Gandhi Heritage Sites - Writeups

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Kausani, Uttarakhand

Connection with Gandhiji 
Gandhiji stayed at a dak Bungalow in Kausani from June 22, 1929 to July 2, 1929.

Background
After a whirlwind tour of South India in April-May, 1929, Gandhiji left for UP on June 11. After visiting Nainital, Tadikhet, Ranikhet, Almora, and few nearby villages, he reached Kausani on June 22.

The ‘Luxury’
• ‘We are to stay here for seven or eight days.’ wrote Gandhiji on June 24, ‘I can permit myself such luxury only if there is some pretext for it. This was provided by Kaka [Kalelkar] and the arrangement was also suggested by him…I accepted this luxury after deciding to give practically all my time to Gita. I wish therefore to write the fewest possible letters this week and also do the minimum work for Young India. Accordingly, I have decided to suspend routine correspondence.’
- Letter to Chhaganlal Joshi, CWMG Vol. 41: p. 79
• In a letter to G.D. Birla on June 30 from Kausani, Gandhiji wrote, ‘I would have no right to be in this lovely, secluded spot surrounded by snow-clad mountains if I had no special work to do here. The special work was the revision of Gita, which had remained unfinished at Wardha. I could complete it only in seclusion. I just sat down here for the purpose. I have postponed all other work that could be postponed till I could finish this job. That is the reason why I have not replied to you earlier. The work on Gita is over now.’
- Letter to G.D. Birla, CWMG Vol. 41: p. 148-149

The Place
Gandhiji’s description of Kausani in the letter to Chhaganlal Joshi: ‘In front of me are Himalayan peaks wrapped in snow and shining brilliantly in the sunlight. Below are the hills clad with greenery, as though, feeling shy, they had covered their bodies with it. The solitude of the place is beyond description.’

Digital Experience
Virtual Tour | Architectural Documents

Site Address/ Contact Details
Anasakti Ashram - Kausani
Kausani Town, Dist. Almora,
Kausani – 263 639
Uttarakhand, India
Phone: +91 59 6225 8028

Additional Details 
1. Gandhiji finished the preface of his Gujarati translation of the Gita in Kausani, after two years’ waiting. It was translated into Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, and English soon.
2. In a letter to Mahadev Desai from Kausani, Gandhiji wrote, ‘Yesterday I completed my work on the Gita and experienced a profound delight. I hope I have carefully gone through everything. I have put in as much I could digest from Kaka’s notes. I have finished the preface.’ He also described his return journey from Bagheshwar in the rain that caused him a fever. Letter to Mahadev Desai, CWMG Vol. 41: p. 133-135

 

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