Ahead of the 150th birth anniversary of India's iconic freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi, schoolchildren of various schools across the country dressed up as Gandhi and performed yoga.

Born in 1869, Mahatma Gandhi played a key role in India's fight for independence.

Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948, just three months after he led India to freedom from British rule through a non-violent struggle.

Tuesday will mark the start of a two-year celebration of Gandhi's 150th birthday, the country's ministry of culture said on its website.

United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, along with Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind, and other leaders, paid a floral tribute to Gandhi, at his Raj Ghat memorial in New Delhi.

Gandhi's birth anniversary coincides with an Indian farmers' march demanding loan waivers and more subsidies on essential facilities, among other issues.

The protesters allege that the Narendra Modi-led government had failed to fulfil its promises of waiving farmer loans and providing pension and proper wages to labourers and therefore, they were protesting to fulfil the promises made by the government.

Clashes broke out on the outskirts of Delhi as police used water cannon and tear gas to stop thousands of protesting farmers entering the Indian capital, with at least one person reportedly injured. 

The farmers, marching from adjoining northern states, blocked one of the highways into the city and used tractors to try and break through a police barrier, television pictures showed. 

The opposition leader from Indian National Congress party Randeep Surjewala responded to the clashes by equating the current Modi administration with the British colonial government of pre-Independence India.