Gandhi Jayanti is celebrated every year as Mahatma Gandhi's birthday. He is also known as the “Father of the Nation.” Many celebrations happen all over India, and everyone remembers his sacrifices and effort to make India independent. Gandhi was always on the side of non-violence; he treated everyone equally and fought hard to end discrimination. He was the one opposing discrimination against gender, caste, color, and religion.
Who Was Mahatma Gandhi?
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is the birth name of Mahatma Gandhi. He was born on October 2, 1869, and became India's most popular freedom fighter and leader. Gandhi led many movements against Britishers and discrimination. He was one of the influential leaders who made Britishers quit India and send them to their own country.
After completing college, Gandhi went to South Africa to pursue law and became a barrister. Gandhi also led many missions in South Africa to fight against the discrimination against brown people. After living there for 21 years, Gandhi returned to India and continued his fight for freedom and inequality.
He became the voice of women, farmers, low-caste people, and laborers. He led some popular movements, such as the Dandi March, Quit India, and Satyagraha. Gandhi made the people of India realize that they don't need Britishers to fulfill their needs of cloth. This was when Gandhi inspired the nation to create their own clothes. Gandhi requested the nation not to cooperate with the Britishers.
Gandhi's vision was to see an India where people were not divided by religion. However, many Muslim nationalists wanted the partition. Gandhi couldn't stop this from happening, and India faced partition, which produced Pakistan.
Hindu nationalist Nathu Ram Godse killed Gandhi on January 30, 1948.
Amazing Facts About Mahatma Gandhi
- Gandhi was a very good friend of Leo Tolstoy. They both used to write each other letters to interact. Tolstoy and other colleagues were the people who helped Gandhi greatly during his Satyagraha movement. Gandhi remembered this help and set up a farm for Tolstoy, 21 miles from Johannesburg, South Africa.
- Gandhi was on the side of “untouchables,” who were the people not respected in society because they belonged to a lower community. Gandhi named these people Harijans means children of God. He fought for their rights to bring them fair treatment in society.
- In 1982, a movie was made about the life of Mahatma Gandhi. Richard Attenborough played the main character. This movie won huge recognition and awards; it was also declared the best movie in the category.
- Gandhi also made his name in Time Magazine as Man of the Year.
- He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times.
- Mahatma Gandhi wrote about 50,000 pages, and he was a great writer as well.
- After 21 years of Gandhi's death, Great Britain released a stamp in honor of Gandhi.
- When Gandhi died, an 8 km long funeral procession was formed.
Non-Violence And Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi was a man of many principles, and non-violence was one of them. He was against using any physical force to achieve anything. He had a philosophy that the power of love and peace is always beyond violence and that no one should use hatred and power to force any living being.
Gandhi used the same principle in all his movements, and he surprised everyone by winning India its independence without using any violence. This is how Gandhi had only a stick to support his old age, but he never used the stick to harm anyone.
Celebration Of Gandhi Jayanti
Gandhi Jayanti is celebrated in every part of India. Raj Ghat, Delhi, is one of the well-known places where the celebration takes place every year. People gather at Raj Ghat and pray for the soul of Gandhi, aka Bapu. Raj Ghat New Delhi. The President and Prime Minister of India also attend this prayer session and pay homage to the great leader of our country. Devotional songs are then played, and his most preferred one, “Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram,” is sung and played.
Many schools and colleges also celebrate and pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. School students participate in many activities and celebrate this day with all enthusiasm. They sing songs for Bapu, and they give a speech.
Many plays depict the life journey of Bapu and how he fought for India's independence. Kids also adorn themselves as Bapu and other freedom fighters. Students lead the rallies, and songs are played. They also cover speeches describing how non-violence should be everyone's mantra in the country.
Many art forms, exhibitions, and competitions happen in different parts of India. People give presentations to display non-violent living. They offer many garlands for different statues of Gandhi. Some people also observe this as a holy day and refrain from eating non-vegetarian food and drinking alcohol for the day.
People talk about living a peaceful life where harmony leads the way instead of violence. They promote the teachings of Bapu and work toward finding a peaceful solution to many problems.
