Aga Khan Palace, National monument palace in Kalyani Nagar, Pune, India
Aga Khan Palace is a palace building with Indo-Saracenic architecture in Kalyani Nagar, Pune, India. The structure combines high columns, arches and elaborate pediments with a large garden that spreads around the property and offers open lawns and shaded pathways.
Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III built the palace over five years with about 100,000 workers, at a cost of roughly 1.2 million rupees, to give famine-hit villagers of the Pune area employment. From 9 August 1942 to 6 May 1944 it held Mahatma Gandhi, Kasturba Gandhi and Mahadev Desai during the Quit India Movement. Aga Khan IV donated it to the Indian people in 1969.
The Gandhi Museum inside the palace displays photographs, personal items, and artifacts documenting the Indian independence movement and Gandhi's life.
The grounds are open daily and offer visitors the chance to explore the memorial sites, museum, and outdoor areas. Ceremonies are held on specific national holidays that commemorate important moments in Indian history.
Three octagonal marble samadhis stand in a walled enclosure with marble flooring: those of Kasturba Gandhi and Mahadev Desai, who died in captivity, and one built in 1992 for a portion of Mahatma Gandhi's ashes. Morning prayers have been held at the samadhi daily for decades.
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