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The statue portrays Gandhi in his later years, sitting in a contemplative pose, with legs crossed in the lotus position and his left hand resting on his ankles, and his bare head with furrowed brows slightly lowered. He is wearing his characteristic dhoti loincloth, with a shawl over the right shoulder. The statue is mounted on a rounded Portland stone plinth, which stands on a square platform with four steps. The plinth bears the inscription "Mahatma Gandhi, 1869–1948". A large alcove hollowed out at the front of the plinth can house tributes, such as flowers or candles. A small plaque was added in 1996, to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Gandhi's birth two years earlier.
The Gandhi memorial was erected by the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Committee, with the support and guidance of the India League. It was unveiled by the British Prime Minister Harold Wilson on 17 May 1968, in the presence of the first High Commissioner of India to the UK after independence, V. K. Krishna Menon, and the then-current High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom, Shanti Swaroop Dhavan. It became a Grade II listed building in 1974.
Nearby in Tavistock Square is the Conscientious Objectors Commemorative Stone installed in 1994, a cherry tree planted in 1967 in memory of the victims of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and a bust of Dame Louisa Aldrich-Blake erected in 1926.
dhoti Tavistock Square listed building lotus position Shanti Swaroop Dhavan bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Portland stone India League Harold Wilson V. K. Krishna Menon Louisa Aldrich-Blake High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom Mahatma Gandhi Conscientious Objectors Commemorative Stone