Historical Gandhi museum -Tamukkam palace, Madurai city, Tamil Nadu, India

Navrang India September 19, 2015
Gandhi museum Madurai. .meanderingkiwis.com

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Historical Tamukkam palace, Madurai, Tamil Nadu  was once the palace of Rani Mangammal of the Nayak dynasty and  this palatial building  was built in 1670 by the Nayak rulers.  This building  changed hands from  and the Nawob of Arcot 
Meenashi temple,Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
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 and East India company. When the British Crown took over the administration in 1857 soon after Sepoy Mutiny, Tamukkam palace  came under their control. 
Now it  houses the Madurai chapter of Gandhi Museums in India. It was only in 1955 that the State Government of Tamil Nadu under the Congress rule gifted the palace along with about 13 acres of prime land to the All India Gandhi Smarak foundation. This is because of Gandhiji's remarkable relationship with this historical city. He visited this city five times and on his second trip on September 22, 1921, he took the momentous decision in his life and donned the loin cloth for the first time to fight the mighty British and earned the nick name ''half-naked fakir'' (in the words of Sir Winston Churchill). This ancient city gave him moral strength and spiritual boost to win freedom without taking to arms.

The museum has excellent and vast book collections  and other  useful study materials that are essential for  academic research. Yet another fact about this museum is  the popular and prestigious Gandhi Memorial Lecture Series  conducted from time to time, inviting scholars to present research papers; They are held under the auspices of  the All India Gandhi Smarak foundation. The museum covers the whole gamut of Indian history - important events, etc These galleries include "India Fights for Freedom", "Visual Biography of Mahatama Gandhi" and "Relics and Replicas". The ground floor of the museum has a unique collection of stamps and letters at the Philatelic Museum, dedicated to Gandhi. An important piece of exhibit is the blood-stained cloth of Gandhiji.
 
The northern wing of this building has  books on  the cultural background of India, books on and by Gandhiji and allied literature. There are about 20,00 volumes in the library. Photostat copies of about 2,70,000 letters of Gandhiji and 62 reels of Micro-films are the very important and valuable part of the collections in the Library.  There is "Gandhi Kutir"- a replica of Gandhiji's hut in Sevagram in front of the building. There is also an open-air theater which can accommodate 8000 people  where  Cultural programs, weekly film shows and public meetings on special occasions are held in this theater.


Read more: 

https://www.ixigo.com/gandhi-museum-madurai-india-ne-1281292

http://www.mkgandhi.org/gandhiyatra/madurai.htm