Rare Photos & Incredible Facts About Gandhi

We all know Mahatma Gandhi as the man who led our country to freedom. But we know little about some smaller and more astonishing facts about his life. The following are 16 facts about Mahatma Gandhi that are mostly unknown:

1. Mahatma Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize Five(5) times.

But, The committee regrets not giving him the Nobel Peace prize to this day as the award is never given posthumously.
Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize five times and the Nobel Committee has publicly said it regrets never awarding him the coveted prize. When the Dalai Lama was awarded the prize in 1989, the chairman of the committee said it was partly a tribute to Gandhi.

2. M. K. Gandhi was responsible for the Civil Rights movement in 4 continents and 12 countries.


3. The funeral procession of Mahatma Gandhi was 8 kilometers long.


4. Great Britain, the country against whom he fought for independence, released a stamp honouring him, 21 years after his death.

5. Mahatma Gandhi walked/traveled almost 18 kilometers a day throughout his lifetime which is enough to walk around the world twice over.



6. Gandhiji served in the army during the Boer war – he crusaded against violence since the time he realized the horrors of war.


7. Mahatma Gandhi corresponded with a lot of people – Tolstoy, Einstein and Hitler were among the many.

He wrote to Hitler to appeal for peace directly, addressing him as "Dear Friend" in 1940: "We have no doubt about your bravery or devotion to your fatherland, nor do we believe that you are the monster described by your opponents," wrote Gandhi.
"But your own writings and pronouncements and those of your friends and admirers leave no room for doubt that many of your acts are monstrous and unbecoming of human dignity, especially in the estimation of men like me who believe in universal friendliness."

8. Gandhiji was not present during Nehru’s tryst of destiny speech to celebrate independence.

B'coz, He was in Kolkata fasting for religious harmony.(Those are the days of extreme violence and clashes between Hindus and Muslims). So, Gandhi decided to fast unto death until clashes were stopped between Hindus and Muslims.

9. Most relics of Gandhiji including the clothes he wore when he was shot are still preserved in Gandhi Museum, Madurai.

10. He was thinking of dissolving the Congress a day before he died.


11. Steve Jobs was a fan of Mahatma Gandhi – his round glasses are not only similar but also a tribute.



12. Gandhiji had a set of false teeth, which he carried in a fold of his loin cloth.

13. There are 53 major roads (excluding the smaller ones) in India, and 48 roads outside India that are named after him.

14. Gandhiji helped establish 3 football clubs in Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg all of which were given the same name: Passive Resisters Soccer Club.

Mahatma Gandhi promoted football in his non-violent campaign against racial discrimination. 
15.The United Nations announced October 2 as the day of international day of Ahimsa.

16. At 13, Gandhi, whose father was the “diwan,” or chief minister, of a series of small princely states in western India, wed Kasturba Makanji (1869-1944),It was an arranged marriage, and Gandhi had been engaged to Kasturba since he was seven. The couple went on to have four sons. Even when Gandhi took a vow of celibacy in 1906 for reasons of spirituality, self-discipline and commitment to public service, his wife remained married to him until her death at age 74. She died at the Aga Khan Palace in present-day Pune.


  • Live as if you were to die tomorrow.” Throughout his life Mahatma Gandhi did things that were inspirational, things that nobody thought he could do and made sure that he lived up to this line said by him. - MG
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