Sabarmati Ashram

• 1. Introduction

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  Sabarmati Ashram sits on the banks of the Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, just 4 miles from the town hall. On the 12th of March 1930, a man walked out of its gates and did not look back. Mahatma Gandhi had vowed that he would not return until India had gained independence. He never did return. What compelled him to make that vow? What had this place on the river made possible, and what was lost when the British government seized it? Those are the questions this documentary sets out to answer.

• 2. A Community on the River

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  Gandhi lived at Sabarmati for a total of twelve years alongside his wife Kasturba Gandhi and a community of followers that included Vinoba Bhave. The ashram was not simply a private home. It was an organized community with a daily schedule that included recitation of the Bhagavad Gita. Gandhi also established a tertiary school there focused on manual labor, agriculture, and literacy, aimed at advancing what he called the nation's self-sufficiency.

  The buildings within the compound had names that carried meaning. Magan Niwas was the home of Maganlal Gandhi, Gandhi's cousin, whom he called the soul of the ashram. Maganlal served as ashram manager until his death in April 1928. The names Nandini and Rustom Block date back at least to the 1920s, as shown in a letter Gandhi wrote to Chhaganlal Joshi, who took over as manager after Maganlal's death.

  Vinoba Kutir was named after Acharya Vinoba Bhave, who stayed there. Later the same cottage became known as Mira Kutir, for Mirabehn, a disciple of Gandhi who was the daughter of a British Rear-Admiral. The Upasana Mandir, an open-air prayer ground between Hridaya Kunj and Magan Nivas, was where Gandhi would address the community after prayers, taking up individual questions as head of the household.

• 3. The March to Dandi

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  On the 12th of March 1930, Gandhi left the ashram with 78 companions and walked toward the coastal town of Dandi, 241 miles away. The target was the British Salt Law, which had increased taxes on Indian salt during the economic hardship of the Great Depression. When Gandhi arrived at the sea, he boiled salty mud in seawater to produce salt illegally. That single act spread outward like a signal.

  Hundreds of thousands of people across India began joining in the illegal production, buying, or selling of salt. The British Raj responded by imprisoning roughly 60,000 people over the following three weeks. After the arrests, the government seized the ashram itself.

  Gandhi requested that the government return the ashram. They refused. By the 22nd of July 1933, so many residents had been detained that the ashram had become, by his own assessment, a deserted place. He formally disbanded it. Local citizens stepped in and took on the work of preserving what remained.

• 4. The Museum Charles Correa Built

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  The preservation effort eventually led to a formal institution. The Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya, the memorial museum, was originally housed in Hridaya Kunj, Gandhi's own cottage within the ashram. Then in 1963, architect Charles Correa designed a purpose-built museum building. The Sangrahalaya moved into the new space, and the inauguration was performed by Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India, on the 10th of May 1963.

  The collections held there are substantial. The archives contain nearly 34,117 letters to and from Gandhi, both originals and photocopies, along with about 8,781 pages of manuscripts of Gandhi's articles from Harijan, Harijansevak, and Harijanbandhu, and around 6,000 photographs of Gandhi and his associates. The library holds nearly 35,000 books, including 4,500 volumes from Mahadevbhai Desai's personal collection, covering Gandhi's life, work, teachings, the Indian freedom movement, and related subjects. A reading room offers access to more than 80 periodicals in English, Gujarati, and Hindi.

  Hridaya Kunj itself still stands as a landmark within the ashram, displaying some of Gandhi's personal relics, including the charkha he used to spin khadi and the writing table where he composed letters.

• 5. Living Archive

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  Today, around 700,000 visitors come to Sabarmati Ashram each year. The grounds are open every day from 08:00 to 19:00. A 90-minute guided walking tour, available by appointment with the Secretary of the Gandhi Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust, moves through the compound from a slide show to the library, visiting Magan Niwas, the Upasana Mandir, Hridaya Kunj, Vinoba-Mira Kutir, Nandini guest house, Udyog Mandir, Somnath Chattralaya, and the museum galleries.

  The ashram's activities extend beyond the museum building. Staff microfilm, laminate, and preserve negatives. The publication "Mahadevbhani Diary," which chronicles the history of the Indian independence movement, continues to be produced there. The Ashram Trust funds education programs for visitors and the surrounding community, as well as routine maintenance of the buildings and grounds.

  The non-profit book store sells literature and memorabilia including the charkha, the Three Monkeys, and postcards, with proceeds supporting local artisans. The library's opening hours run from 11:00 to 18:00; books may be read on-site but cannot be borrowed. Among the rarest items in the collection are the manuscripts of Gandhi's articles from Harijan, the newspaper he founded to advocate for the rights of untouchables.