Hasthampatti in Salem district carries historical significance. It was at a single-storeyed house here that Mahatma Gandhi, as part of his countrywide tour for the abolition of untouchability, stayed during his eight-hour-long visit to Salem in February 1934. Since July 1962, the building has been accommodating the local post office, the place of which was then called Komarasamipatti. Nearly 35 years later, the postal authorities established a philatelic museum on Gandhiji at a room of about 170 sq.ft on the first floor of the building, which was owned by Natesa Pandaram about 90 years ago. Built in an architectural fashion that illustrated what was prevalent in the British era, the heritage structure has a bust of the Father of the Nation near the portico. Salem held a special significance for him as it was the home town of two Congress stalwarts, C. Vijiaraghavachariar and P. Varadarajulu Naidu, who was lauded by C. Rajagopalachari ( Rajaji or CR) as “one of the most intelligent and imaginative brains we had in the early Congress in south India …