Carlo Sarion

Philippines | New Zealand - 01-Jan-24 -

First TWHS review of 2024? If so, yay! :D 

I did not give much attention to this TWHS simply because it was overshadowed by all other outstanding WHS and TWHS in my itinerary. Yes, a UNESCO WHS is not about superlatives, grandness, or exceptional experiences, but it is natural for us to set aside those that are not as flashy. However, this serial nomination represents an important part of modern Indian history and a movement/ideology/philosophy founded by Mohandas Gandhi--the satyagraha. During my visit to Ahmedabad and India post-Christmas December 2023, I spent some time exploring the following four properties listed in this serial nomination. 

1. Sabarmati Ashram (Ahmedabad) - if you happen to be in Ahmedabad, a visit to Sabarmati Ashram is a good and easy way to tick off this serial nomination. It pretty much represents the serial sites well, as this is where Gandhi lived from 1917 to 1930 and became one of the main centres for the teaching and cultivation of saytagraha. It also served as a school where self-sufficiency was taught through manual labour, agriculture, and literacy. The ashram is also a significant site as it was where Gandhi led the Dandi March in protest of the British Salt Law. 

Entry to the ashram is free. Visitors should start exploring the site through the Gandhi Memorial Museum before moving to other buildings such as the Magan Niwas, Somnath Chhatralaya, and Udyog Mandir. The museum has excellent exhibitions and panels chronicling the major events in Gandhi's life and work. I like how the major exhibitions were presented in a question-and-answer format. Note the significant role that Gandhi's wife, Kasturbai, played in serving in the ashram, fostering the welfare of women, and even developing some of her husband's ideologies. I find it unfair that most of the spotlight is on Mohandas, when his wife has also been a significant political activist despite her failing health. The site offers a respite from the hustle and bustle of the city, though the ashram itself gets busy with visiting school kids. 

2. Bombay Town Hall (Mumbai) - the neoclassical building houses the Asiatic Society of Mumbai and other agencies. Visitors are limited to the dusty library that houses rows of dusty metal cabinets containing old, fading card catalogues. It reminds me of my grade school library in the 1990s. Photography and videography within the library and offices are strictly prohibited.

3. Mani Bhawan Gandhi Sangrahalaya (Mumbai) (pictured) - Mani Bhawan is a beautiful house in a quiet and leafy neighbourhood of Gamdevi. This is where Gandhi lived and worked for quite some time and served as his Mumbai headquarters from 1917 to 1934. Today, the house serves as a museum where film viewings, talks, seminars, and other events take place. 

The library occupies the ground floor. The first floor houses an auditorium and photo gallery. I particularly enjoyed reading Gandhi's letter to Hitler. The second floor contains a museum room that features dioramas that visualise the major events in Gandhi's life. This is a must-see to learn about Gandhi's struggles from his childhood until his death. This floor is also where you can find Gandhi's room, which is perhaps the most important room in the building. This is off-limits to visitors. If you are not able to visit the site, their website's excellent virtual tour serves as an alternative.

4. Gowalia Tank Maidan (Mumbai) - a note on this property: maidan means "field" (typically a sports field) in Hindi (e.g., Oval Maidan). Hence, I expected that the coordinates (19° 4' 33.54'' N, 72° 52' 39.56'' E) provided by the site's UNESCO page would point to a sports field or park. This is not the case, however, as the coordinates belong to the intersection of LBS Marg and Santacruz-Chembur Link Road. A quick Google search showed that Gowalia Tank maidan is now called August Kranti maidan, which is a park just a few minutes walk from Mani Bhawan. I went to this park to confirm, and true enough, there was a poster at the park entrance on Kashibai Navrange Marg that says that this park was where Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement. Today, August Krantin maidan serves as an open space where locals can play volleyball, badminton, soccer, and cricket. There is also a kid's playground and the tall Gandhi memorial column that commemorates the events that happened here. 

I agree with Bernard's comments and I feel like this TWHS has a good chance of getting inscribed in the future, if the State Party pursues its nomination. However, criterion iv only applies to ashrams, which do not make up the majority of properties in and are not the only focus of this serial nomination. In any case, I don't think it will have a hard time getting inscribed on criterion vi alone, given the increasing number of sites getting the nod based on this single criterion. 

Bernard Joseph Esposo Guerrero

The Philippines - 08-Nov-20 -

I visited two sites included in this serial nomination back in 2019, the Sabarmati ashram (Gujarat) and the Asiatic Society of Mumbai Town Hall (Maharashtra). The sites are interesting, but they apparently face the same dilemma as the Luther sites in Germany: what is celebrated in these sites are not what were built per se, but more of what had happened in them. Is it a bad thing? Not necessarily. If we look past the unassuming structures, we realize that what transpired in these places are truly worth celebrating and the ideas that were cultivated here are indeed to be emulated. Heritage, after all, goes beyond built-structures; a "heritage" ought to have a spirit, a meaning, and these places certainly possess those. While the whole idea of Satyagraha might be difficult to grasp by just visiting one or two sites, it does not preclude the fact that the careful selection of representative component sites comprising this nomination can make a sound case for an outstanding universal value. The Sabarmati/Ghandi ashram in historic Ahmedabad (another memorable WHS for me!), for example, is undoubtedly a world-class memorial and a continuing living heritage space (so much so that even the principles employed in managing the site are highly Ghandian!) whose importance transcends beyond national level.

I have also visited related sites in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa where the idea was conceptualized and was first observed. The whole essence of non-violence social protest would, likewise, resound much later on in my country during the People Power revolution in toppling down the dictator. Hence, it has clear lasting influences. It would definitely make me happy to see this site be included in the list one day as it well deserves it.

The list would definitely be benefited from having more sites that represent freedom from colonial oppression and the rise of national identities in the 20th century especially from this side of the globe. While I feel that criteria (vi) is easily met, crit. (iv) only argues for the ashrams and not for the others in the nomination. The nomination might have to be reworked, perhaps further narrowing down the sites included and where even crit. (iii) may be explored. 

Ralf Regele

Germany - 11-Mar-17 -

I only visited the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmadabad, which is a well-developed tourist site with a nice ghandi museum and the barracks of the ashram itself. The site seems to be one of the more prominent ones in the proposal, there are a lot of minor sites whose relevance is a bit dubious. The Ahmadabad ashram is certainly an interesting and moving visit - but strictly because of the political and historical background. The buildings itself are quite sober - plain barracks without decorations, fitting Ghandis austere lifestyle. While I have the highest respect for India's non-violent movement, I don't think that a WHS is a good way to honor it. It's all about the ideas and the philosophy - not about sites and buildings.

Visited: Nov 2015

Importance: 5/5 Beauty 2/5 Uniqueness 5/5 Environment 2/5 Experience 3/5