Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Indoreans paid tribute to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on his birth anniversary and garlanded the statue of Shivaji at Shivaji circle in the city on Saturday.
The Maratha community in Indore celebrated Shivaji Jayanti with prayers and fervour. The community members organised a special feast at their homes.
Among those representatives, who visited Shivaji circle to garland the statue, Prateek Tagad said, “Shivaji is an ideal for everyone even today because of the life he lived and tasks he undertook.” He added that Shivaji always knew how to keep his cool and maintain a balanced approach in life.
“He was the greatest warrior, who understood that to win a war, we must have to conquer ourselves first,” senior artist Shubha Vaidya said.
She added that Shivaji was the founder of the Maratha empire. Shivaji Jayanti was among the biggest festivals for the entire community and country.
Shivaji’s stay in Indore
An interesting fact that is less known about Shivaji's life is that he stayed in Indore incognito. Shivaji had stayed for a short while in ancient Datta Mandir (Krishnapura) and Khedapati Hanuman (North Toda, Sanjay Setu) in the city. When Shivaji Maharaj was imprisoned by Aurangzeb in the Agra Fort, Samarth Ramdas, mentor of Shivaji, had planned to rescue him and bring him to Maharashtra through Indore (Malwa back then). It was also mentioned in Shivkalin Bakhar.
Hanuman devotee left his mark in Indore
Both Ramdas and Shivaji were great devotees of Lord Hanuman. The proof of this is the Hanuman statue installed by Samarth in the Khedapati Hanuman temple. There are two idols of Lord Hanuman in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. This temple was specially decorated with flowers for Shivaji Jayanti. There is no authentic information available about the establishment of the ancient Datta temple, but the centuries-old temple predates the arrival of the founder of Holkar state, Subedar Malhar Rao Holkar to Indore (1728).
