Image: Mahatma Gandhi spinning. Wikimedia Commons.

Khadi became one of the most recognisable symbols associated with Mahatma Gandhi. For Gandhi, the hand-spun and hand-woven cloth represented more than clothing: it was connected to rural employment, self-reliance and the boycott of imported textiles.

Why Gandhi promoted spinning

Gandhi believed village industries could provide productive work to rural households. Spinning was simple enough to be incorporated into everyday life and could be practised alongside other occupations.

Khadi and the freedom movement

During the Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience eras, khadi became associated with the nationalist boycott of foreign cloth. Gandhi encouraged Congress workers and supporters to wear and promote it.

The charkha

The spinning wheel became a visual symbol of Gandhi’s constructive programme. It appeared in nationalist imagery and became closely associated with his public identity.

Economic and social ideas

Gandhi connected khadi with decentralised village production and a critique of economic dependence. The Gandhi Heritage Portal preserves extensive writings on khadi and village industries.

Khadi after independence

Khadi continued to have a place in India’s public and economic life after independence. Jawaharlal Nehru later described khadi as connected with village industries and a sense of common endeavour. citeturn0search11

Explore Gandhi’s writings through the Gandhi Heritage Portal and NewsNationOnline’s Non-Cooperation Movement article.

Imran Siddiqui

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