Efforts on to make Gandhian values immortal

Kudligi :

The tiny town of Kudligi is taking big steps to remind people about the Gandhian way of life, with the memorial holding the ashes (Chitha Bhasma) of the Father of the Nation set to get a facelift after 60 years.

It started as a dream to educate people about Gandhism — his ideology and Spartan way of life — by local teacher and freedom fighter Bindu Madhav. It is now taking shape with the help of the district administration, which earmarked a budget of Rs 2 crore from the district mining fund. Considered South India’s only such mortal remains of Mahatma Gandhi, the story of Chitha Bhasma in Ballari district’s Kudligi town began in the cells of Vellore jail in the early 1940s.

“Bindu Madhav wanted to keep Gandhian values eternal so that young minds were inspired by them, and wanted to do something about this. Being a freedom fighter, he was imprisoned in Vellore jail along with Tekur Subramanya, who became the first Member of Parliament from then Bellary, former President of India R Venkataraman and another freedom fighter, Vaddi Venkob Rao. However, he could fulfil his dream only after the death of the Mahatma,” said T Govind Vittal, secretary, Gandhi Bhavan, Ballari.

After the country attained freedom, Bindu Madhav was released from jail and appointed physical education teacher. He was posted to Kottur and then Kudligi. It was then that Gandhiji was assassinated. Madhav began his efforts to make Gandhian values immortal.

“Kudligi being the most backward place in Ballari district, he intended to make it a Wardha — Gandhiji’s second ashram for his Chitha Bhasma,” said Vittal.

Precious package reaches Kudligi
How the ashes reached Kudligi is an interesting story. Madhav spoke about his plan to Tekur Subramanya, who was then Congress parliamentary secretary. Tekur was also interested and ensured that the ashes were collected and brought to Chennai through Omandur Ramaswamy Reddy, the then treasurer of the Congress

Legislative Party
From there, the ashes were sent through Diggavi Ranganathachar, chief engineer in the Maratha and Southern Madras (MSM) Railways, now called Southern Railways. Bindu Madhav organised locals like G Venkob Rao, a landlord, to gain access to the land to host the remains. He named the high school ground Mahadeva Mailara Kreedangana, and had the Chitha Bhasma placed here.

The Memorial

A memorial was also constructed and inaugurated by Ramanand Teertha, who, incidentally, was proclaimed the guru of former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao.
Every known personality, right from Col Manjappa to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, former Chief Minister of Karnataka Kengal Hanumanthiah, MS Sukadia and others have visited the place, which has acquired historic significance.

The dilapidated building was demolished in 2018 to build a new structure.  The new memorial hall coming up at the place will host a beautiful garden with lawns, a gallery with pictures of Mahatma Gandhi, which include sepia frames from his childhood to the making of the Mahatma — his struggle for Indian Independence. An audio-visual centre is also part of the project. Work is on in full swing.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Subhash Chandra N S / Express News Service / September 29th, 2019