Mahatma Gandhi monuments around the world

A tribute to India’s symbol of non-violence

Diaspora

May 4, 2017

/ By / New Delhi



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Recognised as a leading political figure and a freedom fighter, Mahatma Gandhi is known globally for propagating the ideas of peace and non-violence with countries aplenty making room for him in their hearts and homes.

Known for propagating his ideas of ahinsa or non violence and swaraj or self rule, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi or as he is lovingly known, Mahatma has a pool of followers worldwide who preach his ideologies of simple and peaceful living.  A lawyer and a freedom fighter, he inspired movements for civil rights and freedom in India and also for Indians in South Africa where he practiced law in his younger days. Gandhi’s life, work and philosophies have inspired other leaders across the globe to not just follow his footsteps but also motivate their countrymen to do so. And in pursuit of a more humble and self reliant living and as a mark of respect to him, the world has given Gandhi a space in their hearts and homes by dedicating these monuments to him.

 

  1. Built in 1950 the Lake Shrine in California, USA is a Gandhi World Peace Memorial that houses a portion of Gandhi’s ashes in a brass-silver coffer, which is kept in a thousand-year old Chinese sarcophagus here.
  2. A statue of him also stands at Jinga in Uganda as a memorial to submerging a part of his ashes over the River Nile.
  3. Gandhi’s statue at Tavistock Square in London, England was placed to commemorate his 125th birth anniversary on October 2, 1996. A work by Fredda Brilliant, the statue was erected under aegis of the India League by the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Committee and was first unveiled by former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson in 1968.
  4. Gandhi’s statue in Copenhagen, Denmark was presented to the Danish government by former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her visit to the country in 1984.
  5. This isn’t the only one that is a token from India. In the 15th year of India’s independence, the Indian government gifted a Gandhi statue to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Made by Ram Vanji Sutar, the statue stands at the Plaza Sicilia.
  6. As a voice of the Indians in South Africa, Gandhi left some indelible marks on the history of the country. As a memoir to all his deeds a bronze statue of him which stands tall at Church Street in Pietermaritzburg was unveiled by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 1993.
  7. Another bronze Gandhi statue stands at Glebe Park, Canberra, Australia and speaks of his guiding principles – No politics without principles; no commerce without morality; and no science without humanity.
  8. An oil painting of Gandhi by artist Werner Horvath at Garden of Peace, Vienna, Austria also represents one of his philosophies, that of peace and non-violence.
  9. At Ariana Park in Geneva, Switzerland, Gandhi’s statue marks the Treaty of Amity, 1948, which was signed between India and Switzerland. Presented by the Indian government on the 60th anniversary of the treaty, an inscription on the statue reads ‘Ma vie est mon message’, which is French for ‘My life is my message’.
  10. The most recent of Gandhi’s statues is at the Parliament Square in London, England. Installed on March 14, 2015, it marks the 100th anniversary of Gandhi’s return to India to start the struggle for independence from British rule. Gandhi was described as “one of the most towering figures” in political history by Prime Minister David Cameron, who inaugurated the statue.

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