‘Gandhi For Tomorrow’ Theme Park To Rise In India

Jesus has one, Stalin has one and Napoleon’s will open soon. Now Mahatma Gandhi, too, will have his own dedicated theme park.

An official presentation on “Gandhi for Tomorrow,” which is based on Gandhian ideology and thoughts, took place in Mumbai on Jan. 17, and officials in charge of the project said it’s slated to rise in Sewagram, the town where Gandhi stayed for six years after the Dandi March. Located in the heart of India about eight hours north of Hyderabad, the first phase of the theme park will cover 10 acres of land and be developed at an estimated cost of $11.5 million, according to the Times of India.

The developers, Adarkar Associates, hope the new educational park will become a major tourist attraction for the largely rural area. It will be built on land adjacent to Gandhi’s Sewagram Ashram and reportedly showcase how Gandhi was in favor of “appropriate and useful” technology and not against it (as is often claimed).

Attached to the park will be a new $17.7 million international convention center to include accommodation, an auditorium and a learning center for anyone wishing to study the Gandhian model of rural India.

The Hindustan Times reports that a total of 27 places will be developed, including centers for arts, culture and technology, and a “heritage walk.” The facilities will be designed similar to centers set up in honor of anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela and America’s 16^th president, Abraham Lincoln.

Born Mohandas Karamchand in 1869, Gandhi became the pre-eminent leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India. Through his signature non-violent civil disobedience, he led India to independence and inspired several other 20^th century civil rights and freedom movements around the world. He was assassinated in 1948 in New Delhi by a Hindu nationalist who resented what he considered Gandhi’s partiality to India’s Muslims.