Gandhi manuscript fetches Rs 16.2 crore at Saffronart, sets world auction record
A manuscript of Mahatma Gandhi's 'A Thought of the Day' has sold for a record-breaking Rs 16.2 crore at an auction. The collection provides deep insights into Gandhi's personal life and his relationship with his disciple Anand T Hingorani.
Why it matters
The sale underscores the immense historical and financial value placed on artifacts related to significant global political figures.
A thought for the day isn’t just a WhatsApp forward; it can be worth a fortune if it’s written in Bapu’s hand. On Wednesday, Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘A Thought of the Day’ sold for Rs 16.2 crore ($1.7 million) at a Saffronart auction, setting a world record for an Indian historical document.Written over 23 months, A Thought of the Day comprises 688 dated reflections by Gandhi for his confidant, disciple, and publisher, Anand T Hingorani. The manuscript, offered as lot 80, emerged as the highest-valued work in the auction. Spanning more than two decades, Hingorani’s archive brought together personal correspondence, handwritten reflections, photographs, and objects such as a peti charkha that document not only defining moments in India's freedom struggle, but also the friendship, mentorship and deeply personal exchanges between Gandhi and HingoraniDinesh Vazirani, co-founder of Saffronart, said the Hingorani collection was a remarkable record of Gandhi’s life and thought.
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