PM Modi to visit RSS headquarters: All about Sangh’s two main centres in Nagpur

Here is a look at these two hallowed institutions of the Sangh.

Memorial of founder, organisation’s HQ

Away from the hustle and bustle of the Nagpur traffic, there is a modest but meticulously maintained structure surrounded by green trees and flowering plants: the memorial of RSS founder Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, popularly known as Doctorji.

Once a Congress activist, Hedgewar grew disillusioned with the party in the 1920s. Following Hindu-Muslim riots that rocked Nagpur (as well as many other cities) in 1923, Hedgewar on vijayadasami day in 1925 launched the RSS, an organisation dedicated towards establishing a Hindu Rashtra.

He led the organisation till his death in 1940. Hedgewar was cremated at the then-open grounds of Reshmibagh where a samadhi (memorial) was erected in his honour in 1962, inaugurated by his successor Golwalkar. After Golwalkar’s passing in 1973, the RSS built a memorial for him at the same site.

Over the years people, from all walks of life have thronged to these memorials to offer their tribute to the two stalwarts of the Sangh. The Sangh’s annual Dusshera rally, where sarsanghchalak addresses the public, takes place at the Reshimbagh grounds next to the Dr Hedgewar Smruti Mandir.

Apart from housing memorials of Hedgewar and Golwalkar, the premises also have a number of administrative offices, training centres, and a state-of-the-art auditorium which make up the headquarters of the RSS. All meetings and training camps take place at this location.

Residence of sarsanghchalak, museum

The Sangh’s top leadership, including sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat, lives at the Karyalaya when in Nagpur. The non-descript structure nestled deep in the crowded lanes of Mahal has been with the RSS since its founding in 1925.

Both its simple exteriors and austere interiors have remained unaltered for decades. Inside the Karyala are rows of spartan rooms, equipped only with some basic necessities and with very little furniture. They are equipped with water coolers — not air-conditioners — to beat the oppressive Nagpur summer.

The second floor of the Karyalaya has been converted into a museum, displaying belongings, memoirs, letters, gifts, citations of various RSS chiefs, and senior leaders. It is designed to be a walk down the memory lane — one that tells the story of the Sangh, and the many travails faced by the once-banned organisation.

(RSS has been banned thrice in Independent India: after the killing of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, during the Emergency in 1975-77, and after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992).

The museum also commemorates the individuals who helped build and run the organisation over the past century, despite Golwalkar himself being famously against what he called “hero worship”. He wrote in a letter dated April 2,1973, just before his death: “There is no place for hero worship… it is unnecessary to idolise or raise memorials to anyone except the founder who was the embodiment of the mission of the Sangh…”.

Although both the Karyalaya and the Dr Hedgewar Smruti Mandir are open to the public, they are heavily guarded, especially since the Lashkar-e-Taiba of 2006, when the police gunned down three terrorists targetting the Sangh’s two main centres.

Today, the RSS chief is provided Z+ security — the highest category of armed VIP protection in India.