The origin of this Museum goes
back to the period soon after the
assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on the fateful
evening of January 30, 1948, when the slow
process of scouting for, collecting
and preserving the personal relics,
manuscripts, books, journals and documents,
photographic and audio-visual material, all that could
go into a Museum on the life,
philosophy and work of Gandhiji--began
in an unostentatious way in Mumbai.
Later the work was shifted to Delhi and
in early 1951 the nucleus of a Museum
on Gandhiji was set up in the Government hutments
adjoining Kota House. Later still, in mid-1957,
it was shifted to the picturesque old mansion
at 5, Mansingh Road. |
|
It was finally brought to its present
new and permanent home, most appropriately
built opposite the SAMADHI of Mahatma Gandhi -
free India's most revered place of
pilgrimage-at Rajghat, New Delhi, in 1959.
The imposing two storey Museum was
formally inaugurated by Dr. Rajendra Prasad,
the President of India, on January
30, 1961.
The Museum was named 'Gandhi Memorial Museum' (Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya),
now commonly known as 'National Gandhi Museum' (Rashtriya
Gandhi Sangrahalaya)
as there are also a number of regional Gandhi
memorial museums in India. |
