Mahatma Gandhi's glasses, prayer book up for auction

London, April 2 (IANS) Mahatma Gandhi's round-lensed spectacles, a personal prayer book and the soil upon which he fell when he was assassinated are among an incredible lot of items that will be sold at an auction in Britain.

Gandhi was shot at point-blank range Jan 30, 1948 and moments later a bystander, P.P. Nambiar, collected the dirt and some blades of grass from where he had falled.

Also on auction sale is a series of letters from Gandhi that spell out his philosophy. The spectacles were bought by Gandhi when he was studying law in London in the 1890s.

They are all to go for auction along with numerous other personal items where they are expected to fetch up to 80,000 pounds, Daily Mail reported Sunday.

The archive has been consigned by a collector along with detailed provenance and is being sold by Mullock's auction house in Ludlow, Shropshire, April 17.

His prayer book for sale is written in his native Gujrati language and there are some important hand-written letters, some signed with as Bapu.

Another item includes Gandhi's charkha that he had with him when he travelled to London for the second Round Table Conference in 1931, the Mail said.