Gandhi Jayanti (Mahatma Gandhi’s Birthday)
A national holiday in India to commemorate the birth of Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi, who came to be known as Mahatma Gandhi.
At this time pilgrimages are made from throughout the country to the Raj Ghat on the banks of the Yamuna River in Delhi where was cremated.
Many Communities also hold spinning and weaving sessions in his honor.
Gandhi, often pictured in a simple white cotton robe at a spinning wheel(Charkha), was the leader of the movement for Indian nationalism the 20th century’s great prophet of non violence and a religious innovator who encouraged a reformed liberal Hinduism.
He was born in 1869 in porbandar(Gujarat,India) and educated both in India and England. He went to south Africa as a young lawyer was shocked by the racial discrimination and led the African Indians in a non violent struggle against repression.
Returning to India he became a dominant political figure and in the struggle for independence was jailed several times. His protests often took the form of facts.
In 1930 he worked for rural people trying to eradicate discrimination against the untouchable caste and promoting hand spinning and weaving as occupations for the poor and as a way to overcome the British monopoly on cloth.
The ashram he established near Ahmedabad became the center of his freedom movement.
In 1940 he helped heal the scars of religious conflict in Bihar and Bengal in 1947 his fasting put an end to the rioting in Calcutta.
On January 30 1948 on his way to an evening prayer meeting in Delhi he was shot and killed by a HINDU fanatic.
Gandhi Jayanti is a national festival celebrated in INDIA to mark the occasion of the birthday of Mohandas Karam chand Gandhi.
It is celebrated on 2 October. It is one of the three national holidays in INDIA. The United nations general assembly announced on 15 June 2007 that it adopted a resolution which declared that 2 October will be celebrates as the International Day Of Non- violence.
It is one of the three National Holidays of the country (other two are Independence Day and Republic Day) celebrated every year in the schools, colleges, educational institutions, government and non-government organizations, etc.
Schools, colleges, government offices, post offices, banks, etc remain closed on Gandhi Jayanti in order to pay tribute to the great leader of India. We remember Bapu and his great deeds by celebrating the Gandhi Jayanti.
Students are assigned for various tasks to perform at this day such as poem or speech recitation, drama play, essay writing, slogan writing, group discussion, etc based on the life and works of Mahatma Gandhi.
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