The first picture is of me in the chapel area (you have to remove your shoes to enter).
The two pedestal-looking structures are the resting place for the ashes of Mahadevbhai Desai and Kasturba. Her ashes are in the urn to my left (the right one in this photo). Inscriptions are in Hindi and Arabic ... unfortunately I couldn't find someone to translate for me. And there is a uniformed guard at the entrance of this chapel. It is called the Kasturba Samadhi. Samadhi, in Hindi, means cenotaph, a structure commemorating the dead.
It was quite an amazing and deeply moving experience for me ... to stand inside the chapel in the garden on the grounds ... which was eerily quiet even though the hustle-and-bustle of Pune city is all around. 
Finally - you come to the resting place of the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi. For me, this was a fitting ending to my visit to the palace.
No comments:
Post a Comment