PoliticsNational and Dravidian movements

Gandhi adopts the loincloth at Madurai

· Madurai

Gandhi adopts the loincloth at Madurai
Karthikeyan Balasundaram, CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

During a tour of the Madras Presidency, Mahatma Gandhi gave up his full attire and began wearing only a loincloth at Madurai.

While travelling through Tamil areas during the Non-cooperation Movement, Mahatma Gandhi decided at Madurai to wear only a simple loincloth. He said he wished to identify with the poor who could not afford more clothing. The decision became a lasting symbol of his politics. The Gandhi Memorial Museum in Madurai later preserved items associated with him.

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