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Mahatma Gandhi Memorial, the intersection of Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Q St., N.W., and 21st St., N.W., Washington, DC 20008.
Permanent memorial, dedicated Sept. 16, 2000. Free. Sculpture, 8 ft. 8 in. high. Pedestal, 9 ft. long, 7 ft. wide, 3 ft. 4 in. high. Gautam Pal, sculptor; A+E Collective, architects.
Internet: description of memorial, photographs, related links, http://www .indianembassy.org/gandhi/index.html.
In the spring of 1945, Denton J. Brooks, an African American reporter for the Chicago Defender, arranged a brief interview with Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Using the respectful but familiar "Gandhiji," Brooks asked, "Is there any special message you would care to send to the Negro people of America?" Gandhi replied, "My life is its own message "(Chicago Defender, June 10, 1945; reprinted in Raghavan Iyer, ed., The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, 2005, pp. 40-41). These words, shortened to "my life is my message," adorn the front of the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial in Washington, D.C. Carved beneath "Mahatma Gandhi" and the dates, "1869-1948," those five words speak to the promise and the challenge of the Gandhi Memorial-to communicate in stone and space the multiple meanings of a long and diverse life.
At the center or the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial, an eight foot eight inch tall Gandhi strides forward, walking stick in hand. Atop a large, red granite block, Gandhi's statue towers twelve feet in the air, much higher than did the approximately five foot three inch man in life. One side of the statue's pedestal quotes Albert Einstein: "Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth." The sheer size of the statue might ironically help realize Einstein's prophecy. One key detail, however, invests the monument with humanity, reminding the viewer that Gandhi did "in flesh and blood" walk upon this earth. The statue's face looks down. As a result, a visitor can look up to meet Gandhi's gaze.
The sculptor, Gautam Pal, explained, "I consulted several photographs to get the exact determined expression on his face." (Savera R. Someshwa, "The Mahatma's Sculptor," Sept. 18, 2000, Rediff, http://www.rediff.com/news/2000/sep/18pmus2.htm)....