20 interesting facts about Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the masses.
1. Mahatma Gandhi's mother tongue was Gujarati.
2. He did his schooling at Alfred High School, Rajkot.
3. His birthday (2nd October) is commemorated worldwide as International Day of Nonviolence.
4. He was the youngest child of his parents. He had 2 brothers and 1 sister.
5. Gandhi’s father was Hindu by religion and Modh Baniya by caste.
6. Mahadev Desai was Gandhi’s personal secretary.
7. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was assassinated in the garden of the former Birla House.
8. Gandhi Ji and famous author Leo Tolstoy interacted with each other through letters.
9. Gandhi Ji set up a small colony, Tolstoy Farm at an 1100 acre site, 21 miles from Johannesburg, South Africa for his colleagues in the Satyagraha struggle.
10. In 1930, he led the Dandi Salt March, and in 1942, he launched the Quit India Movement during the freedom struggle.
11. He not only fought for Independence but also demanded fair treatment for the untouchables, lower caste, and also did several fasts in support of them. He also called untouchables Harijans meaning "children of God".
12. Gandhi in 1982 is an epic historical drama film based on Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi won the Academic Award for the best motion picture.
13. In 1930, he was the Time Magazine Man of the Year. He was a great writer and the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi have 50,000 pages.
14. Do you know how many times Mahatma Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize? Gandhi ji was nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947, and, finally, a few days before he was murdered in January 1948.
15. The country against whom he fought for India's Independence, Great Britain, released a stamp honouring him, 21 years after his death.
16. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was not born with the title Mahatma. He was given the title to him by the Nobel Prize-winning Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, according to some authors.
17. When Jawaharlal Nehru was giving the tryst of destiny speech to celebrate independence, Gandhi ji was not present at that time.
18. It is said that Mahatma Gandhi's funeral procession was 8 kilometers long.
19. Reserve Bank of India issued The Gandhi series banknotes by displaying a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi since its introduction in 1996. The series issued in 1996 is of 10 and 500 rupee banknotes.
20. In 1959, Gandhi Memorial Museum was established. It is located in the city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, India. It is also known as the Gandhi Museum. It consists of a blood-stained garment that was worn by Mahatma Gandhi when he was assassinated by the Nathuram Godse.