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{{Short description|Village in Maharashtra}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Sevagram
| other_name =
| settlement_type = town
| image_skyline = Adi Nivas, Sewagram Ashram.JPG
| image_alt =
| image_caption = Adi Nivas, the first residence of Mahatma Gandhi in Sevagram Ashram.
| nickname =
| image_map =
| map_alt =
| map_caption =
| pushpin_map = India Maharashtra#India
| pushpin_label_position = right
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption =
| coordinates = {{coord|20|44|10|N|78|39|45|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = India
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Maharashtra]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[List of districts of India|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Wardha District|Wardha]]
| established_title = 
| established_date =
| founder =
| named_for =
| government_type =
| governing_body =
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =
| area_rank =
| area_total_km2 =
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m =
| population_total = 8000
| population_as_of = 2011
| population_rank =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym =
| population_footnotes =
| demographics_type1 = Languages
| demographics1_title1 = Official
| demographics1_info1 = [[Marathi language|Marathi]]
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type = [[Postal Index Number|PIN]]
| postal_code = 442 102
| area_code_type = Telephone code
| area_code = 91 7152
| registration_plate = MH-32
| blank1_name_sec1 = Nearest city
| blank1_info_sec1 = Wardha
| blank2_name_sec1 = [[Lok Sabha]] constituency
| blank2_info_sec1 = Wardha
| blank3_name_sec1 = [[Vidhan Sabha]] constituency
| blank3_info_sec1 = Wardha
| website = {{URL|maharashtra.gov.in}}
| footnotes =
}}

'''Sevagram''' (meaning "A town for/of service") is the name of a town in the state of [[Maharashtra]], India. It was the place of [[Mahatma Gandhi|Mahatma Gandhi's]] ashram and his residence from 1936 to his death in 1948.<ref>{{cite web|title=The History of Sevagram Ashram|url=http://www.gandhiashramsevagram.org/|website=gandhiashramsevagram.org/|publisher=The Gandhi Ashram at Sevagram – Official website|access-date=17 June 2014}}</ref>

== Overview ==
Sevagram, originally Segaon, is a small village, located about 8 km from [[Wardha]]. [[Gandhi]] set up what eventually became an [[ashram]] in the outskirts of the village.<ref>Venugopal Maddipati, "Nothingness as Scaffolding for Being: Gandhi, Madeline Slade, Architecture and the Humanisation of Sacrifice's Massive Ecological Existence, Segaon, 1936–37" https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00856401.2018.1433445</ref> Seth [[Jamnalal Bajaj]] of Wardha, a disciple of Gandhi, made available to the ashram about 300 acres (1.2 km<sup>2</sup>) of land.<ref name=bajaj>{{cite web|title=Paramdham Ashram|url=http://www.jamnalalbajajfoundation.org/wardha/paramdham_ashram|website=jamnalalbajajfoundation.org|publisher=The Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation|access-date=17 June 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140526024652/http://www.jamnalalbajajfoundation.org/wardha/paramdham_ashram|archive-date=26 May 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Near the ashram there is a museum where artifacts of India's freedom struggle are preserved.

== History ==
When [[Gandhi]] started his [[Dandi March|padayatra (foot march)]] in 1930 from [[Sabarmati Ashram]] to Ahmedabad for the [[Salt Satyagraha]], he decided not to return to Sabarmati till India achieved independence. Gandhi was imprisoned for more than two years. On his release he spent sometime travelling around India. He decided to make a village in Central India his headquarters.<ref>Venugopal Maddipati, "An Architecture of Finitude," Gandhi and Architecture: A Time for Low-Cost Housing (Oxon: Routledge, 2020): https://www.academia.edu/42743173/Gandhi_and_Architecture_A_Time_for_Low_Cost_Housing_The_Philosophy_of_Finitude_Forthcoming_July_2020_</ref> He came to Wardha in 1934, at the invitation of his follower and industrialist, [[Jamnalal Bajaj]] and stayed in one of the rooms at Jamnalal's bungalow (Bajajwadi)<ref>{{cite web|title=Bajajwadi|url=http://www.jamnalalbajajfoundation.org/wardha/bajajwadi|website=jamnalalbajajfoundation.org|publisher=The Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation|access-date=17 June 2014}}</ref> at [[Wardha]] and in the Prarthana mandir of Mahila Ashram for sometime.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Desai|first1=Mahadev|title=Day To Day With Gandhi|date=1968|publisher=Sarva Seva Sangh Prakashan|location=Wardha|url=https://archive.org/details/daytodaywithgand02maha|access-date=17 June 2014}}</ref>

In April 1936, Gandhiji established his residence in a village called Segaon<ref>{{cite web|title=About Sevagram|url=http://www.jamnalalbajajfoundation.org/wardha/sevagram|website=jamnalalbajajfoundation.org|publisher=The Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation|access-date=17 June 2014}}</ref> at the outskirts of Wardha, which he renamed as Sevagram, which means 'village of service'. Gandhiji was 67 years old when he came to Sevagram. The small homes which were built in the ashram for Gandhi and Kasturba, and his followers were similar to the typical village homes.<ref>Venugopal Maddipati, "Architecture as Weak Thought: Gandhi Inhabits Nothingness," Marg volume on Gandhi and Aesthetics pp. 44-51 https://www.academia.edu/41833717/Architecture_as_Weak_Thought_Gandhi_Inhabits_Nothingness_Gandhi_and_Aesthetics</ref> The ashram employed some [[harijan]]s in the common kitchen to break the [[caste]] barrier. [[Vinoba Bhave]]'s Param Dham Ashram is located on the banks of the Dhaam river close by. Many decisions on important national matters and movements were taken at Sevagram. It became the central place for a number of institutions for the nation building activities devised by Gandhiji to suit the inherent strength of this country.

Sevagram is 8 km from Wardha town in Maharashtra and 75 km from Nagpur. In spite of many practical difficulties, Gandhiji decided to settle here. Though he did not have any intentions of keeping anybody with him except his wife [[Kasturba]], pressure of work necessitated more colleagues with him till Sevagram Ashram became a full-fledged institution. There were no facilities at Sevagram, not even a post or telegraph office. The letters used to be brought from Wardha. There was another village in this region named Shegaon, made famous by the residence of Saint [[Gajanan Maharaj]]. So, Gandhiji's letters used to get misdirected. Therefore, it was decided in 1940 to rename this village as Sevagram<ref>[http://www.gandhiashramsevagram.org/ Official website of Gandhiji in Sewagram], ''Sevagram and Mahatma Gandhi''</ref> or 'the village of service'.

== Transport ==
Sevagram is well connected by rail and bus. [[Sevagram railway station]] is 6 km from the main village. Previously the station was named as Wardha East railway station. Sevagram is a station on the [[Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line]]. Also most trains from the north towards south and east towards west pass through this route. Warud station is nearer but few trains stop there. The closest airport is situated around 55 km away in Nagpur.

== Education ==
Sevagram is home to the first rural medical college in India, the [https://www.mgims.ac.in Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences], and an engineering college, [http://www.bdce.edu.in Bapurao Deshmukh College of Engineering] which is also run by a rural trust.

==See also==
* [[Tolstoy Farm]]
* [[Kochrab Ashram]]
* [[Sabarmati Ashram]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.mkgandhi.org/sevagram/default.htm The Sevagram Ashram] – An introduction to Sevagram Ashram established by Mahatma Gandhi and its message
* http://www.gandhiashramsevagram.org – Official Website of Gandhi Ashram, Sevagram, Wardha

{{Mohandas K. Gandhi}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Wardha district]]
[[Category:Indian independence movement in Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Mahatma Gandhi]]

Sevagram - Revision history

->ClueBot NG: Reverting possible vandalism by 182.156.99.119 to version by Tom.Reding. Report False Positive? Thanks, ClueBot NG. (4050219) (Bot)