Aga Khan Palace
Front view of the palace
Location	Pune, India
Coordinates	18°33′08″N 73°54′05″E / 18.5523°N 73.9015°E / 18.5523; 73.9015Coordinates: 18°33′08″N 73°54′05″E / 18.5523°N 73.9015°E / 18.5523; 73.9015
Area	19 acres (77,000 m2)
Built	1892
Governing body	Gandhi National Memorial Society
Type	Historical significance
Designated	2003
Designated by	Archeological Survey of India
Location of Aga Khan Palace in Maharashtra

The Aga Khan Palace was built by Sultan Muhammed Shah Aga Khan III, in Pune. Built in 1892, it is one of the biggest landmarks in Indian history. The palace was an act of charity by the Sultan who wanted to help the poor in the neighboring areas of Pune, who were drastically hit by famine.^[1]

Aga Khan Palace is a majestic building and is considered to be one of the greatest marvels of India.^[2] The palace is closely linked to the Indian freedom movement as it served as a prison for Mahatma Gandhi, his wife Kasturba Gandhi, his secretary Mahadev Desai and Sarojini Naidu. It is also the place were Kasturba Gandhi and Mahadev Desai breathed their last breath.^[2] In 2003, Archeological Survey of India (ASI) declared the place as a monument of national importance.^[3]

History[link]

Historically, the palace holds great significance. Mahatama Gandhi, his wife Kasturba Gandhi and his secretary Mahadev Desai were interned in the palace from 9th August 1942 to 6th May 1944, following the launch of Quit India Movement. Kasturba Gandhi and Mahadev Desai died during their captivity period in the palace and have their Samadhis located over there. Mahatama Gandhi and Kasturba Gandhi have their memorials located in the same complex, near Mula river.^[4]

In 1969, Aga Khan Palace was donated to the Indian people by Aga Khan IV as a mark of respect to Gandhi and his philosophy.^[1] Today the palace houses a memorial on Gandhi where his ashes were kept. The then prime minister Indira Gandhi had visited the place in 1974 where she allotted a sum of 2 lakh (US$4,000) every year, for its maintenance. The amount rose to 10 lakh (US$20,000) till 1990s,^[5] after which the national monument of India, was neglected for many years due to improper allocation of funds. There was a protest held at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi near Pune railway station in July 1999 to protest against the worsening condition of the monument.^[6]

Location[link]

Coordinates of the location: 18°33′8″N 73°54′8″E / 18.55222°N 73.90222°E / 18.55222; 73.90222. It is located at about 2 km away from Bund Garden in Yerwada, on Pune-Nagar Road.

Significance[link]

Aga Khan palace has Italian arches and spacious lawns. The building comprises of five halls. It covers an area of 19 acres (77,000 m²), out of which 7 acres (28,000 m²) is the built up area. The palace captivates the eye of a spectator with its magnificence and picturesque architecture. It took 5 years and an estimated budget of 12 lakh (US$23,900) to complete this Palace. The area of the ground floor is 1756 sq meters, that of the first floor is 1080 sq meters, whereas the second floor has a construction of 445 sq meters. The speciality of this structure is it's corridor of 2.5 meters around the entire building. Prince Karim Aga Khan donated this palace to Gandhi Smarak Samittee in 1972 and since then Parks and Gardens organization is maintaining it.

The palace archives a number of photos and portraits depicting glimpses from the life of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation of India, and other personalities of the Indian freedom struggle.^[7]

This palace is also the headquarters of the Gandhi National Memorial Society.^[8] It also hosts a shop that deals in khaadi and other hand loomed textiles.^[9]

Activities organised at the palace[link]

Gandhi Memorial society celebrates the following public functions at the palace:

• Martyr's Day – 30 January.
• Mahashivratri – Kasturbha Gandhi's Death Day Celebrated As Mother's Day.
• Independence Day – 15 August.
• Republic Day – 26 January.
• Mahatma Gandhi's Birth Anniversary – 2 October.

Other than yearly events, morning prayer sessions are held daily at the samadhi since decades. The prayer draws huge crowds everyday, and the number goes up threefold on October 2 as people visit the place to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.^[10]

Gallery[link]

• 

  A scanned image of Aga Khan Palace before India's independence.

• Kasturba gandhi burial.JPG

  Kasturba Gandhi Memorial Stone (One on the right) with the memorial stone of Mahadev Desai in the palace where she died.

• 

  Distance view of the palace.

• 

  Gandhi's ashes at the palace.

Panaroma[link]

Panaromic view from the palace

See also[link]

• Mahatma Gandhi and the Quit India Movement
• Mani Bhavan
• Aga Khan III
• Aga Khan IV

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aga Khan Palace

External links[link]

• "Aga Khan Palace". Tcabs.in. http://www.tcabs.in/pune/places-of-interest/agakhan-palace/. 

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Mahadev Desai (left) reading out a letter to Gandhi from the viceroy at Birla House, Bombay, April 7, 1939.

Mahadev Desai (January 1, 1892 – August 15, 1942) was an Indian independence activist and nationalist writer; he was most famously known for being the personal secretary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Career[link]

Desai was a young lawyer in Ahmedabad when he decided to join Gandhi along with Narhari Parikh, Mohanlal Pandya and Ravi Shankar Vyas, and became his most devoted secretary for 25 years, from 1917 to 1942. The four were the earliest supporters of Gandhi.

Arrest[link]

Mahadev Desai was arrested with Gandhi during all the nationalist revolts. The chief period of interest is the time Gandhi was incarcerated in the Yeravda Jail near Pune, Maharashtra from 1931 to 1934. Desai wrote most of his important works on Gandhi during this period. He was arrested on the morning of August 9 after Gandhi's call to the British to Quit India and sent to the Aga Khan Palace for imprisonment. On August 15, 1942, Mahadev Desai died of a massive heart-attack at the age of 51.

Gandhi was devastated by Desai's death at a young age. Both Gandhi and his wife Kasturba Gandhi had seen him as their son, and his death was mourned by Gandhi's supporters across the country.

Writings[link]

Desai wrote several books on the non-violent struggles led by Gandhi in India, and a diary called Day to Day with Gandhi in nine volumes.

Besides writing a day-to-day diary, Desai also contributed regularly to Young India and Navajivan, two journals of which Gandhi was the editor. During Gandhi's incarceration, Mahadev took up the responsibility of the editor of Navajivan. He also translated Gandhi's autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, into English.

Yeravda Jail

Samadhis of Kasturba Gandhi and Mahadev Desai at Aga Khan Palace, Pune

Motilal Nehru, father of Jawaharlal Nehru, requisitioned the services of Mahadev Desai in 1920 from Gandhi to edit the daily newspaper, Independent, from Allahabad. Desai created a sensation by bringing out a hand-written cyclostyled newspaper after the printing press was confiscated by the British government. Desai was sentenced to one year rigorous imprisonment for his writing. In prison, Desai saw that the jail authorities mistreated prisoners, frequently flogging them. His report describing the life inside an Indian jail, published in Young India and Navajivan, compelled the British authorities to bring about some drastic jail reform measures.

Desai was among the founding members of the All India Newspaper Editors' Conference. He also frequently contributed to various nationalist Indian newspapers such as Free Press, Bombay Chronicle, Hindustan Times, The Hindu and Amrita Bazar Patrika.

His son Narayan Desai is also a non-violent activist.

Bibliography[link]

Mahadev Desai's obituary in Harijan, Gandhi's newspaper

• A Righteous Struggle
• The Story of My Experiments with Truth (English translation), 1927.
• With Gandhi in Ceylon, 1928.
• The Story of Bardoli, 1929
• Swadeshi-True and False, 1929.
• Unworthy of Wardha, 1929.
• Eclipse of Faith, 1929.
• The Nation's Voice, 1932.
• Two Servants of of God, forward MAHATMA GANDHI, 1935.
• The Epic of Travanancore, 1937.
• Gandhi Seva San

References[link]

Mahadev Desai

About Mahadev Desai

Mahadev Desai Stamp

External links[link]

Mahadev Desai on Times of India

Mahadev Desai on Where in City

Mahadev Desai on Google Books

Gita and Gandhi

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mahadev Desai

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