Gandhi Museum, the living memorial of Mahatma Gandhi, is one of the distinct
places to be visited, located 5 km east of Meenakshi temple across the
bridge over river Vaigai. The museum is housed in the Tamukkan Bungalow
(Summer palace) of Rani Mangammal of Nayak dynasty, which is believed
to be constructed in 1670 AD. In 1955, the palace with its 13 acres of
land was gifted by the Tamilnadu State Government, to the Gandhi Smarak
Nidhi for the purpose of housing Gandhi Memorial Museum. Inaugurated
in 1959 by Jawaharlal Nehru, it has a remarkable collection of Gandhiji's
paintings, sculptures, Gandhian quotations, articles of village industries
and khadi crafts.
The museum which presents a visual biography of the Father of the Nation,
depicts the highlights of the freedom struggle and is mainly divided into
three sections like India Fights for Freedom, Visual Biography of Mahatma
Gandhi and Relics and Replicas. The first section located at the entrance
of the museum, exhibits 265 illustrations depicting the history of the
Freedom Movement. The second section contains photos, paintings, sculptures,
manuscripts, quotations and some of the selected Photostat copies of many
of Gandhiji’s letters and renderings. There are also rare photographs
showing various phases of Mahatma Gandhi right from his childhood days
to being taken to the crematorium. Relics and Replicas is the main section
which contains several original artifacts used by Gandhiji. An important
relic among them is the blood - stained dhoti worn by Mahatma Gandhi,
at the time of his assassination. It is preserved in a vacuum glass box.
A portion of Mahatma Gandhiji’s sacred ash and his personal belongings
are also preserved in this gallery.
Apart from these, the museum has a library, a Khadi and Village Industries
section and a South Indian handicrafts section. The library located on
the northern side of the museum has a huge collection of Gandhi's
books and letters, books on the cultural background of India and allied
literature. In the museum premise, there is an open air theatre which
can accommodate about 8000 people and a 'Gandhi Kudir' - a replica of
Gandhiji's hut in Sevagram. Cultural programmes, weekly film shows, exhibitions,
seminars, summer camps for students, fine arts training courses and classes
on yogasana and Naturopathy are organised here periodically.
The museum opens from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 5.30 p.m on all
days.
Contact Address :
Gandhi Memorial Museum
Tamukkam, Madurai-625 020, Tamilnadu. India.
Phone : 91-452- 5544930, 2531060
Mobile : 0091-9443037339
E-mail : Contact
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