Gandhi Smriti is where Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi breathed his last, falling to the ground with a gentle “Hey Ram” on his lips as Nathuram Godse fired three bullets into him, and from where Jawaharlal Nehru echoed the grief of a nation with his words, “The light has gone out of our lives.” Gandhi Smriti where he died is where the Mahatma still lives.
The sparkling white walls and the expansive grounds of what was then known as Birla House encapsulate within it the history of Mahatma Gandhi. And somewhere, in the chattering crowds of tourists and schoolchildren, even the spirit of the man who engineered India’s freedom with his steadfast belief in non-violence.
A stroll down Tees January Marg, the leafy avenue in Lutyens Delhi named after the day Gandhi was assassinated, leads to the sprawling Birla House where ‘Bapu’ spent his last 144 days before being felled while he was on his way to his evening prayers.
Cemented footsteps retrace Gandhi’s last walk to the place where Godse was waiting for him, touching his feet before assassinating him.
Shortly after, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru wept as he told the nation from the gates of Birla House in what is believed to be one of the greatest speeches of the world, “The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere…”
Converted into a national memorial in 1973, the Gandhi Smriti complex today preserves the room where Gandhi stayed, long galleries filled with his photographs and letters depicting important events of his life, and a multimedia museum with interactive instruments.
His room has been preserved as it was on the day he stepped out for what would be his last walk his glasses, walking stick, a fork and spoon, the mattress on the floor he slept on and a well-thumbed copy of the Gita tell visitors the tale of the man whose life inspired so many, and continues to do so.
The Time Line Browser installed on one of the walls allows visitors to see the leader’s life in chronological order, “From Mohandas to Mahatma”, through a horizontally moving tablet.
Another installation, an e-train, allows one to trace Gandhi’s journey in India and the significance of the places he visited.
Similarly, an e-prison shows glimpses of Gandhi’s life spent behind bars.
Inside the complex, it is all about Gandhi’s teachings and his principles.
Outside the gate, a small-time vendor selling statues of three monkeys representing Gandhi’s principles of see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil is not too happy.
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