BENGALURU: In 1934 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi visited Bangalore for the first time to collect money for the Harijan Fund, Chairman of Karnataka Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi Dr H Sreenivasiah tells City Express. He stayed at Kumara Krupa Guest House. To commemorate his visit, Gandhi Bhavan was built close to the guest house, he adds.
During his visit in 1934, he also met Dr H Sreenivasiah and other freedom fighters in the city. The meeting was held in the place where Malleswaram Club stands now.
Women from the city had donated their gold ornaments for the fund, when the Mahatma visited Malleswaram Ladies Club. His visit has been preserved photographically.
Sreenivasiah, who was one among the freedom fighters, laments, “Gandhiji fought against drinking all his life and today this hallowed place has become a place for drinking.”
Gandhiji had also been to Nandi Hills, where he stayed for three months. Sreenivasiah sadly notes that even the hills have been reduced to a drinking haunt.
The 1934 visit was not the only one. Gandhiji visited Karnataka 18 times of which 14 trips were made to Bengaluru. He was gathering forces against the British.
Apart from Gandhi Sahitya Sangha, Gandhi Bhavan is the only place in Bengaluru that documents his struggle for independence. The other places in the city have been converted into commercial places.
“Though he stayed in Kumara Krupa Guest House for a month, the government shows no interest in erecting a memorial,” says Sreenivasiah.
Even the records related to his visit have been lost. Sreenivasaiah says, “The government shows no inclination towards informing the next generations about the Father of the Nation’s teachings.”
A five-star hotel’s swimming pool stands on the land where Gandhiji used to hold prayer meetings in Kumara Park. But there is a board which reads, “This is where Gandhiji used to hold prayers.”