29th January 2017
Johannesburg: The newly appointed Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Mr Ngodup Dorjee visited Gandhi’s Tolstoy Farm located south west of Johannesburg near Lenasia township, to participate in the opening ceremony of Mahatma Gandhi Remembrance Garden and All Faith Prayer Meeting. The event was organised by the Indian High Commission and the Consulate General of Johannesburg to commemorate MARTYRDOM DAY OF MAHATMA GANDHI.
Tolstoy Farm which was owned by one of Gandhi’s supporters, Herman Kallenbach, was a community started by Gandhi in Transvaal, which is now called Gauteng Province, South Africa, in 1910. It became the headquarters of the campaign of Satyagraha which he led at that time and his conception of three Rs as training for the children of families who lived with him.
The farm still has a touch of wilderness and no access road till few years ago. An unpaved road from Lawley railway station leads to the farm in the midst of bushes and trees.
After Gandhi left South Africa in 1914, there had been many changes of hands in the ownership of the farm and original buildings went into disrepair. What is left of the original building is only the foundations.
The present owner of the farm, Corbrick, has given around three and half acres of the land for the Indian community to develop as Gandhi Memorial Garden. Over the years, many attempts had been made by the Indian community to revive it but it did not go very far.
Now with the support of the Indian High Commission and Gandhi Centenary Trust which was formed by the community as the local partner, much progress is being made.
There was renting of prayers by different community members representing Buddhism, Hindu, Islam, Sikhism and Christianity; bhajan singing etc. The program was participated by some of the most prominent members of South African Indian community including Ms Kirti Menon, one of the great granddaughters of Mahatma Gandhi; some of the descendant family members of those who lived with the Gandhi in the farm and many others.
It has been a great opportunity for the Representative to meet with some of most influential members and leaders of South African Indian community.
– Report filed by the Office of Tibet, South Africa –
