The Gandhi Ashram situated on the banks of the Sabarmati river is famous not only in India but in the whole world. After Gandhiji’s return from South Africa, his first ashram was established in Ahmedabad. On 17 June 1917, the ashram was shifted along the Sabarmati. That is why it is also known as Sabarmati Ashram. Sabarmati Ashram was Gandhiji’s home from 1917 to 1930, which is famous as Bapu. It was one of the leading centres of India’s independence movement.
The Gandhi Memorial Museum comes first as soon as we enter the Gandhi Ashram. This museum has three galleries. The first is Gandhiji’s Gallery in Ahmedabad, the second painting gallery and the third is My Life is My Message Gallery. In the first Gandhiji’s gallery, information about the Kochrab Ashram, the history of the establishment of the Gandhi Ashram, Satyagraha, and Kasturba is presented. Gandhi Ashram is also renowned as Harijan Ashram.
After Gandhi Bapu arrived in India, the first Satyagraha was the Champaran Satyagraha which took place in 1917. The second was the Ahmedabad Mail Strike 1918 which is Bapu’s first Hunger Strike, the Kheda Satyagraha 1918 which is called the First Non-Cooperation Movement, 1919 of the Rowlatt Act Satyagraha against what is called the first water movement.
In Gujarat and that too, giving the reason for setting up an ashram in Ahmedabad, Bapu said that being a Gujarati, I will be able to serve the country through the Gujarati language. Ahmedabad was the centre of handloom weaving, so he could also do spinning work in the right way.
The main reasons for relocating were farming, animal husbandry, Khadi related activities that Mahatma Gandhi wanted to do. From the ashram, Gandhiji started the Dandi Yatra in protest against the Salt Law made by the British and broke the salt law and freed India from the salt law.
Mahatma Gandhi embarked on a historic Dandi March from Sabarmati Ashram on 12 March 1930 to abolish a salt law made by the British by 78 men from the ashram, and so he could not return to the ashram later.
The British government arrested Mahatma Gandhi and his followers after the Dandi visit, after which the British government decided to break the ashram. But the anger of the people and the British high commission’s order received did not let that happen.
More than 250 photographs of Gandhiji have been installed in this ashram. There is a collection of 35000 books and along with more than 80 letters, magazines are also found written in English, Hindi and Gujarati. The Sabarmati Ashram receives more than seven lakh tourists every year, whose needs are taken care of by the Gujarat government.
This ashram is open for tourists every day of the year from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm. This ashram is not only visited by prominent leaders of India, but also by foreigners, like in 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 4 December, 2017, Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe visited this grand ashram together with Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.