Mahatma Gandhi memorial opened in Agra

Agra, Oct 2 (IANS) A house where Mahatma Gandhi stayed for 11 days while undergoing treatment in Agra has been renovated and opened Thursday to the public to mark the memory of the Father of the Nation on his 139th birth anniversary.

The memorial which is close to the Mughal monument Etmaduddaula on the left bank of river Yamuna was opened by the mayor of Agra Anjula Mahaur.

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The mayor addressing a group of Gandhians said Agra will now have a fitting memorial to Mahatma Gandhi.

Municipal Commissioner Shyam Singh Yadav told IANS that he had been receiving requests from Gandhians to resurrect the old structure from the ruins.

'We have now given it a facelift and re-built parts of the house where Mahatma Gandhi stayed for 11 days in 1929 for treatment from a local Ayurvedic Vaidya,' Yadav said.

Early August the Gandhi memorial house was in the news after statues from a 300-year-old temple within the premises disappeared.

Last of the Gandhians in the city, Saroj Gaurihar, Manorama Sharma, Shiromany, and Chimman Lal Jain expressed happiness at the development. The city at last has a fitting memorial to the Father of the Nation and it will be developed as an international centre where foreign tourists would be able to get an idea about the man and his contribution to humanity, they said.

Most books and documents on Mahatma Gandhi make no mention of his visits to Agra.

However, the Ela Joshi Gazetteer of 1965 mentions Gandhi's four visits in 1918, 1919, 1921, and 1929.

The Municipal Corporation of Agra has drawn up an ambitious plan to develop the area around the Gandhi Memorial.