Gandhian sites in Maharashtra's Wardha to get Rs 45-crore makeover

Indian Express

10 hours ago

After the Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat, more Gandhian heritage sites in Maharashtra's Wardha district are set to get a makeover over the next 18 months, officials said.
These sites — the Gandhi Smriti Bhavan, the Kasturba Kitchen and the Wardha Haat — are located within the campus of the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Rural Industrialization (MGIRI), which functions under the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises.
The MGIRI, which is funding the Rs 45-crore project, signed an MoU earlier this week with the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), which will helm the conservation and restoration efforts.
Experts who will carry out the project will be selected through a competitive bidding process and a detailed project report will be prepared soon, said officials.
IGNCA Member-Secretary Sachchidanand Joshi said: 'After leaving Sabarmati Ashram [in 1933], Gandhi stayed at Wardha for two years, and pledged to only return after India got independence. The place became his home and a base for his freedom struggle activities.'
Gandhi Smriti Bhavan served as a workspace for Mahatma Gandhi during the Independence struggle. The haat, or market, is associated with the All-India Village Industries Association established by Gandhi in 1934 to revive and improve village industries across India.
Under the project, the Gandhi Smriti Bhavan and Kasturba Kitchen will be 'transformed into immersive, multimedia museums with prayer spaces', while the Wardha Haat will be converted into an artisan marketplace 'reviving Gandhian rural economy through crafts and culture'.
'The mandate is to preserve and conserve heritage buildings in the campus while also to ensure the MGIRI is ready as a centre for excellence to empower rural youth from the region,' Joshi said.
Experts will carry out a structural assessment of the existing buildings on the complex.
The IGNCA, which comes under the Ministry of Culture, is planning to introduce curated trails with digital storytelling on Gandhian philosophy. Life-size statues of Gandhi and traditional village artisans will narrate stories of rural India.
Public facilities, cafes, souvenir shops, and guided tours have also been planned, Joshi said.
Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More