One met mahatmas at Benares and Buddh Gaya, but one did not associate them with politics. Mahatmas appear at séances-or they did in Madame Blavatsky's time and it was rightly concluded that their occult powers were acquired by the practice of an asceticism understood only in the East. In 2002, the piece was reset on a more naturalistic stone base and the landscaped area around the monument, known as Gandhi Gardens, was expanded and improved.To the Western mind, uninitiated in the Hindu religion or Indian politics, the title Mahatma has, until quite recently, carried with it a spiritualistic significance. In 2001, Parks conserved the statue after it had been removed temporarily to facilitate the construction of a water main beneath the site. After its installation the monument became an instant pilgrimage site, with an annual ceremony taking place on Gandhi's birthday, October 2. Clad in sandals and a cotton dhoti, Gandhi’s dress illustrates his Hindu asceticism as well as his support for Indian industries. The champion of nonviolent protest and Indian independence from Britain, arguably one of the most important figures of the 20th century, is seen here grasping a staff in his right hand, looking towards a point on the horizon, and walking forward. Murjani of Murjani International, Ltd., was installed at Union Square because of the tradition of protest associated with the park. The monument, donated by the Gandhi Memorial International Foundation and underwritten by Mohan B.
Noted civil rights leader Bayard Rustin (1912–1987) was the keynote speaker at the dedication.
After its dedication on October 2, 1986, the 117th anniversary of Gandhi’s birth, the sculpture joined monuments to Washington, Lafayette, and Lincoln in Union Square Park as a quartet of works devoted to defenders of freedom.
This bronze sculpture depicting Mohandas Gandhi (1869–1948) was sculpted by Kantilal B.
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