Dandi : National Salt Satyagraha Memorial
Discovery of a lost gem.
The Indian Freedom Struggle has been a part of the school’s History Syllabus, than being a hot-topic of discussion! An important part of this freedom struggle was the Salt Satyagraha or Salt March.
In Dandi, where the Satyagraha was carried out, there is a beautiful memorial built by the Government of Gujarat, which really makes you Time Travel and revisit those events.
So, today we’re are exploring the same! Let’s go.
Once you enter the memorial, to your right, stands the magnificent Saifee Villa, which was built by Syedna Tahir Saifuddin. It’s the place where Mahatma Gandhi stayed over night, for the next morning would dawn with the Rays of Revolution.
Opposite to the villa, moving forward to the right side, stands the statue capturing the iconic moment of extracting salt. There are many such miniatures, and statues in the memorial, which are symbolic and make us realise the significance of that event.
After taking a few steps ahead, in the front, stands your route of visit, in a circular manner. To your left, stands a wall, bearing the handwriting of the Father of The Nation.
As you walk in the memorial premises, various miniatures warmly welcome you. They depict the journey of the Salt March, from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi and the numerous events which took place then.
While you’re almost halfway through the memorial, a 130 feet tall, A-shaped structure, with a blue cube at its peak hovers above you. It’s the Salt Tower. The cube is defined as a salt crystal, to supplement the significance of the memorial.
Another eye-catchy structure in the memorial are the Solar Trees. Solar panels are arranged in such a way as if they’re branches of trees. This is an excellent example of infrastructure, which promotes renewable energy and enhances the beauty of the memorial.
To intensify this impact further, the memorial has a museum too! It comprises of amazing things done by the civilians as a memoir of the Salt March.
So, this was our wonderful journey through the memorial. There are many such unknown events you may discover, numerous things you’ll revisit and at the end, arrive at the conclusion how rich our history is. This was an all-together marvelous idea of setting up a memorial to promote the event and tourism.
From my side, this should be on your bucket list while travelling to Gujarat.
Hope you had an amazing time!
Picture courtesy (for some photos) : Google Images