Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who later came to be known as Mahatma Gandhi, was the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement; he was the man who led the masses in India to gain Independence from the British Rule. The man who succeeded in achieving something which was next to impossible, through the non-violent, civil-disobedience and non-co-operative movement, which everyone else failed to achieve. The man who made life for the British so difficult in India that they finally gave us the independence that we were seeking, and finally left India in 1947 after 89 years of colonial rule. The birthday of Mahatma Gandhi is celebrated across India, and also all over the world on the 2nd of October every year, and is termed as Gandhi Jayanti. 2nd October is also celebrated as the International Day of Nonviolence across the globe.
Celebrations Every Year
Every year the celebrations of the birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation are conducted with great fervour in the following manner:
- Prayer meetings are held to pay homage, in front of the statue at the Raj Ghat New Delhi. Which is attended by the President and Prime Minister of the India. The devotional song Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram is sung in the memory of him.
- Celebrations are also held in schools where students participate in fancy dress competitions, sing Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite hymns and present their own insights on the Gandhian philosophy.
- Statues of Mahatma Gandhi across the country are refurbished and garlanded as people pay their respect to the man who got them independence.
- When Narendra Modi took over the office of the Prime Minister of India, he for the first time in the history of India abolished Gandhi Jayanti as a national holiday for the Government staff. Being a staunch believer of the ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi, he urged the government officials to follow in the footsteps of the Father of the Nation, the icon of India, and work towards the betterment of India by taking the oath of Swachh Shapath.
- Since the time Prime Minister Modi introduced the Swachh Bharat Campaign, cleanliness drives are conducted in different localities where people come together and contribute towards cleaning the area around.
- The three-day mini Khadi fair will be organized on Udyog Bhavan campus at Ratu Road to mark the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.
- The exhibition is being held to promote the Khadi industry as well as other cottage industries and individual artisans of Jharkhand.
- Chairman of Jharkhand State Khadi and Village Industries Board, Sanjay Seth said that the state planned to make at least 10,000 women self employed by the end of 2016, and this fair would serve as a platform for these women to exhibit their products including handicrafts and food items.
- A world class showroom of Khadi is also on the cards to be inaugurated during the Navratras.
