Mahatma Gandhi , he stands for all things great about our country. His principles, strength of character and simplicity make us proud of him. We lovingly call him Bapu and when we think of him the image that comes to our mind is a simple ,kind old man wearing simple clothes - a mere loin dhothi.
Mahatma Gandhi did not dress like this always.He was one of the few Indians who got educated in England during the pre-independence time. He wore western clothes or traditional Gujarathi clothes(long turbans, kurta and dhoti).
In the year 1921 Mahatma Gandhi visited Madurai, and stayed in the residence of Sri Ramji Kalyanji 175 A West Masi street. On his way to Madurai he had seen farmers and poor people wearing the simplest of clothes , a small towel like dhoti around their waist(Some he was told washed and wore the same clothes as they did not possess any other) .He was much disturbed and was haunted all through the night by the scenes that he had witnessed . Overnight he took a decision to dress in a simple way just like so many of the people of his beloved country. He started to dress in this new way from the very next day much to the surprise of everyone present. He explained to them about his decision and attended the meetings in Madurai.He continued to dress this way through out his life.