wanted to develop Mahatma Mandir as a place of unity and development. Sand was brought in urns by representatives of all 18,066 villages of Gujarat and emptied it in the foundation of the Mahatma Mandir. A time capsule was buried under Mahatma Mandir containing history of state in 2010 at the ground breaking ceremony. It was built by Larsen & Toubro and Shapoorji Pallonji And Company Limited in two phases. Its planning and design is environment friendly. Phase 1 of Mahatma Mandir was constructed in nine months starting from May 2010 to January 2011 at cost of Rs 135 crore. It includes a convention centre, three big exhibition halls and small halls having conferencing facility. Phase 2 includes construction of salt mound memorial, a garden, a suspension bridge, wind mills and development of parking space at cost of Rs 80 crore.
Structures
Convention centre
A convention centre has column free air conditioned halls with capacity to accommodate over 15,000 people at a time. Its theatre style main hall have capacity of 6000 people. Exhibition halls are built over area. It has four seminar halls, seven high tech conference halls and a meeting room. The Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre by The Leela draws inspiration from the life and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi. Spread across 34 acres, it is one of the biggest state-of-art facility in India, uniquely designed to combine a sense of aesthetics, functionality and flexibility. The 20,000 sq.m. of Convention and Exhibition area has an abundance of natural light and airy spaces and is equipped with energy efficient lighting and waste water management. The Leela Gandhinagar which is expected to be completed by early 2019 will be a 300-room 5 star hotel built inside the complex.
Memorial
A memorial dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi was constructed by Shapoorji Pallonji And Company Limited. A suspension bridge is built in memory of the Dandi March. A concrete dome structure is constructed representing salt mound houses a museum, library and research center. A sculpture garden with stone murals depicting the life of Mahatma Gandhi is also developed. A grand spinning wheel, Charkha, is installed also.
Central vista
The and road connecting Mahatma Mandir and Gujarat Legislative Assembly building was constructed. It has three lanes on both side with gardens between them. It is a broadest avenue in Gujarat.
Controversies
356 families of slum dwellers were displaced by project resulted in controversy which later got new facility. Some Gandhians were protested against its construction by arguing that it did not befit philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi.
