Know Your City: Satyagraha Ashram in Ahmedabad, the first one established by Gandhi in India, to open to visitors soon

Reviving the ashram system

On May 20, 1915, Mahatma Gandhi revived the centuries-old ashram system by establishing the ‘Satyagraha Ashram’ in Kocharab which was outside the Ahmedabad city limits at the time. In his diary entry dated May 20, 1915, Gandhiji noted that before settling in the new house, he had performed a ‘Vastu puja’.

The one in Kocharab is said to be the first ashram established by him in India, even as he had founded an ashram each in Phoenix and Transvaal in South Africa.

Located in the urban Kocharab village near Paldi, the Satyagraha Ashram will soon open to visitors, offering an experience of Gandhian life. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)

“From Ahmedabad, Gandhiji introduced the entire world to the immense power of truth, non-violence and satyagraha. To understand the ‘Making of Mahatma’, one must visit ‘Satyagraha Ashram’. Similarly, to understand how Ahmedabad became the ‘epicentre’ of Indian political power, the political, social, religious and economic importance of ‘Gandhi Heritage Site’ has to be understood. Through the establishment of Satyagraha Ashram, Gandhiji ushered in a new era,” historian Rizwan Kadri told The Indian Express.

As documents reveal, the names ‘Sevashram’ and ‘Tapovan’ were suggested by friends for the ashram. But as a place where truth is worshipped, truth is sought and where truth is insisted upon, the ashram was named ‘Satyagrah’. The ashram was set up as a school with a hostel in the European-style bungalow of barrister and Gandhiji’s colleague Jeevanlal Desai.

According to Kadri, in 1915, after a tour of South Africa, Gandhi returned home and wrote all his experiences in his diary. “The most important primary source to understand the ‘Making of Mahatma’ is this 1915 diary written in Mahatma Gandhi’s handwriting. Only one diary written by Gandhi himself after his journey to South Africa is available at the National Gandhi Museum in Delhi,” Kadri said.

Life at Satyagraha Ashram

In the draft constitution of the ashram, Gandhi had stated that the identity of the ashram residents will be the same and everyone should live together. All will be able to use their mother tongue and study the major Indian languages as well. Gandhi believed that Sanskrit should be studied as it is the key to Indian languages. In the ashram, everyone had to do their own work.

The one in Kocharab is said to be the first ashram established by him in India, even as he had founded an ashram each in Phoenix and Transvaal in South Africa. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)

“Boys and girls between the ages of four and above were admitted to the Satyagraha Ashram with the consent of their parents. At the same time, those who come to visit the ashram also have to follow the rules and regulations of the ashram. The visitor also used to bring bedding and utensils with them. There were 35 ashram residents – two from north India, nine from Madras area and the remaining 24 belonged to Gujarat’s Kathiawad. Four people lived in the ashram along with their families. The entire Satyagraha Ashram was in the hands of five teachers, besides Gandhiji,” shared Kadri.

An admission triggers commotion

From here, it is said that Gandhi observed his first fast, took different vows and also marked the entry of the first Dalit Doodabhai Dafda, in the ashram against the opposition of everyone, including his wife. Doodabhai’s admission to the ashram triggered a “commotion” in the social life of Ahmedabad.

Quoting from Gandhi’s diary, Kadri writes in his book ‘Mahatma ni Parikrama’, “The said note of 8-10-1915 was found in the diary. The note reads – It had been a month since this incident, but its echoes continued to reverberate in the ashram. ‘Within a month after the Ashram was established, Doodabhai requested to stay in the Ashram along with his family. I did not expect that the Ashram would face an exam so soon. It was Amritlal Thakkar who recommended Doodabhai to be admitted to the ashram… As soon as this family arrived, there was a commotion. First of all, I saw that some of the families living in the ashram were complaining and complaining about the untouchables including my own wife, though she suffered greatly in South Africa.”

Also, in a letter to Srinivasa Shastri, Gandhi had stated, “I decided to take the family to which my wife strongly opposed along with another sister of the ashram. There is a stir in Ahmedabad too. I have told my wife that you can leave me and we should part as good friends… It is so important to me that through it I can achieve the effectiveness of satyagraha in social issues.”

In the same period, Gandhiji started the ‘Antyaj Night School (Night school for Scheduled Castes)’ in Kocharab village, which is next to the Satyagraha Ashram. Parikshit Lal Majumdar served at this school for years and was later joined by Vasantrao Hegishte.

Gandhi shifted from Kocharab in 1917 to set up the ashram at Sabarmati after plague struck the village.