Kirti Mandir

Getting there

• By air

  Porbandar Airport, a public airport, is in Porbandar itself.

• By train

  Porbandar lies on the Western Railway network.

• By road

  Porbandar is on National Highway 8-B.

Rules to know

• Floral garlands are not offered at the paintings, because Gandhi did not want to be deified.

Why devotees come here

Kirti Mandir is a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba Gandhi in Porbandar, Gujarat. It is the main tourist attraction of the town, and its design brings together many faiths. The memorial was built after Gandhi's death and rises 79 feet.

Kirti Mandir honours Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and his wife Kasturba. The memorial stands in Porbandar, the town where Gandhi was born. Porbandar city is the administrative headquarters of Porbandar district, on the Kathiawar peninsula.

The ancestral house of the Gandhi family, where Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869, is just next to the memorial. The foundation stone was laid in 1947, during Gandhi's lifetime, by Darbar Gopaldas Desai. The memorial was completed in 1950, after Gandhi's death. Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel inaugurated it on 27 May 1950.

The memorial is 79 feet tall, one foot for each year of Gandhi's life. Its architecture mixes features of Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Parsi temples with those of churches and mosques. Life-size oil paintings of Gandhi and Kasturba hang side by side in the centre of the building.

Tips for your visit

• The ancestral house of the Gandhi family, where Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869, is just next to the memorial.
• Sudama Mandir, a temple to Krishna's childhood friend Sudama, is a spiritual stop among Porbandar's nearby attractions.
• Barda Wildlife Sanctuary, also nearby, has lush forests where you can see a variety of wildlife.

Questions people ask