Date: 16 January 2019
Venue: Prayagraj
Anand Bhavan and we go back a long way. Our late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi passed away when we were in school. This led to a spurt of essays on her and we came to know about Anand Bhavan in Allahabad as Mrs. Gandhi’s childhood home. Motilal Nehru, father to our first Prime Minister Jawaharalal Nehru and Indira Gandhi’s grandfather, had bought the mansion Anand Bhavan as his family residence. This mansion made its grand place in history as it became the local headquarter for Indian National Congress and saw many luminaries such as Gandhiji and like spend time here. Anand Bhavan was later passed on to the Indian Government and is now a museum.
During our recent Kumbh 2019 trip to Allahabad, we had made it a point to take out time and visit Anand Bhavan. It is quite in the heart of the city and is open on all days except Monday. The complex houses Anand Bhavan, a museum on Nehru family and the freedom movement; Swaraj Bhavan which is a display of photographs on the life of Indira Gandhi; and the Jawahar Planetarium. There are sprawling lawns surrounding the area.
Anand Bhavan is a two-storey museum with display of personal effects and rooms and furniture used by Motilal Nehru till Indira Gandhi. The colonial Burma teak book shelves, study tables and recliners are a vintage designer’s delight. Photographs of the Nehru – Gandhi family as well as various leaders of our Independence movement were displayed all over the premise. A book shop is also housed here.
The Swaraj Bhavan is connected to Anand Bhavan through a gate. This had photographs throughout the life and times of Indira Gandhi. No surprise, she was named “Woman of the Millennium” in an online poll by BBC.
The Anand Bhavan museums are not stuffy. Given that there is so much engaging display and relatable history around you, it gives goose bumps off and on. No wonder, it was already 3 hours that we had spent here and closing time for the complex. Consequently, we missed out on the Jawahar Planetarium this time. But there is more to do in Allahabad that we have left for the next trip. Jawahar Planetarium in Anand Bhavan is going to be one of them.
Timing: 9.30 to 5 pm
TIckets: Rs. 70/-
Great information. Thanks for sharing.
This is really nice to know, you never know when you may need this information.
What a stunning museum! I love visiting museums in new countries I am visiting!
This is a stunning looking building! It must be a good one if you managed to lose so much time looking at the displays 🙂
Wow what an incredible looking place with such history. It sounds like somewhere I would really love to go myself and check out all they have on display.
This must be an amazing experience – I would love to visit. Learning about the history of a place is one of my favourite things to do.
What a gorgeous building. I would love to visit a place like this one day.
I love museums and their history, indeed. Too much to learn in each of them and this one in particular. A woman who works harder for a country and tried to eradicate poverty.
What a beautiful place and knowing is where Indhira Gandhi lived are even more special I admired her a lot. When traveling love to visit landmarks and historical places like this. Thanks for the information hoping one day I can viist.
Oh wow, this place looks incredible, with such an interesting history. It would be nice to visit the museum one day.