Sabarmati Ashram (
Gujarati: સાબરમતી આશ્રમ also known as
Gandhi Ashram,
Harijan Ashram, or
Satyagraha Ashram) is located in the
Ahmedabad suburb of
Sabarmati adjoining to famous
Ashram Road, at the bank of River Sabarmati, 4 miles from the town hall. This was one of the residences of
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. This ashram is now a national monument by the Government of India due to its significance in the Indian independence movement in the form of the
Dandi March in 1930.
History
The ashram was originally established at the Kocharab Bungalow of Jivanlal Desai on 25 May 1915. The Ashram was then shifted on 17 June 1917 to a piece of open land on the banks of the river Sabarmati. Reasons for this shift included: Gandhi 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.) It was believed that this was ancient ashram site of
Dadhichi Rishi who had donated his bones for a righteous war, but his actual ashram lies in
Naimisharanya, near
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh; it is between a jail and a crematorium, and he believed that a
satyagrahi has invariably to go to either place.
Mahatma 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."<!-- Image with...
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