Housed in a 17th-century Nayak queen's palace, this impressive museum contains a moving, comprehensive account of Gandhi's life and India’s struggle for independence from 1757 to 1947; the English-language displays spare no detail about British rule. They include the blood-stained dhoti that Gandhi was wearing when he was assassinated in Delhi in 1948; it was here in Madurai, in 1921, that he first took up wearing the dhoti as a sign of native pride.
The small Madurai Government Museum is next door, and the Gandhian Literature Society Bookshop behind. Buses 3, 66, 75 and 700 from the Periyar Bus Stand go to the Tamukkam bus stop on Alagarkoil Rd, 600m west of the museum.
