रघुपति राघव राजा राम (दांडी यात्रा)

In March–April 1930, Gandhi's marchers walked from Sabarmati to Dandi singing this Ramdhun — a traditional bhajan-dhun recast at the ashram so that Ishwar and Allah share one line. Sung congregationally on the road and at every halt's prayer meeting, it became the satyagraha's sound, broadcast outward by press and, in the years after, by countless recordings and film renderings.

A keherwa-paced dhun of four phrases, built for breath and stride — melody simple enough for thousands, sturdy enough for miles.

The ashram text's genius is one line: 'Ishwar Allah tero naam' — the whole argument of the movement in six words.

The Dandi Salt March began on March 12, 1930, when Gandhi led 78 followers out of Sabarmati Ashram toward the Gujarat coastline — a 241-mile journey that took 24 days and arrived at Dandi on April 5. Throughout the march, this Ramdhun was the audible spine of the satyagraha: sung at dawn and dusk prayers at every overnight halt, it set the marchers' pace and spirit. Gandhi insisted the day begin and end with communal bhajan, believing that collective prayer prepared the mind for nonviolent resolve. Indian and international press travelled with the procession, and their dispatches carried the image of thousands walking and singing this dhun into newspapers across the world. After the successful salt-law violation on April 6, the bhajan's association with organised resistance was fixed. Within the same year, phonograph recordings and All India Radio performances spread it far beyond the marching column. The text's genius — the Ishwar-Allah line accommodating both faiths in a single breath — made it not just a freedom song but a statement of the movement's entire communal philosophy.

From the march it entered prayer meetings, schoolbooks and film scores; it was sung at Birla House on the evening Gandhi died, and remains India's most universally known dhun.