A sculpture garden portraying the life events of Mahatma Gandhi will be opened here on the occasion of Pravasi Bhartiya Divas.
The sculptures will be installed in the garden at Mahatma Mandir in the state capital, and the new garden will also commemorate the centenary of his return to India from South Africa, to spearhead a freedom movement against the British rule in the country.
According to top sources in the Gujarat government, the theme of the next Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas celebrations is revolving around Gandhi's life, and the state government in collaboration with the Centre has been planning to dedicate a sculpture garden on the life events of the 'father of the nation'.
The sculpture garden which will depict Gandhi's childhood, earlier life, his return to India and his role in the country's freedom struggle, an official said.
The Pravasi Diwas is celebrated between January 7 and January 9 every year.
The sculpture garden is likely to be inaugurated in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the heads of several states, the official said.
According to the sources, the sculpture will contain each and every aspects of Gandhi's life. They will also portray events involving Gandhi and the first deputy prime minister Sardar Patel, among others.
An official with the state industrial department said that the government will put a few sculptures this time, as a symbol of dedication to Mahatma, but they will surely increase their number later.
'Mahatma Mandir' was conceptualised by Modi, as a tribute to father of the nation in Gandhinagar.
Construction of phase one of the Mandir included a convention centre and an exhibition hall, and it was built during Modi's tenure as a chief minister of Gujarat.
While, phase two of the Mandir was planned during Modi's chief ministerial regime, the construction of it is being monitored by the state officials under the leadership current Chief Minister of Gujarat, Anandiben Patel, the official said.
Phase two comprises a 41 m-high salt-mound as a symbol of Gandhi's famous Dandi march against the salt tax provisions imposed by the British regime in March, 1930.
The sculpture garden is a new addition to the Mandir, where the Pravasi Day celebrations would be held.
Born in 1869 in Porbander as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, he moved to South Africa as a barrister in 1893, after earning his Bar-at-law from the Inner Temple in London.
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