Many years after his death, the descendents of Mahatma Gandhi are still struggling to fulfill his last rites. It was 60 years last month since he was slain by a Hindu radical named Nathuram Godse*. The murder took place on 30th January 1948.

After his death, it appears that the Mahatma’s ashes were separated and came into the hands of many different individuals and organizations, which preserved the ashes with reverence.

However it is the view of Gandhi’s family that he wanted his funeral done the traditional Hindu way, with the ashes scattered into a river, just like any other Hindu. Hence they’ve been trying to take back all of his earthly remains from keepers around the world.

On the 30th January just passed, on the 60th anniversary of the Mahatma’s death, a gathering of 11 of his descendents scattered some remains of his ashes into the Arabian Sea, of the coast of Mumbai. It was his great-granddaughter, Nilima Parikh, who performed the scattering of the ashes.

It was previously believed by the descendents of Mahatma Gandhi that the last remaining part of his earthly remains had been scattered into the sea by them in 1997, but they found out relatively recently that there are several other keepers who they did not know about previously. The present ceremony which took place on the 30th January was performed with ashes handed over by the son of an ex-governor of Gujarat, Sriman Narayan, who had been in possession of them since 1948.

It is now believed that many other urns of the Mahatma exist around the world, only two of which are known for sure, these being in an ashram in Los Angeles and one in the Aga Khan palace in south India.

The administrators of the ashram in Los Angeles have been approached to hand over the urn, or to immerse it in the sea, but have expressed their reluctance to do so.

"This is the first time we are hearing about the matter. There is no way we can respond in an immediate way on something we have had in our possession all along," said Self Realisation Fellowship spokeswoman Lauren Landress.

The urn is presently kept in the Mahatma Gandhi World Peace Memorial, at the headquarters of the Self-Realisation Fellowship, an organization set up by the Hindu yogi Paramhansa Yogananda. Yogananda, who authored the widely read “Autobiography of a Yogi” had been a close friend of the Mahatma in the latter part of both of their lives.

*Nathuram Godse’s speech in court, in which he justifies his deed, is freely available in books and on the web. So if you are curious or want to know the killers rationale for what he did, follow the link.

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