Strains of “Raghupathi Raghava Raja Ram” could be heard early on Thursday morning at the Gandhi Memorial Museum. The museum, which is one of the five museums in the country set up in memory of Mahatma Gandhi, marked the day of his assassination on January 30 by hoisting the flag and garlanding the Gandhi statue on the museum premises.
The death anniversary of Gandhi was remembered in different ways by many people. The Gandhi Asthi Peetam, which contains some of Gandhi’s ashes, was adorned with flowers.
Through the day, school and college students as well as the general public visited the museum to pay homage at the shrine. An inter-religious prayer took place near the Gandhi Peetam at 4.30 p.m. in which students, museum staff and the public participated.
Fifty students from Elango Corporation Higher Secondary School, who stay at Sevalayam, a boarding and lodging facility for students, and a Gandhian Institution visited the Peetam in the morning and offered flowers.
M. Maduraiveeran, who works as a car driver, has been marking the birth and death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi for over 30 years by cycling across the district and talking about Gandhi and his message of peace and non-violence.
“I plan to cycle in the city today to talk about the greatness of Gandhi and what he did for the country,” he says, holding up a megaphone as he readies his cycle with a Gandhi portrait in front, adorned with garlands and a banner depicting the Mahatma and his sayings in front of the Gandhi Memorial Museum.
“Even though he is depicted on our currency notes, people seem to be forgetting about the person who got us independence. I want to make sure he is remembered and for people who do not know who he is, I talk to them about him,” Mr Maduraiveeran explains.
A few Gandhians sat at the ‘Gandhi Kutir,’ a replica of Gandhi’s Sevagram hut in Wardha and spun cotton thread during the day.
“Gandhi compared spinning to prayer. We consider this a remembrance of his ideals and Gandhians spin thread every year on Gandhi Jayanthi and his death anniversary,” said M.P. Gurusamy, museum secretary.
