How digging around Vinoba-Mira cottage in Gandhi Ashram in Gujarat threw up buried steps and a plan for preservation

As the  Rs 1,200-crore Gandhi Ashram redevelopment project progresses in the 55 acres of land, the trust in charge of  the core five-acre area of Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad has taken up restoration of the buildings there, including the residence of Mahatma Gandhi.

Once completed, one of the major changes visitors are likely to find in the core part of the ashram is the “elevation” of Vinoba-Mira kutir, a one-room cottage where social reformer Acharya Vinoba Bhave and British-Indian author Madeleine Slade (whom Gandhi rechristened as Mira Behn) lived with Gandhi, at different times between 1918 and 1933.

Trustee of the Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust (SAPMT) Kartikeya Sarabhai says the restoration project, the first  major one on this building, led to the “surprise discovery” of a one-and-half feet high plinth that the cottage stood on, which had, quite literally, got buried in the sand.

While the centrepiece of the  Sabarmati Ashram located by the west bank of the Sabarmati River is ‘Hriday Kunj’ where Mahatma Gandhi lived for almost 13 years with Kasturba,  the Vinoba-Mira Kutir saw a high-profile visit in 2022:  then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited the cottage and he was given a copy of Mira Behn’s autobiography, ‘The Spirit’s Pilgrimage’.

Hriday Kunj is a Gujarati-style house with its six rooms planned around a courtyard – its multiple windows and doors making it airy and with access from the front and the backyard and the building was constructed on almost a metre-high plinth. But one could just walk into the Vinoba-Mira Kutir as its plinth was aligned with the ground.

When the earth around the kutir was dug for restoration, two steps leading to it were discovered.

Sarabhai tells The Indian Express, “I knew the ashram for years, but I had no idea about it. There were two steps below its plinth and flooring…we were surprised that the ground level and the inner floor of the kutir are at the same level. But originally it was not like that. When the ground around the kutir was dug up, we found that its level was 1.5 feet below. So, we are restoring it to what it was. Like Hriday Kunj, there were two steps going up (to lead up to the Vinoba-Mira Kutir).”

Sarabhai, who has been a trustee with the SAPMT for the past 50 years, believes that the steps must have been buried long before.

While the entire restoration project is being done under the supervision of Prof Rabindra Vasavda, a well-known conservation architect from Ahmedabad, a special pipeline will be installed at kutir so that the rainwater goes into the Sabarmati river instead of flowing around the cottage which could weaken the structure.

An official explains that the steps to the Vinoba-Mira Kutir possibly got buried during the leveling of the ground when the light and sound show was introduced at the Ashram years back. The ashram stands on the bank of the river, with most of the buildings facing the river on the east side, naturally sloping down towards it.

In the book ‘Gandhi’s Places – An Architectural Documentation’, Ahmedabad-based architect and Professor Neelkanth Chhaya describes the kutir as one of the buildings exemplifying  the core of Gandhian way of living — aparigraha (non-possession). Gandhi’s Places was authored by Chhaya with architect Riyaz Tayyibji and scholar Tridip Suhrud. Chhaya writes how the buildings in the Sabarmati Ashram were more for “inhabitation” than for “possession”.

Chhaya’s description of the Vinoba-Mira kutir in the book goes: “The roofed space entirely and permanently open to one side, with no door or windows, not lockable – this structure only shelters the body from rain and extreme sunlight, but no more”. And he goes on to  compare them with the “more worldly in spirit” ashram buildings such as Magan Nivas or Nandini which served as the guest house.

Secretary and Director of SAPMT Atul Pandya told The Indian Express, “It was a structure made of bricks and mud. Owing to the natural slope of land, the rain water passes through the sides of the Vinoba-Mira Kutir towards the Sabarmati river weakening it over the years. Architects suggested to carry out restoration work, else it could cause problems in future.”

“The restoration work of the cottage, which was started around two months back, is expected to be over in the next 15 days or so,” said Pandya.

The wooden beams and other wooden parts of the kutir are being inspected and the part which requires repair is being done. Also, the wooden roof of the kutir and its supports are being restored while applying a special chemical to increase its strength and water repellent capacity. Similarly, the roof tiles have been cleaned and coated with chemicals to preserve its heritage value and increase its water-repellent capacity.

Talking about the significance of the Vinoba-Kutir, Pandya said that it was built even before Hriday Kunj and Vinoba Bhave started living in it in 1918 and he stayed in it till 1921.

The official website of the SAPMT noted, “Gandhi hailed Vinoba Bhave as the model Satyagrahi for his total commitment to truth. He (Bhave) stayed here from 1918 to 1921. Later, he led Bhoodan Andolan, a revolutionary movement for land donation in India.”

“Mira Behn stayed in the kutir between 1925 and 1933. Daughter of a British Admiral, Slade was devoted to Gandhi’s ideology which she learnt from a book by Romain Rolland, the noted French writer and a Nobel laureate. Gandhi called her Mira.”

Pandya said that after leaving the Ashram in 1930, Gandhi never returned to stay here. “Somewhere in 1932 or 1933, Gandhi had come to the Ashram as a visitor to meet Mira Behn,” Pandya said.

According to Pandya, there is no written information available on who else lived in Vinoba-Mira Kutir between 1933 and 1950. However, he added, noted spiritual figure from Gujarat Rang Avdhoot Maharaj had stayed for sometime in Vinoba-Mira Kutir and began his Sadhna from here.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi took this larger initiative of restoring the whole Ashram. This part (sites managed by the SAPMT) is being done by us,” says Sarabhai.

The Gujarat government and Central government are jointly implementing the Rs 1200-crore Gandhi Ashram Memorial and Precinct Development project under which a memorial is being developed in the 55 acres of land. The project includes conservation, restoration and reproduction of 36 buildings which were part of the original ashram during Gandhi’s times.

The SAPMT is managing various structures/sites of the ashram like Magan Niwas, Hriday Kunj, Vinoba-Mira Kutir, Upasana Mandir, Nandini, Udyog Mandir, and Gandhi Memorial Museum.

“After the Vinoba-Mira Kutir, we will start (restoration work of) Hriday Kunj,” Sarabhai said.

Sarabhai added that the SAPMT has recently completed restoration of Nandini, a guest house of the ashram where Rabindranath Tagore, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Reginald Reynolds, Henry Polak, Maulana Azad and several other leaders stayed as guests.