Swaraj Bhavan

Swaraj Bhavan, Allahabad

Mahatma Gandhi attends a Congress Working Committee meeting at Swaraj Bhavan , Vallabhbhai Patel to the left, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit to the right, January 1940.

Swaraj Bhavan (formerly Anand Bhavan) is a large mansion located in Allahabad, India. It was owned by Indian political leader Motilal Nehru in the 19th century, it has served as the ancestral home of the Nehru-Gandhi Family — future Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi was born there. The First Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru was however not born in Anand Bhawan.^[1]

It is managed by the 'Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund', Delhi.

History

In 1900, Motilal Nehru, a prominent lawyer, bought a palatial residence at 1 Church Road, Allahabad, for a sum of 19,000 Rupees. The house was in complete disrepair, but the estate was huge. Extensive renovation work was carried out over the next decade. Motilal used his frequent visits to Europe to buy the choicest furniture and china. He turned the mansion into a veritable palace, ‘an elaborate replica of an English country estate … bifurcated between East and West’, with a retinue of almost a hundred people in the house. Motilal called the house Anand Bhavan (lit. Abode of happiness).

Motilal Nehru was a prominent member of the Indian National Congress Party. Due to this, lot of noted leaders and party activists would visit the “Nehru House”. Following the rise of Motilal's son, Jawaharlal Nehru, the mansion virtually became the center of the Indian independence movement. It was informally the headquarters of the All India Congress Committee in the 1920s before it was donated by Motilal Nehru to the Indian National Congress in 1930, to serve as the party's official headquarters in the region. The Nehrus built another house next to the old one and named that Anand Bhavan; the old house was renamed Swaraj Bhavan (lit. Abode of freedom).

Now, the Swaraj Bhavan premise conducts classes to teach arts and crafts to children.

A light and sound programme is also organized here. There are four shows every day.

References

External links

• Anand Bhawan
• "The Mystery Mansion" by David Lelyveld

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