Gandhi Memorial Museum in Madurai
Golden Jubilee Year : 1959 - 2009
- N O E N T R A N C E F E E
- Camera and Video Fee: Rs.50/-
- Working Hours : 10:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 17:45
- Distance: 0.6km away from Anna Bus Stand
- Office Telephone: 2531060
- Coordinators Mobile: 9443037339, 9865791420
- Friday and Second Saturday of Every Month is Holiday
This is the first Gandhi Memorial Museum inaugurated in India, by the former Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on 15th Apr. 1959.
Mahatma Gandhi has visited the city FIVE times.
காந்திஜியை காந்தியடிகள் என்று தமிழில் பெயரிட்டு
முதலில் அழைத்தவர் திரு.வி.கல்யாணசுந்தரம் அவர்கள்.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, was a prominent political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of satyagraha —resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon ahimsa or total non-violence — which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. He is commonly known around the world asMahatma Gandhi (Mahatma is Sanskrit for "Great Soul", it is similar in usage to the modern Christian term saint, an honorific first applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore) and in India also as Bapu. He is officially honoured in India as the Father of the Nation; his birthday, 2 October, is commemorated there as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence.
Newly Painted Elevation - LongShot
Newly Painted Elevation
Before painting
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The building that houses the Gandhi Memorial Museum, Madurai is the historic Tamukkam Palace of Rani Mangammalof Nayak Dynasty built about 1670 A.D. Later Rani Mangammal, this was under the occupation of the Nawab of Carnatic, The East India Company and a few others. Finally this Palace had remained for many years as the official residence of the British District Collector of Madurai. It was on 30-Jan-1995 the Palace with about 13 acres of land was gifted by the Tamil Nadu State Government to the All India Gandhi Smarak Nidhi for the purpose of housing Gandhi Memorial Museum.
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Gandhi Memorial Museum in Madurai comes under the Peace Museums Worldwide selected by United Nations Organisation(UNO). It is published in the United Nations Publications on Peace in 1995 edited by Peter van den Dept. of Peace Studies, University of Bradford, U.K.
The Museum may broadly be divided into the following sections:
- Special Exhibition on "India Fights for Freedom" with 265 illustrations, depicting the history of the Freedom Movement, greets you first.
- Next the "Visual Biography of Gandhiji" contains photos, paintings, sculptures, manuscripts, quotations and some of the selected Photostat copies of many of Gandhiji’s letters and renderings. This section contains 124 rare photographs depicting various phases of Mahatma Gandhi right from his childhood days until being taken to the crematorium. The pictures displayed here are carefully selected.
Sculptures, Manuscripts, Quotaions,
Letters, Renderings etc. Mahatma Gandhi's letter
to Tamil Poet Bharathiar
- Finally you enter the section "Relics & Replicas", which contains 14 original artifacts used by Gandhiji. The most important thing is the Blood Stained Cloth of Mahatma Gandhi used by him on the day of him on the day of his assassination. This is conserved inside a vaccum glass box.
Relic - Blood Stained Cloth
Replica of Gandhiji's Hut
In front of the main building, a little towards south, there is "Gandhi Kutir" - a replica of Gandhiji's hut in Sevagram.
(Gandhiji shifted his abode from Ahmedabad to a remote village near Wardha in Maharashtra state in 1936. There Gandhiji lived upto 1946 in a well ventilated, spacious hut which was made out of renewable resources. Historic incidents like Quit India were decided from this hut.) 
Sacred Ash of Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhi Memorial Peace Park - A portion of Mahatma Gandhiji’s sacred ash is kept here. After his cremation, the sacred ash was immersed in holy rivers and oceans in India, Srilanka, Tibet, Myanmar and Pakistan. Gandhi Memorial Museum, Madurai has the privilege to preserve some portion of it. VIPs and visitors place wreath in it on their visits. 
Library Reading Room
The Library located in the northen wing of the main building is one of the largest libraries in South India for Gandhian Stuides/Peace Studies.
Important Collections
- Young India (14 vols.)
- Harijan (14 vols.)
- The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (100 vols.)
in English & Gujarati
- Photostat copies of Manuscripts – 27,000 copies
The Research and Publication wing is housed in the first floor of the Library building.
At the second floor of the Museum buildingm a well equipped Indoor Theatre is available with Audio / Video equipments and LCD Projector. Many CDs and Videos on Mahatma Gandhi, Disarmament, Enviromentalism, Freedom Fighters are available. Pictures are shown to select educational groups/related groups on request free of cost. About 100 persons can be accommodated in the theatre at a time.
Dr.T.Ravichandran, is heading this section.
Mobile: 9443037339
Open Air Theatre
To the south of the building is a big open-air theatre with a capacity to accommodate about 8,000 people. Cultural programmes and public meetings on special occasions are held in this theatre. 
Open Air Theatre
Mahatma Gandhi has visited the city five times
First Visit: In order to enrol volunteers for Satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act passed in 1919, Mahatma made his first visit to the Temple City on March 26, 1919. He stayed here till March 28 and stayed in the house of George Joseph that was located near the Albert Victor Bridge.
Second Visit: Similarly, during his second visit, the Mahatma stayed as Karumuttu Thiagarajar Chettiar’s guest at his residence, 175 A West Masi Street. On September 21, 1921, Mahatma Gandhi, who was staying at the residence of Ramji and Kalyanji on 251 A West Masi Street, renounced his formal dress to identify himself with the common man.
Third Visit: The Raja of Sivaganga hosted Mahatma during his visit at his residence near Kalpalam. He stayed there for three days from September 28, 1927.
Fourth Visit: His fourth visit was in 1934 to raise funds for khadi and spread the message of Swadeshi and again stayed on West Masi Street.
Fifth Visit: His last visit was in 1946 when he entered the Meenakshi Amman Temple. He stayed in a house on Krishna Rao Tank Street near Madura Coats. During his earlier visits, he refused to enter the temple until all classes of people were allowed to enter. His last visit was to worship Meenakshi after the temple was thrown open to Harijans.
| This is the first Gandhi Memorial Museum inaugurated in India, by the former Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on 15th Apr. 1959. Mahatma Gandhi has visited the city FIVE times. |
முதலில் அழைத்தவர் திரு.வி.கல்யாணசுந்தரம் அவர்கள்.
| Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, was a prominent political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of satyagraha —resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon ahimsa or total non-violence — which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. He is commonly known around the world asMahatma Gandhi (Mahatma is Sanskrit for "Great Soul", it is similar in usage to the modern Christian term saint, an honorific first applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore) and in India also as Bapu. He is officially honoured in India as the Father of the Nation; his birthday, 2 October, is commemorated there as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence. |
- The building that houses the Gandhi Memorial Museum, Madurai is the historic Tamukkam Palace of Rani Mangammalof Nayak Dynasty built about 1670 A.D. Later Rani Mangammal, this was under the occupation of the Nawab of Carnatic, The East India Company and a few others. Finally this Palace had remained for many years as the official residence of the British District Collector of Madurai. It was on 30-Jan-1995 the Palace with about 13 acres of land was gifted by the Tamil Nadu State Government to the All India Gandhi Smarak Nidhi for the purpose of housing Gandhi Memorial Museum.
- Gandhi Memorial Museum in Madurai comes under the Peace Museums Worldwide selected by United Nations Organisation(UNO). It is published in the United Nations Publications on Peace in 1995 edited by Peter van den Dept. of Peace Studies, University of Bradford, U.K.
|
| In front of the main building, a little towards south, there is "Gandhi Kutir" - a replica of Gandhiji's hut in Sevagram. (Gandhiji shifted his abode from Ahmedabad to a remote village near Wardha in Maharashtra state in 1936. There Gandhiji lived upto 1946 in a well ventilated, spacious hut which was made out of renewable resources. Historic incidents like Quit India were decided from this hut.) |
| Gandhi Memorial Peace Park - A portion of Mahatma Gandhiji’s sacred ash is kept here. After his cremation, the sacred ash was immersed in holy rivers and oceans in India, Srilanka, Tibet, Myanmar and Pakistan. Gandhi Memorial Museum, Madurai has the privilege to preserve some portion of it. VIPs and visitors place wreath in it on their visits. |
| The Library located in the northen wing of the main building is one of the largest libraries in South India for Gandhian Stuides/Peace Studies. Important Collections - Young India (14 vols.) - Harijan (14 vols.) - The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (100 vols.) in English & Gujarati - Photostat copies of Manuscripts – 27,000 copies The Research and Publication wing is housed in the first floor of the Library building. |
| At the second floor of the Museum buildingm a well equipped Indoor Theatre is available with Audio / Video equipments and LCD Projector. Many CDs and Videos on Mahatma Gandhi, Disarmament, Enviromentalism, Freedom Fighters are available. Pictures are shown to select educational groups/related groups on request free of cost. About 100 persons can be accommodated in the theatre at a time. Dr.T.Ravichandran, is heading this section. Mobile: 9443037339 |
|
| Mahatma Gandhi has visited the city five times First Visit: In order to enrol volunteers for Satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act passed in 1919, Mahatma made his first visit to the Temple City on March 26, 1919. He stayed here till March 28 and stayed in the house of George Joseph that was located near the Albert Victor Bridge. Second Visit: Similarly, during his second visit, the Mahatma stayed as Karumuttu Thiagarajar Chettiar’s guest at his residence, 175 A West Masi Street. On September 21, 1921, Mahatma Gandhi, who was staying at the residence of Ramji and Kalyanji on 251 A West Masi Street, renounced his formal dress to identify himself with the common man. Third Visit: The Raja of Sivaganga hosted Mahatma during his visit at his residence near Kalpalam. He stayed there for three days from September 28, 1927. Fourth Visit: His fourth visit was in 1934 to raise funds for khadi and spread the message of Swadeshi and again stayed on West Masi Street. Fifth Visit: His last visit was in 1946 when he entered the Meenakshi Amman Temple. He stayed in a house on Krishna Rao Tank Street near Madura Coats. During his earlier visits, he refused to enter the temple until all classes of people were allowed to enter. His last visit was to worship Meenakshi after the temple was thrown open to Harijans. |
Meenakshi Amman Temple
:: (Temple Office Phone No.2349868, 2344360)
| Meenakshi Amman Temple Virtual Tour |
| Temple's Lodge (Birla Vishram) located in West Chithirai Street, Opposite to Temple's West Tower. Tel: +91 452 2345503 Pilgrims Rest House (70 Feet Road, Ellis Nagar, Near Junction West Entrance), Tel: +91 452 2609868 Both offers very nominal tariff  (Top view of the Temple, click to enlarge and set as wallpaper) |
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