The newly-built ‘Gandhi Bhavan’ in Haveri, which tries to capture the journey of ‘Mohandas to Mahatma’ through various exhibits and also the visit of Mahatma Gandhi to Haveri district, will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Haveri on Sunday.
The project of constructing Gandhi Bhavans in all the districts was announced during the previous term of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in his 2016-17 Budget and the then Muzrai Minister Rudrappa Lamani had laid the foundation stone for the project worth ₹3 crore on October 2, 2017. While Mr. Lamani is the Deputy Speaker of Legislative Assembly now, Mr. Siddaramaiah will be inaugurating the project he had initiated during his previous tenure. The programme will be held at 3 p.m. District-in-charge Minister Shivanand Patil visited Gandhi Bhavan on Saturday and reviewed the preparations for Sunday’s programme.
The Gandhi Bhavan has come up at the land adjoining Haveri Railway Station, where Mahatma Gandhi had laid foundation stone for the ‘Dharmashala’ (now in dilapidated state) in 1934. The district ‘Nirmiti Kendra’ has constructed the two-storeyed Gandhi Bhavan which also comprises ‘Charaka Kutira’, ‘Swadeshi Kutira’ and ‘Sabarmati Kutira’. The auditorium has been named as ‘Satyagraha Sabha’ and there is ‘Bapu’ amphitheatre at the back.
The photo gallery named ‘Mohandas To Mahatma’ has rare photographs delineating the life and contribution of Gandhi. It also has rare photographs of his visit to Karnataka and particularly his visit to various places in Haveri district.
There is a library for Gandhian studies named ‘Satyashodhane’ and rooms to hold deliberations on Gandhian thoughts named ‘Satyanveshwane’. The plan is to collect rare books on Gandhi and provide them for reference.
On the ground floor, statues of Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba welcome visitors. In the main hall, there is another statue of Gandhi weaving a charkha. His favourite bhajans will be played at low volume in the hall where a provision has been made for the visitors to sit and pray.
Outside the bhavan, a statue of Gandhi leading the ‘Dandi March’ along with others and the statue of Mailar Mahadeva greet the visitors. At the front there is 5.5 ft. statue of Gandhiji in a meditative position. Models of things used by him also attract the visitors. Deputy Commissioner of Haveri Raghunandan Murthy has taken special interest to ensure the bhavan hosts programmes on Gandhi on a regular basis by involving schoolchildren.
Gandhiji’s footprint in Haveri
Gandhiji visited Karnataka in 1924 to collect donations from public for the welfare of ‘harijans’ and came to Haveri from Karwar. He arrived at Haveri at sunset and a huge crowd greeted him. Hardekar Manjappa translated his speech into Kannada. In response to Gandhiji’s appeal, people donated generously with women giving away their ornaments for the cause.
As per records, Gandhi laid the foundation for ‘School for Harijan’ and ‘Dharmashale’ (public shelter) in Haveri and proceeded to Motebennur the same night to visit the family of freedom fighter Mahadeva Mailar. At ‘Kote Bayalu’ (Fort premises) in Motebennur, he appealed for participation in the freedom movement by wearing khadi. Gandhiji, who came to back to Haveri to stay overnight at Murugha Mutt, addressed a public meeting in Byadgi the next day. Gandhiji gave his autograph in Kannada to the children in return for a pledge to wear khadi. His next visit was to Ranebennur where he addressed a gathering at the railway station. After a collecting a donation of ₹515 from people of Ranebennur, he proceeded to Davanagere.
