The Mahatma Gandhi 150th Birth Anniversary Year Padyatra or 2019 Gandhi March or "Gandhi Kooch" was a cultural march held during the celebration of 150th

birth anniversary Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

in Bhavnagar district of

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

, India. The 150km long march lasted for seven days from 16 January 2019 to 22 January 2019. The event was organized by

Mansukh L. Mandaviya Mansukh Laxmanbhai Mandaviya (born 1 June 1972) is an Indian politician who has been serving as Ministry of Labour and Employment (India), Minister of Labour and Employment and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Minister of Youth Affairs a ...

, the then Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Union Minister of State for Chemical and Fertilizer, now Union Health and Family Welfare Minister of India and a

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

member from Gujarat. The march passed through 150 villages of Gujarat with 150 prominent followers of Gandhi as स्थायी पदयात्री (Permanent PadYatri) while thousands of People joined the Padyatra Every day and Experienced the Gandhian Philosophy of Life. The aim of the march was to spread awareness for method of 'Basic Education' or 'Buniyadi Shikshan' an Education Method given by Mahatma Gandhi among public and to introduce the

Gandhian philosophy Gandhism is a body of ideas that describes the inspiration, vision, and the life work of Mohandas K. Gandhi. It is particularly associated with his contributions to the idea of nonviolent resistance, sometimes also called civil resistance. The ...

to young generation.

Timeline

The theme of the Padyatra was "Towards Gandhian Principles and Values". The route of the march, along with each evening's stopping place, was planned from the villages which have

Nai Talim Nai Talim, or Basic Education, is a principle which states that knowledge and work are not separate. Mahatma Gandhi promoted an educational curriculum with the same name based on this pedagogical principle. It can be translated with the phras ...

institutes, conceptualized by Gandhi. The march began on 16 January 2019 from Gram Dakshinamurti and was concluded at

Sanosara Sanosara is a village located in India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (U ...

, a village in the Bhavnagar district. It covered total 150 villages and total 150km distance. On the first day, Mandaviya started the march involving 150 people with tree plantation and explained the connection between Gandhian philosophy and nature. On the next day, the marchers passed through Samdhiyara, Dihor, Bhadravar and reached Mayadhar. As they entered each village, crowds greeted the marchers. Morari Bapu, a spiritual leader, gave speech about the unity of all religions and said "universalism never binds anyone". On the morning of the third day, the march began from Mayadhar and the marchers travelled through Pingari, lakhawada, Anida, Mandavda and Bhutiya, and arrived at Shetrunji Dam. Total 150 programs on Gandhian philosophy were held en route. The march was concluded at Lokbharti Gramvidyapith, Sanosara. It was ended with a speech by

Vijay Rupani Vijay Ramniklal Rupani (2 August 1956 – 12 June 2025) was an Indian politician who served as the chief minister of Gujarat from 2016 to 2021. He was a representative in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly for the Rajkot West constituency from ...

chief minister of Gujarat The chief minister of Gujarat is the head of government, chief executive of the government of the Indian state of Gujarat. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose Cabinet (government), council of ministers are Cabinet collective respons ...

, at concluding ceremony. Rupani stated that the dream of establishing 'Ram Rajya' (rule of Rama, Gandhi's concept of

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

) in India according to the contemplation of Gandhi should acquire a holistic approach rather than an isolated one to promote the welfare of the society. The prime minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

delivered a speech through live telecast from

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

Reception

About 20,000 youngsters registered and about 12,000 youngsters participated in the march. During the seven days of march, 14 public gatherings were arranged which were addressed by various politicians, social activists, journalists and artists. Actor

Deepak Antani Deepak Antani (born on 20 September 1964) is an Indian actor, film director, director and screenwriter known for his work in Gujarati cinema, Gujarati and Hindi cinema, television and theatre. He is widely recognized for portraying Mahatma Gandh ...

, widely known for portraying

, also took part in the events to promote Gandhian values through his performances and public appearances.

References

External links

Official website
{{Gandhi, state=expanded Protest marches in India Mahatma Gandhi January 2019 in India 2010s in Gujarat Bhavnagar district