Raj Ghat and National Gandhi Museum

Raj Ghat and National Gandhi Museum Review

After Mohandas K. Gandhi was shot and killed by a Hindu fanatic on January 30, 1948, his body was cremated on the banks of the Yamuna River. His samadhi, or cremation site, is now a national shrine, where Indian tourists and pilgrims stream across the peaceful lawn to pay their respects to the saintlike Father of the Nation. At the center of a large courtyard is a raised slab of black marble adorned with flowers and inscribed with Gandhi's final words, "Hai Ram!" (Oh, God!). An eternal flame burns at its head. The sandstone walls enclosing the shrine are inscribed with passages written by Gandhi, translated into several tongues including Tamil, Malayalam, Nepali, Urdu, Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese. Near Raj Ghat are the cremation sites of two other assassinated heads of state, Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv (no relation to Mohandas). Back across the boulevard is the National Gandhi Museum, run by a private foundation, which houses a great many photographs, a display of spinning wheels with some information on Gandhi's khadi (homespun cotton) crusade, and some of the Mahatma's personal effects, including the blood-stained dhoti he was wearing at the time of his murder. The tiny art gallery has a poignant wooden sculpture, made by a South African, of Gandhi in a pose suggesting Jesus's Crucifixion. A film on Gandhi's life is shown on weekends at 4.