study Gandhian thought.
A Walk in Gandhi Ashram
With prior appointment from The Secretary, Gandhi Ashram Preservation and
Memorial Trust, the Gandhi Smarak Sangralaya, Gandhi Ashram Ahmedabad 380
027 a walking tour can be organised. This 90 minute guided tour starts with
a slide show and ends at the Library. The tour visits the following places,
in order:
1.Magan Niwas - Magan Gandhi - The soul of the ashram which exhibits
different designs of charkhas.
2.Upasana Mandir - Prayer Ground where the ashramite listened to bhajans
(devotional songs) and readings from the Holy Gita, Quran and Bible.
3.Hriday Kunj - Like the heart in the body this centrally located dwelling
supplied energy to the entire place.
4.Vinoba-Mira Kutir - The hut where Vinoba Bhave and Madeleine (renamed
Mirabehn by Gandhi) the daughter of the British Rear-Admiral Sir Edmond
Slade stayed at different times.
5.Nandini - This was the guest house of the ashram.
6.Udyog Mandir - A temple of industry symbolizing self-reliance and dignity
of labour.
7.Somnath Chattralaya - A cluster of rooms occupied by ashramities who
forsook family affairs and shared ashram life.
8.Teacher's Niwas - Bapu's associates stayed at teacher's chali.
9.Gandhi in Ahmedabad - This gallery exhibits major events of Gandhiji's
life from 1915 to 1930 in Ahmedabad.
10.Painting Gallery - Eight life size paintings have been displayed.
11.My life is my message - Events which were turning points in Gandhiji's
life and which ultimately changed the history of India are depicted through
oil paintings and photographs.
12.Library & Archives - Archives preserve the legacy of eternal Gandhi in
34,000 manuscripts, 150 felicitations, 6,000 photo negatives, and 200 files
of photostats. The Library has 35,000 books including 4,500 books from
Mahadevbhai Desai's personal collection and books on Gandhian thought. It is
an invaluable resource for researchers.
Sources: Wikipedia
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