A walk-through of Gandhi’s last journey
Mahatma Gandhi’s extraordinary story refuses to be confined to a single city. Places as far apart as Kolkata and Cape Town are an integral part of his biography. Delhi occupies little space.
The city, however, hosted his final 144 days, and has the unenviable privilege of being the site of his assassination.
Curiously, no walking guide on Delhi has traced the Mahatma’s final journey: from Birla House, where he was shot by Nathuram Godse, to the banks of the Yamuna, where he was cremated. Going through a series of books and newspaper accounts of the time, however, help map the two-mile route.
Gandhi was killed on the evening of January 30, 1948 on the grounds of Birla House, now known as Gandhi Smriti memorial. His body — according to a report in the United Kingdom-based History Today magazine —“was laid out on the terrace of Birla House, draped in a white cotton cloth that left his face uncovered, and a single spotlight focused on the corpse as all the other lights were turned off”.
Unlike in later times when the mortal remains of a departed leader would lie in state for two or three days to facilitate antim darshan (last viewing), Gandhi was cremated the following evening.
The funeral entourage included President Rajendra Prasad, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, Baldev Singh, and JB Kripalani. The millions-strong procession began from Albuquerue Road, later renamed 30 January Marg, at 11.45 am.
It crawled through Queensway, Kingsway, and Hardinge Avenue. Or through the present-day Janpath, Rajpath and Tilak Marg, respectively. The last was home to the country’s first law minister, Babasaheb Ambedkar. His house is now the Polish ambassador’s residence.
Three Dakota aircraft flew over the procession, showering rose petals on Gandhi’s carriage, and also over the mourners. The procession also passed through Bela Road in Daryaganj.
According to journalist Louis Fischer’s account, the day of the funeral was bitterly cold and windy. Gandhi’s body arrived at the cremation site at 4.20 pm.
The pyre was lit 25 minutes later by Gandhi’s third son, Ramdas, with a piece of flaming camphor, and 14 hours later, the ashes were collected into a homespun cotton bag, transferred into a copper urn, sprinkled with the water of the sacred Yamuna, and taken back to Birla House.