| Kochrab Ashram | |||||||||||||||||
| Established: | 1915 (ashram), 1953 (museum) | ||||||||||||||||
| Location: | Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India | ||||||||||||||||
| Type: | museum | ||||||||||||||||
| Collections: | Photographs, objects, belongings of Mahatma Gandhi | ||||||||||||||||
| Visitors: | 19,500 (2015) | ||||||||||||||||
| Owner: | Government of Gujarat | ||||||||||||||||
| Publictransit: | AMTS | ||||||||||||||||
| Parking: | Yes | ||||||||||||||||
| Embedded: |
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Kochrab Ashram, also known as Satyagraha Ashram,[1] is a historic site and museum in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The ashram was the first such place founded in May 1915 by Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the Indian independence movement. For the next two years he lived there with several other members of the movement. Several of his Gandhian ideas where implemented whilst there. In 1953 the site was declared a memorial site by the Bombay State and was handed over to the Gujarat Vidyapith a year later. Its renovation and redevelopment into a museum was completed in 2024.
The site includes a European style two-storey bungalow in a large garden. There are separate kitchen and activity buildings.
Gopal Krishna Gokhale had requested Mahatma Gandhi to return India from South Africa to organise a community for the Swaraj movement. In 1915, upon returning, Gandhi wanted to establish a shared living space to foster personal growth, self-reliance, and community service - an ashram. He was invited to establish the ashram at several cities including Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Rajkot and Haridwar. During his visit in January 1915, Gandhi was persuaded by Hariprasad Desai and others to choose Ahmedabad. According to Gandhi, he felt that being Gujarati, he could better serve the nation in his native language. A large textile industry and history of loom weaving would also help him to revive the cottage industry of hand spinning, and he hoped that he could gain the financial support from Ahmedabad's wealthy citizens.[1] [2] On 11 May 1915, Gandhi had given a list of things required for ashram to mill owner Mangaldas Girdhardas, and estimated annual expenditure of 6000.[3]
In Ahmedabad, he stayed at the home of his friend, barrister Jivanlal Desai, with whom Gandhi had studied in London. Desai offered his "vacation-home", a bunglow in Kochrab village, then on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, on annual rent of 1 to establish the ashram.[4] [1] Gandhi named it the "Satyagraha Ashram" to highlight satyagraha, the approach of nonviolent resistance he employed in South Africa, and his intention to bring it to India. To avoid confusion with Sabarmati Ashram, it is commonly known as Kochrab Ashram.[5] Other suggested names included Tapovan and Sevashram.
On 20 May 1915, Gandhi and other members formally took over the bungalow and performed vastu puja. They started inhabiting it from 22 May 1915. The ashram was founded on 25 May 1915.[6] [1] Initially it housed about 25 men and women which included 13 Tamil
When Gandhi admitted a Dalit family in the ashram in September 1915, it caused a controversy among the members and the donation to the ashram also stopped. Gandhi stood firm in his decision and was anonymously helped by Ambalal Sarabhai who donated 13,000 and saved the ashram from closing down.[1] Following a plague, Gandhi noted risk to the children of the ashram and decided to move to the safe distance from the city in new ashram. Gandhi and other members moved to new Sabarmati Ashram on 17 June 1917.[6] [1] [7]
On 4 October 1953, the ashram was declared a memorial by then Chief Minister of Bombay State Morarji Desai. In 1954, the management was transferred to Gujarat Vidyapith which was then headed by Morarji Desai. The ashram is still owned by the state.[6] The building was damaged in the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. It was repaired with government funds and the damaged Kota stone floor in Gandhi's room was replaced with new polished stone. The ashram lost about 15-30 feet land from the front side for expansion of Ashram Road in exchange for the land granted on the back side.
The renovation and redevelopment were carried out from 2019 to 2024 which was led by architect Snehal Shah and Poonam Trambadia. The redeveloped ashram was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 12 March 2024, the 94th anniversary of the Dandi March.[1]
The ashram is spread over an area of . It has a European-style bungalow with a large garden. The two-storey bungalow has thick walls covered with limestone and the wooden ceiling resting on wooden pillars. It has dozen rooms and a tiled roof. The ground floor has rooms used by Gandhi, Kasturba, the other members as well as storeroom and bathrooms. These rooms are surrounded by veranda. The first floor has a low-seating conference room, a library and a large balcony. A brass bell in the balcony was used to alert the members of the ashram for scheduled activities. The top floor is reached by wooden staircase and has wooden floor.[1]
Items such as writing desk and charkha as well as photographs and documents associated with Mahatma Gandhi are displayed. The history of the ashram is narrated through a series of wall panels featuring quotes from his autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth.[1] There are large portraits of Gandhi, Kasturba and people who influenced Gandhi: Leo Tolstoy, Shrimad Rajchandra and John Ruskin.
The kitchen is located on the rear side. It is a single floor building with tiled roof, having a storeroom, toilets and bathrooms. Panch Ordio, meaning “five rooms,” is an elongated building which was utilized for a variety of activities, including weaving and carpentry.
The Activities Centre, a modern building, was built in 2024. It has about 10 rooms on the top floor including four air-conditioned ones. The rooms are named after various past members of the ashram. It has a book and souvenir shop for visitors.[1]
In 2015, the ashram was visited by 19,500 people.[6]