Recreating the Historic Dandi March

National Salt Satyagraha Memorial is conceived as an experiential journey recreating the spirit and the energy of the historic Dandi March where Gandhiji and his fellow marchers picked up salt from the sea beach to break the Salt Law imposed by the British India.

The Salt Satyagraha March or The Dandi March of 1930 as it is popularly known, was a landmark in the history of Indian freedom struggle. As a part of the Civil Disobedience Movement against the British rule, 80 Satyagrahis led by Mahatma Gandhi marched 241miles from Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad to the coastal village of Dandi and broke the Salt Law imposed by the British. As was the symbolic nature of the event, it inspired millions of Indians to join the freedom struggle and brought worldwide attention to the movement. The Dandi March demonstrated the effectiveness of non-violent civil disobedience as a form of protest for the first time. Spread over a 15-acre land and located in the coastal town of Dandi, where the Salt March ended on April 6, 1930 and the British salt monopoly was broken, the ‘National Salt Satyagraha Memorial’, Dandi, Gujarat, is conceived as an experiential journey recreating the spirit and the energy of the 1930 Dandi March led by Mahatma Gandhi and 80 of his fellow Satyagrahis. The visitors go through the Monument step-by-step in order to visualise and understand the history of the historic Salt March and the methodology of Satyagraha, which finally led to India’s Independence from the British colonial rule. Attractions at National Salt Satyagrah Memorial, Dandi

The Pathway & 24 Narrative Murals

The Pathway along the lake symbolises the path of the Dandi March. There are 24 bass-relief sculptural narrative murals mounted along the Pathway that depict and recreate the 24 themes and events from the 1930 Dandi March.

An Artificial Lake

An artificial lake has also been created symbolising the sea shore aspect of the salt satyagrah.

The Salt Marchers & statue of Mahatma Gandhi

80 Bronze Statues commemorating the marchers that walked along with Mahatma Gandhi through the 24 days of the march has also been installed at the memorial alongwith the 5metre high statue of the Mahatma which projects the forceful forward march of a great leader leading the people to freedom from exploitation and injustice.

The Pyramid of Light

The A-frame: Stylised hands raised up in the sky, holding at the top a simulated salt crystal to form the canopy. Another unique feature is the laser lights which rises up and illuminates the glass crystal at night to make it a visually enhancing experience.

Solar Trees

To reflect the ethos of self-sufficiency imbibed by Mahatma Gandhi, 40 Solar Trees where designed, developed and installed at the memorial. It makes this memorial a net zero-energy project where all the energy required is produced in the memorial itself.

Salt Making Pans

Salt-making Pans at the Memorial Complex allow the visitors to personally experience the process of salt-making and also make a pinch of salt to be taken away as a memory from the visit to the Memorial.

It is a measure of success of farmers’ protests that these have turned into a social media war, with celebs joining in. Pop star Rihanna has a following of 101 million on twitter. Environmental activist Greta Thunberg and others also joined in. In an unusual move, the Union external affairs ministry responded to these tweets, stating that Parliament passed these laws to give improve market access to farmers. After this halftruth, the government floated the ‘conspiracy theory’ against India. HT has rightly said in an editorial that the most effective way in which state can respond (to global criticism) is by strengthening its democratic framework. Beant Singh Bedi

Mohali

When I was a minister, my ministry in its affidavit about the dams in Uttarakhand in the Himalayas had requested that it is a very sensitive region, and, therefore, power projects should not be built on the Aganges

and its main tributaries.