Mahatma Gandhi’s 688 handwritten messages to grieving friend sell for record £1.2m

Shahana YasminSat, August 22, 2026 at 4:52 AM UTC

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A collection of 688 handwritten reflections by Mahatma Gandhi has sold for £1.2m at an auction in India, setting a record for an Indian historical document sold at auction.

The handwritten messages were addressed to Anand T Hingorani, a close associate of Gandhi and a fellow participant in India’s independence movement.

They were written over almost two years, from 20 November 1944 to 10 October 1946, and were later compiled into a book called A Thought for the Day, according to auction house Saffronart.

The circumstances in which they were written were deeply personal; Hingorani’s wife Vidya had died, and he shared his loneliness and grief with Gandhi while undergoing nature-cure treatment for deafness, according to the Hingorani family.

Gandhi responded by writing him a thought each day, turning a private act of consolation into one of the most extensive surviving records of their relationship.

“Gandhi responded by setting aside time each day to write a personal thought. What began as a personal exchange soon evolved into a collaborative project,” Minal Vazirani, co-founder and president of Saffronart, told The Indian Express.

The handwritten messages were addressed to Anand T Hingorani, a close associate of Gandhi and a fellow participant in India’s independence movement. They were written over almost two years, and were later compiled into a book called A Thought for the Day (Saffronart)

“While Gandhi authored each reflection, Hingorani became the recipient, organiser and transcriber, ultimately preparing the writings for publication,” she said.

The 688 entries cover many of the subjects that occupied Gandhi throughout his life, including truth, ahimsa or non-violence, brahmacharya (self-control), non-possession, fearlessness, religious equality, prayer, service, labour, duty, silence, conscience, self-realisation and the search for God.

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A group of nine letters from 1930 and 1931 concerns Anand and Vidya Hingorani’s marriage, including parental opposition, financial independence, reconciliation within the family and Gandhi’s views on self-restraint and domestic obligations.

The wider collection was preserved by the Hingorani family across generations and was offered as an 86-lot sale by Saffronart under the title Gandhi: From the Collection of Anand T Hingorani.

The 688 entries cover many of the subjects that occupied Gandhi throughout his life, including truth, ahimsa or non-violence, brahmacharya, fearlessness, religious equality, prayer, labour, self-realisation, and the search for God (Saffronart)

The reflections, which were the auction’s standout lot, had been estimated at Rs 150m (£1.1m) to Rs 250m (£1.9m) before the sale and eventually fetched Rs 162m (£1.2m). Saffronart said the result set a world record for an Indian historical document sold at auction.

Among the other notable lots was Message on God, a group of three manuscript and correspondence items documenting Gandhi’s reflections on God and the Bhagavad Gita, which sold for Rs 16.8m (£128,518). His peti charkha, a portable box spinning wheel, accompanied by two letters about the spiritual discipline of spinning, fetched Rs 10.2m (£78,040).

A signed presentation photograph of Gandhi writing fetched Rs 7.8m (£59,678m), while a collection of his letters, telegrams and postcards relating to economic independence sold for Rs 5.8m (£44,376m).

Gandhi’s peti charkha, a portable box spinning wheel, along with two letters about the spiritual discipline of spinning, sold for Rs 10.2m (Saffronart)

“What makes this collection particularly compelling is the opportunity to see one of the most significant figures in India’s history through the lens of a close, personal relationship,” Dinesh Vazirani, co-founder of Saffronart, said in a statement.

He added that the reflections showed “how Gandhi lived the principles he advocated publicly”, describing them as a valuable record of his “thought and practice”.

The buyer has not been identified publicly; Saffronart has confirmed they are from within India, and the manuscript will remain in the country.

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Source: “AOL Money”