Published On Sat Jan 30 2010
Sixty-two years after his assassination, some of Mahatma Gandhi's ashes, held in secret for decades by a family friend, are scattered at sea off the city of Durban on Jan. 30, 2010.
RAJESH JANTILAL
Six decades after his death Saturday, some of Mohandas K. Gandhi’s ashes were scattered off the coast of South Africa, where he was confronted by racial discrimination during a 21-year sojourn and developed some of his philosophies of peaceful resistance.
An early morning service in a harbour in the eastern city of Durban on the 62nd anniversary of Gandhi’s death included the laying of flowers and candles on the water’s surface.
Gandhi, known as the Mahatma or “great soul,” was shot dead by a Hindu hard-liner in 1948 in New Delhi. His ashes were divided, stored in steel urns and sent across India and beyond for memorial services. It was not unusual for some of the ashes to have been preserved instead of scattered as intended.http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/758151--mahatma-gandhi-s-ashes-scattered-off-south-africa
Memories of Gandhi's life in other countries and causes accompany his ashes even to this date. That is an amazing legacy: remembrance of his life, times, and death. There are people new to this information who have the Internet to look up archival news material and images of him.
An article from India about Gandhi's ashes and the ceremonies for their placement in the water:
62 years after his death, Gandhi's ashes immersed, off Durban
PTI
Saturday, January 30, 2010 16:51 IST
DURBAN: Sixty-two years after Mahatma Gandhis's assassination, ashes of the apostle of peace, preserved by a family friend, were finally immersed in theIndian Ocean off the South African coast today.
"It was a beautiful ceremony attended by more than 200 people," Ela Gandhi, granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, who led the sacred ritual, said.
The Indian Ocean was chosen for the solemn event as it links the two countries on which he had such a profound influence, she said.
And the day chosen for today's historic ceremony happened to be January 30, the granddaughter said, which marks Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary.http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_62-years-after-his-death-gandhi-s-ashes-immersed-off-durban_1341145
Not often that I read of cremated ashes being divided among many people, kin and kith alike.
