SABARMATI ASHRAM

'Sabarmati Ashram' (Gujarati: સાબરમતી આશ્રમ), located in the remote town of Sabarmati, was the residence of Mahatma Gandhi, and it was from there that he started the Dandi March in 1930. Also known as Gandhi Ashram, it is located on the Western banks of Sabarmati River, in Northern Ahmedabad. This ashram originally was established in the Kochrab area of Ahmedabad in 1915. In 1917 it was shifted to the banks of Sabarmati river. It also is known as Harijan Ashram, or Satyagraha Ashram.

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India's independence movement

Present day

India's independence movement

Sabarmati ashram was the scene of many events of the Indian independence movement. Gandhi made it his home, and on March 12, 1930 he embarked on his famous march to Dandi, Gujarat for the Salt Satyagraha. He vowed never to return to the ashram until India became independent.
In deciding on the location for the ashram Gandhi said, "This is the right place for our activities to carry on the search for Truth and develop Fearlessness, for on one side are the iron bolts of the foreigners, and on the other the thunderbolts of Mother Nature." This was in reference to the fact that one side of the ashram faces Ahmedabad's jail (now Central Jail), where prisoners of the British government were kept, and the other side faces the Sabarmati river.

Present day

The ashram now has a museum, Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalay. This museum presents a story of the Mahatma's life, in commentary, photographs, and displays of his personal effects. The cottage in which Gandhi used to live, Hirday Kunj, also is preserved there.