New Delhi: Indian President Pratibha Patil, Vice-President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday led the nation in paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his 141st birth anniversary.
The president, the vice-president, the prime minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi laid floral wreaths at Rajghat — the memorial to the Mahatma on the banks of the Yamuna.
All of them observed a minute's silence at the blackstone memorial.
Among the other early visitors were US ambassador Timothy Roemer and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders L.K. Advani and Sushma Swaraj.
Rajghat was also visited by a large number of people including schoolchildren, some of who sang devotional songs and offered flowers at the memorial.
"I've been coming here for three years to pay homage to Bapu," said Mo'en Ahmad, a Class 8 student of Kendriya Vidyalaya in Gole Market area in New Delhi.
Day of non-violence
Rajghat was decorated with flowers as the Mahatma's favourite devotional song "Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram" played in the background.
The birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi is celebrated across the country with reverence. It is also marked as the International Day of Non-violence.
Gandhi, born this day in 1869 at Porbandar in Gujarat, played a key role in India's independence struggle. He was assassinated on January 30, 1948, by extremist Hindu nationalists.
