In 1969, when the fourth Aga Khan visited India, he donated the palace and the land around it to the Government of India, which then declared it as a national monument. The palace, now looked after by the Archaeological Society of India (ASI), holds a number of books on the life and thoughts of Gandhi.
Gandhis – the name that can never be separated from India’s freedom struggle has a strong link to Pune’s Aga Khan Palace – a place where MK Gandhi and his wife Kasturba Gandhi were confined to during their period of house arrest.
Aga Khan Palace, also known as Gandhi National Memorial, was built in 1892 by the third Aga Khan sultan. Gandhi, his wife Kasturba and his personal secretary Mahadevbhai Desai were housed there from August 9, 1942 to May 6, 1944. Both of them were put under house arrest following the launch of the Quit India movement during India’s freedom struggle. The two of them took their last breath at this very place and thus the memorial is in one corner of the palace garden where they were buried next to each other.
Discover, Explore & Learn more via DNA | I-Day Special: Witness to India’s freedom struggle, Aga Khan Palace in Pune wears a deserted look
Friday, 14 August 2015 – 2:24pm IST | Vinaya Patil | Edited by: Disha Shetty
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