All-religion prayer meet at Sabarmati Ashram on Gandhi Jayanti

An all-religion prayer meet was organised at the Sabarmati Ashram here on Friday morning on the occasion of 151st birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi with only a handful of people attending the event due to the coronavirus outbreak. In view of the pandemic, only a limited number of Ashram residents attended the prayer meet held in premises of the Sabarmati Ashram, also called the Gandhi Ashram, said its director Atul Pandya.

The Ashram, currently closed for visitors due to the pandemic, was the home of Mahatma Gandhi between 1917 and 1930 and closely linked with India's freedom struggle. It is managed by the Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust. "We have an old tradition of organising an all- religion prayer meet on Gandhi Jayanti. Normally, citizens and students are invited to attend it.

"But this time, due to coronavirus, only a few Ashram residents were allowed to attend the prayer meet," said Pandya. He said all COVID-19-related protocols and social distancing norms were followed at the prayer meet and no other event was scheduled at the Ashram on Friday. The trust website telecast the prayer meet live so that others could attend it virtually, he said.