In 1921, during which one of the following tours, Gandhiji shaved his head and began wearing loincloth in order to identity with the poor?

In September 1921, during his tour of South India, Mahatma Gandhi took the significant decision to shave his head and adopt the loincloth (dhoti) as his permanent attire. This transformation occurred in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Gandhi's primary motivation was to identify with the poor masses of India who could not afford the expensive khadi sets he was then advocating. While the provided snippets mention his 1921 activities like the Non-cooperation Movement [1] and his tours to Odisha and Calcutta, historical records confirm that the specific transition to the 'half-naked fakir' look happened during his South Indian tour. This act symbolized his complete renunciation of material comforts and his deep sympathy for the impoverished peasantry, a sentiment established during his earlier localized struggles in Champaran and Ahmedabad [2].

Sources

1. [1] THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART III, History CLASS XII (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 11: MAHATMA GANDHI AND THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT > Fig. 11.17 > p. 314
2. [2] THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART III, History CLASS XII (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 11: MAHATMA GANDHI AND THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT > 2. The Making and Unmaking of Non-cooperation > p. 289