Sabarmati Ashram
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Sabarmati Ashram (Gujarati: સાબરમતી આશ્રમ also known as Gandhi Ashram, Harijan Ashram, or Satyagraha Ashram) is located in the Ahmedabad suburb of Sabarmati and on the western banks of the Sabarmati River. This was one of the residences of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. It was from there that he started the Dandi March in 1930.
The ashram was originally established in the Kochrab area of Ahmedabad in 1915. In 1917 it was shifted to the banks of Sabarmati river. Reasons for this shift included: he wanted to do some experiments in living (e.g. farming, animal husbandry, cow breeding, khadi and related constructive activities for which he was in search of this kind of barren land.) Mythologically, it was the ashram site of Dadhichi Rishi who had donated his bones for a righteous war; it is between a jail and a crematorium and he believed that a satyagrahi has invariably to go to either place. Mahatama 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."
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[edit] India's independence movement
Sabarmati ashram was the scene of many events of the Indian independence movement. Gandhi made it his home from 1917 to 1930. While at the Ashram, Gandhi formed a school that focused on manual labour, agriculture, and literacy to advance his efforts for self-sufficiency. It was also from here on the 12 March 1930 that Gandhi launched the famous Dandi march 241 miles from the Ashram (with 78 companions) in protest of the British Salt Law, which taxed Indian salt in an effort to promote sales of British salt in India. This mass awakening filled the British jails with 60 000 freedom fighters. Later the government seized their property. Gandhi, in sympathy with them, responded by asking the Government to forfeit the Ashram. Then Government, however, did not oblige. He had by now already decided on 22 July 1933 to disband the Ashram, which later became an asserted place after the detention of many freedom fighters, and then some local citizens decided to preserve it. On 12 March 1930 he vowed that he would not return to the Ashram until India won independence. Although this was won on 15 August 1947, when India was declared a free nation, Gandhi was assassinated in January 1948. He had not visited the Ashram in the mean time.
[edit] Present day
The ashram now has a museum, Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalay. In 1963 the museum building was erected (designed by architect Charles Correa), and memorial activities were then started here. One of the important activities undertaken is the establishment of a Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya. Initially started in 'Hriday Kunj,' Gandhi's own cottage in the Ashram, the Sangrahalaya has now shifted to its own well-designed and well-furnished building which was inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India, on 10 May 1963.
Exhibits at the museum include:
- "My life is my message" gallery, consisting of 8 life-size painting and more than 250 photo-enlargements of some of the 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
- Gandhi quotations, letters and other relics exhibition
- 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 'Hridaya Kunj' where some of the personal relics of Gandhi are on display
- Ashram book store, a non-profit book store selling literature and memorabilia related to Gandhi and his life work and also supports local artisans
[edit] Ashram activities
- Collecting, processing, preserving and displaying archival materials (writings, photographs, paintings, voice-records, films, personal clothes etc
- Microfilming, lamination and preservation of negatives
- Arranging exhibitions on aspects of Gandhi’s life, literature and activities
- Publication of the "Mahadevbhani Dairy," which chronicles the entire history of the Indian freedom struggle
- The Ashram Trust funds activities that include education for the visitor, the community and routine maintenance of the museum and its surrounding grounds
- Keeping contact with as well as helping and undertaking study and research in Gandhian thought and activities and publishing the results of such study and research and allied literature for the benefit of the people
- Observance in a suitable manner of occasions connected with Gandhi’s life
- Maintaining contact with the youth and student community and providing facilities to them for the study of Gandhian thought
[edit] Contact details
Address: Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya, Gandhi Ashram, Ahmedabad 380 027 INDIA
Phone: +91 79 2755 7277
Email: mahatma@sabarmati.org
Website: [1]
