The portable spinning wheel, known as a charkha in Hindi, was used by Gandhi to spin thread and make his own clothes while he was held as a political prisoner in Pune's Yerwada jail in the early 1930s. Gandhi presented the charkha to Puffer for his work in Colonial India.
The Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya seeks to keep alive the message of Gandhi's life and work through the following activities: collection, preservation and display of Gandhi's writings, photographs, paintings, voice-records, as well as helping and undertaking study and research in Gandhian thought and activities and publishing the results of such study and research and allied literature for the benefit of the people; maintaining contact with the youth and student community and providing facilities to them for the study of Gandhian thought; arranging exhibitions on aspects of Gandhi's life, literature and activities; observance in a suitable manner of occasions connected with Gandhi's life.
Archives consisting of 34,065 letters to and from Gandhi both in original and in Photostats; in Hridaya Kunj (original residence of Gandhi) some of the personal relics of Gandhi are on display; library consisting of nearly 21,500 books dealing with Gandhi's life, work and teaching and allied subjects and reading room with more than 50 periodicals in English, Hindi and Gujarati.
Photograph gallery (the life story of Mahatma Gandhi) consisting of more than 100 photo enlargements of some of the vivid and historic events of Gandhi's life; "Gandhi in Ahmedabad" gallery consisting of photographs and some important documents; Colour Oil Painting Gallery consisting of eight big life -size paintings of some historic events of Gandhi's life.