Mahatma Gandhi's Visits to Shimla :

“Gandhiji is relevant to people of all ages and class, and will remain so in the years to come.”?

The Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi has a deep connection with Shimla. During the struggle for independence Mahatma Gandhi visited many times in Shimla. Due to being the summer capital of the British, Mahatma Gandhi had to move to Shimla several times for negotiation.
Many important decisions hidden in the womb of history were in Shimla. Mahatma Gandhi made several visits to Shimla in the era of struggle for freedom. He met viceroys on various issues and participated in various meetings in Shimla.

Shimla was very famous as a place among the Britishers during the pre-independence period. As such Shimla remained the summer capital of the nation. During the struggle for freedom, our Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi made several visits to Shimla. Here is a brief detail of Mahatma Gandhi's visits to Shimla.

1. 12th May 1921- On May 12 1921, Mahatma Gandhi came to Shimla in order to have a meeting with the Viceroy.  Mahatma Gandhi came for the first time to  Shimla with  Madan Mohan Malaviya and Lala Lajpat Rai on May 12, 1921, to meet the then Viceroy Lord Reading.He gave a speech to the people in the Id-Gaha Maidan. He stayed in Shimla in Shanti Kutir.

2. Similarly, the Kalka-Shimla rail section has historical importance. Mahatma Gandhi travelled on this section along with Madan Mohan Malaviya and Lala Lajpat Rai May 12, 1921.

3. He visited the residence of James Crerar May 13, 1931, to meet the then home secretary, H.W. Emerson. Ava Lodge, as the place is known, is currently in the possession of the Himachal Pradesh University.

4. During that visit, he stayed in Firgrove, the bungalow of Lala Mohanlal in the Jakhu area. This bungalow is currently occupied by a New Delhi resident and known as 'Firgrove Bhawan'. On May 14 and 15, he addressed a number of meetings at the Arya Samaj Mandir and Idgah.

5. 11th May 1931 to 17th May 1931- In this span of time Mahatma Gandhi had a meeting with Lord Willingdon in Shimla on violation of peace related acts between Indian freedom fighters and British government by British government.

6. 13th July 1931 to 22nd July 1931- Again Mahatma Gandhi visited Shimla from 13th July 1931 to 22nd July 1931 to have a discussion with lord Willingdon.

7. 25th August 1931 to 27 August 1931- Mahatma Gandhi visited Shimla in this span to have a talk with Viceroy and to have a discussion with George Suster in relation to Salt law.

8. 28th June 1940- Mahatma Gandhi visited Shimla on 28th June 1940 to talk in context of Second World War and our nation's favour in that.

9. 27th September 1940 to 30th September 1940- In this visit of Mahatma Gandhi to Shimla, he informed the Viceroy that the war is being forced on the Indian masses.

10. 23rd June 1945 to 17th July 1945- Mahatama Gandhi participated in the Wavell Plan held in Shimla. Shimla conference was held on 25 June 1945. This was an all-party conference in Shimla. A total of 22 representatives participated in it. Although Mahatma Gandhi was not part of this conference, the Viceroy and the Congress Working Committee had consulted him on this. 

11. The main leaders who attended the conference were Jawaharlal Nehru, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Ismail Khan, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, Abul Kalam Azad, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Tara Singh. The conference was unsuccessful due to the Muslim League's insistence.

12. 2nd May 1946 to 14th May 1946- Mahatma Gandhi participated in the Cabinet Mission in Shimla and discussed on Cripps Mission also.

Personal connection :

There was a personal connection with Simla too, it was the residence of his associate of many years, Rajkumari Bibi Amrit Kaur. She was also his secretary for 16 years. In fact he stayed at her house, Manorville, during three of his visits to Shimla, 1940, 1945 and 1946. and met her brother Raja Raghubir Singh too, officially. 

In the 1940s, the aura of Bapu apparently was irresistible especially to the youth, and the chance of actually talking to their hero was an opportunity they could not miss. Every evening Bapu would give a talk in the lawns of Chadwick House, called his prayer meeting where his admirers would hear his discourse and afterwards, if they were lucky, would actually get a chance to even talk to him or touch his feet for a blessing.