Kirti Mandir, Porbandar: Nestled on the coast of Saurashtra, Kathiawad the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba, is an ancient sea port. For long Porbandar was the hub of trade with the Middle East, Edan, Muscat and Oman. Mahatma Gandhi’s Grand Father Uttamchand Gandhi, popularly known as Otabappa was the Diwan, Prime Minister, of the Porbandar prince. The house was purchased by him and the Gandhi clan lived here till it was converted into a monument in 1947. Karamchand Gandhi, Mahatma’s father also served the Porbandar prince for some time as Prime Minister. Kaba Gandhi as he was popularly known raised his family in the same house. On 2nd October 1869 young Mohan was born to Putliba, he was Karamchand Bappa’s youngest offspring.

Exactly behind the Gandhi household was the bigger and more opulent home of the leading trader and financer of Porbandar. This was the home of Kasturba’s parents. At the age of thirteen Mohan and Kastur were married. This house is designated as a national monument. Kutiyana is a fortified town in Porbandar district close to Porbandar. This is where the Gandhi’s originated this is also the town from where they got their family name Gandhi, seller of perfumes.

Both the homes are today preserved as national monuments. Porbandar is a small town with a majestic sea front and an all weather port. The Palace of the Porbandar royals is an imposing structure on the waterfront. It is very near the temple of Somnath and the sunken city of Dwarka. Fish drying is a very big business here. Porbandar is dominated by two casts the sea going Kharvas and the Mers, Mers are believed to be descendants of the remnants of Alexander’s

army who settled in western India. Porbandar can be reached by daily domestic flights as well as trains and buses.

Kaba Gandhi No Delo, Rajkot: After a falling out with the Porbandar Prince Karamchand Bappa moved with his family to Rajkot a town north of Gujarat. Kaba took up employment as the Diwan of Rajkot in the prince’s Darbar, court. He was given a plot of land on which to build his family home. The House came to be known as ‘Kaba Gandhi No Delo’, Kaba Gandhi’s house, today it is surrounded by a densely crowded market in central Rajkot. There is a perennial well in the courtyard it is said that this well has never gone dry in the worst of droughts there is water in this well. This is where young Mohan grew up. Brought his newly married bride Kastur. Mohan and Kastur were given a room which was situated above the entrance of the house. Today that room has
	been demolished. This was the house where Mohan confessed about his crimes to his ailing father and was forgiven. This is where Kaba Gandhi died. Mohan was administered the three oaths by his mother in the presence of a Jain monk before being allowed to go to Britain to study Law. The oaths were, ‘never to drink alcohol’; ‘never eat meat, poultry or fish’; ‘not to have amoral relations with western women’. This was where he returned as a Barrister only to find out that his mother had died while he was in England. He went to Africa from this house and on his return wrote and
published the Green Pamphlet, a report of the condition of Asian immigrants in South Africa, for which he faced a lot of hostility and was almost lynched on his return to South Africa. This home is preserved as a monument by a private trust.

The Alfred High School, Rajkot: The high school where Gandhiji studied up to Matric, Std.XI. The School is still running although the original building is proposed to be converted into a museum. The school has been relocated. It is situated in central Rajkot.

Rashtriya Shala, Rajkot: National School, established to impart practical education on the Gandhian model of Nai Talim. This is where Gandhiji went on a fast to force the Prince of Rajkot to implement administrative reforms. Kasturba was arrested when she initiated the Satyagraha against the Rajkot Prince. She was kept imprisoned in Tramba village. Today this village has been renamed as Kasturba Dham and the prison is maintained as a monument.
Rajkot today is one of the most prosperous cities of Gujarat. It is connected by daily flights, trains and interstate buses.

Kocharab Harijan Ashram, Ahmedabad: The first commune home established by Gandhiji on his return from South Africa in 1914. Gandhiji had to abandon the ashram after he took in a family of untouchables and faced opposition from
	many Ashram colleagues and was subjected to a social boycott from the community. This Ashram today stands in Central Ahmedabad on the opposite bank of the Sabarmati River from the Sabarmati Ashram where Gandhiji moved in those days it was outside the city of Ahmedabad. Today Ahmedabad has grown to engulf the Sabarmati Ashram too.

Motihari, Champaran, Bihar: The district head quarters of Champaran this is where Gandhiji came in 1917 to lead the fight for justice of the ruined indigo farmers of Champaran. After successfully fighting for their rights against the British landlords Gandhiji earned his political spurs in India in Champaran. Today a statue of Gandhiji dressed in traditional Kathiawadi clothes and clutching a bunch of indigo plants in his hand adorns the square outside the district collectorate at Motihari. The school established by Gandhiji and Kasturba is still functional. This is a remote area and is accessible by road or by train.

Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad: The Commune founded by Gandhiji in 1919 on the banks of the Sabarmati river. The Ashram was Gandhiji’s home till he embarked upon the Salt March in 1930. It was here that a poor villager from Champaran came to appeal to Gandhiji to take up their cause and get justice for the impoverished captive farmers of indigo in North Bihar.He launched the non co-operation movement from Sabarmati Ashram in 1920, stopped the nationwide movement after the killing of policemen in Cahuri Chaura, was arrested and tried

for sedition and imprisioned. The Idea of the Salt March was conceived by Gandhiji in 1930 at the Sabarmati Ashram. On the morning of 12th March 1930 Gandhiji marched out of the Ashram, at the head of a column of 78 marchers hand picked by him, vowing not to come back to the Ashram till India had become free.

Gandhi Barrack, Yervada Central Jail, Pune: Gandhiji was imprisoned twice at the Yervada Central Jail. The room in which he was imprisoned and the courtyard have been named the Gandhi Barrack and are preserved as a monument. Special permission is required to visit the Gandhi Barack at Yervada Central Jail. The rooms in which Sardar Patel and Pandit Nehru were kept are also preserved as monuments in the Gandhi Barrack.

Manibhavan, Mumbai: Gandhiji stayed in this old town house in central Bombay during his visits to the city in the late 1920s and 1930s. The important events which happened from Manibhavan are Gandhiji’s departure for the Round Table Conference and return and the announcement of the final battle for Indiapendence the call to Do or Die and The launch of the Quit India movement. Situated in the bylanes of Gamdevi, Mani Bhavan is situated on Laburnam Road, just a few hundred meters from Mani Bhavan is the Gowalia Tank, today renamed August Kranti Maidan, August Revolution Square, in commemoration of the meeting to announce the Quit India Movement on 9th August 1942. Mani Bhavan has been converted into a museum and library. It is run by a private trust aligned to the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi.

For more details visit : http://www.gandhi-manibhavan.org/

Sevagram, Wardha: After the Salt March Gandhiji announced that he would not return to Sabarmati Ashram till independence was achieved and disbanded the Sabarmati Ashram. On his return from the Round Table Conference and release fro jail he chose to establish his Ashram at Segaon a small hamlet outside Wardha a tiny station in the Vidarbha region of Mahrashtra.The Ashram
	was named Sevagram, Village of Service. Wardha has today become a district of communes and Ashrams. Seva Gram has been preserved as a monument. Kasturba Medical College is run from the neighbourhood. Wardha can be reached by road or train from Nagpur and Mumbai it is on the Mumbai Calcutta railway line which goes via Nagpur.

Aga Khan Palace, Pune: After his arrest on the evening of 8th August Gandhiji and Kasturba were detained along with Mahadevbhai and some others from Gandhiji’s entourage in the Aga Khan Palace which was converted into a detention centre by the British.Within ten days of detention Gandhiji was bereaved when Mahadev Desai his trusted secretary and companion and one he considered as his son suddenly died.Gandhiji was near death during his detention

once when he went on a fast and when he fell ill with Malaria and dysentery. In February 1944 Kasturba fell critically ill and Gandhiji lost his companion of 62 years. The Samadhis, memorials of Mahadevbhai and Kasturba were built on the spot where both of them were cremated. Gandhiji built the Samadhis from stone and mud later these were covered with white marble. Pune is connected by rail road and airport with the rest of India.

Birla House, Gandhi Smriti, New Delhi: The Brila Family residence where Gandhiji spent the last few months of his life. When Gandhiji returned to New Delhi from Calcutta in December 1947. He was taken to the Birla family home on Albuquerque Road. His usual residence at the Sweepers Colony was overeru by Refugee camps and so it was not possible for him to stay there. It was at the Birla House that Gandhiji undertook the last fast of his life for communal harmony and peace. On the evening of the 20th of January 1948, an unsuccessful attempt was made on his life when a crude bomb was exploded behind him during his evening prayers. 10 days later members of the same gang who had tried to kill him on 20th assembled at Birla House. At 17 minutes past five p.m. as Gandhiji hurried to the prayer ground, Nathuram Godse, a Brahmin Hindu fanatic from Poona, barred his way and fired four rounds at him three hit the Mahatma in his chest, with a smile on his face and the name of his God ‘Rama’ on his lips Mahatma Gandhi fell to the ground, never to raise again.
The Brila House has been converted into a National monument. It houses a extensive Picture gallery depicting Gandhiji’s life in Photographs, a painting gallery and a doll museum depicting important events of Gandhiji’s life apart from preserving the room where Gandhiji and his entourage lived. A stone tablet marks the spot where Gandhiji fell.

Gandhi Memorial, Raj Ghat, New Delhi: The place on the banks of the river Jamuna where on the evening of 31st January 1948, Gandhiji’s body was consigned to flames has been converted in to a memorial. More than a million people attended the funeral. An eternal flame burns at the head of a square granite monument. Hundreds of people from all over the world visit Raj Ghat everyday.

Gandhi National Museum, Raj Ghat, New Delhi: Diagonally opposite the Gandhi Memorial. The Museum houses a extensive photo gallery, display of Gandhiji’s possessions, the blood stained clothes worn by him at the time of his murder. The gun used by his killer and the killers cloths are also kept by the museum. The empty urns which carried the Ashes from Gandhiji’s Funeral Pyre
	for immersion are kept here. A replica model of the special train which carried Gandhiji’s ashes to Allahabad from New Delhi for immersion is kept on display in the museum. The Museum also houses a large reference library. A replica model of Gandhiji’s homes in Sabarmati Ashram and Sevagram Ashram have been made in the compound of the Gandhi National Museum.
For more details visit : http://www.gandhimuseum.org/

Gandhi Darshan, Raj Ghat: Across the road from the Gandhi Memorial and the Gandhi National Museum. The campus of Gandhi Darshan houses a permanent exhibition of photographs depicting the life of Mahatma Gandhi and the nonviolent freedom movement of India.