Sanatan Sanstha founder's 83rd birthday: Grand gathering of saints and devotees planned in Goa
Addressing a press conference here, the organisers of the meet, Ishwar Kottari, Vijay Kumar, the district coordinator of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, M. J. Shetty, and Kiran Rai have stated that the event aims to promote the idea of a 'Sanatan Rashtra'—a spiritual vision of India inspired by the principles of Ramrajya. Activities will include mass chanting of 'Sri Ram' (with a target of one crore chants), a Sant Sabha (spiritual congregation), and an exhibition of traditional weaponry and artefacts from the Shivaji era.
The event will also feature the display of the 1,000-year-old Somnath Jyotirlinga, reportedly safeguarded by Agnihotra practitioners and brought with the blessings of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, according to the organisers.
Awards such as 'Hindu Rashtra Ratna' and 'Sanatan Dharmashree' are expected to be conferred on individuals recognised for their service to Hindu Dharma.
The event, blending devotional rituals, cultural showcases, and ideological messaging, reflects the growing assertiveness of spiritual-nationalist groups and their call for unity among Hindu organisations under the banner of Sanatan Dharma.
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Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Hindustan Times
JNU to host two centres on Marathi culture: Minister
MUMBAI: Two centres aimed at promoting Marathi culture and history will be set up at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi – one dedicated to Maratha warrior king Shivaji, focusing on Maratha history, governance and military strategy; and the second, named after noted Marathi poet and writer Kusumagraj, to enhance the study of Marathi as a classical language, and promoting research in literature and linguistics. Thane, India - October , 29, 2022: industry Minister Uday Samant seen giving information about projects in a press conference on Saturday in thane ,in Thane,Mumbai, India, on,Saturday, October, 29, 2022. ( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo) Both these centres will be inaugurated by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and his two deputies on Thursday. Addressing the media on Wednesday, state minister for Marathi language, Uday Samant, said these initiatives aim to provide students across the country with deeper insights into Maharashtra's rich cultural and linguistic heritage. Samant said JNU has in principle agreed to allot land on its campus for these two centres, where the state government would also erect a statue of Shivaji. 'I visited JNU two months ago and discussed this with the vice-chancellor. During the discussion, I realised the state government had given ₹2 crore 16 years ago to JNU for setting up a Marathi centre of excellence, and they needed another ₹3 crore. As minister for Marathi language, I immediately sanctioned the balance. I insisted that it must be named after Kusumagraj.'' When Eknath Shinde was chief minister, he had given ₹10 crore as a grant for the study centre focused on Shivaji.
The Print
17-07-2025
- The Print
Long before Op Sindoor, Marathas first carried out ‘surgical strike'. NCERT Class 8 book is proof
Referring to Maratha kings as rulers who 'established sovereignty', it says about Shivaji, '…within his lifetime, his exploits had become legendary across India and beyond'. The book describes Shivaji, the founder of Maratha Empire, as a 'strategist and true visionary' while introducing Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire, as a 'brutal and ruthless conqueror, slaughtering entire populations of cities'. New Delhi: The NCERT's new Class 8 Social Science textbook, in a chapter called 'The Rise of the Marathas', compares a raid carried out by Shivaji on the Mughal enemy camp in the dead of the night to a 'modern-day surgical strike'. 'The Rise of the Marathas' adds that Shivaji raided his enemy's camp at night 'with only a few' soldiers. 'This daring raid resembles the modern-day surgical strike,' it says, with 'surgical strike' highlighted in purple. Another chapter, 'Reshaping India's Political Map', says Babur 'enslaved women' and erected 'towers of skulls made from the slaughtered people of plundered cities' when he entered the Subcontinent after being 'thrown out of Samarkand (modern-day Uzbekistan)'. Initially, the Mughals and the Delhi Sultanate were part of the Class 7 social science curriculum. However, the NCERT has now replaced those chapters with new ones on the Magadha kingdom, the Mauryas, the Shungas, and the Sātavāhanas. Now, it is the Class 8 social science textbook that introduces students to the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals, and the Marathas. In the textbook, named 'Exploring Society: India and Beyond', the NCERT has added what it has called a 'Note on some darker periods in history', along with a disclaimer. The note says, 'Understanding the historical origin of cruel violence, abusive misrule, or misplaced ambitions of power is the best way to heal the past and build a future where, hopefully, they will have no place.' 'No one should be held responsible today for events of the past,' reads the disclaimer. ThePrint reached NCERT Director Dinesh Prasad Saklani for comment through calls and texts. This report will be updated if and when a response is received. Speaking to ThePrint, Irfan Habib, a historian of ancient and medieval India said history depended entirely on facts, not religion, and that the past could not be changed, just by removing parts of it from the syllabus. Habib added that no Constitution existed at the time, so all rulers ruled by the sword. Calling the revisions a part of political strategies, Habib said, 'Rajputs, for instance, were equally cruel. There is no need to see it through the prism of religion.' Dynasties would not have survived if the rulers were not good strategists or swordsmen, he added. 'This is a faulty and farcical way of going about making changes,' Habib said, adding that the distortion of history is a way of turning history into mythology. Also Read: Aurangzeb keeps haunting Maharashtra politics. This time, he can hurt Fadnavis' governance Shivaji was 'careful' not to attack religious places The book claims Shivaji was always 'careful' not to attack religious places and mentions a 'retaliatory action' that involved Shivaji attacking Surat, which, it says, was a 'great insult' to the might and prestige of the Mughal Empire. In contrast, it describes the Sultanate period as one marked by political instability and the destruction of temples and seats of learning. During Alauddin Khilji's conquests, 'Hindu centres such as Srirangam, Madurai, Chidambaram, and possibly Rameshwaram' came under attack, the textbook says. Discussing the Mughal Empire, the text says Akbar tried to intimidate the Rajputs during the Chittorgarh attack by proclaiming he had already occupied several 'forts and towns belonging to the infidels' and 'established Islam there'. Akbar, once called 'The Great Akbar' in history textbooks, ruled with a 'blend of brutality and tolerance', the text says, adding: 'Despite Akbar's growing tolerance for different faiths, non-Muslims were kept in a minority in the higher echelons of the administration…' 'Can't selectively glorify or vilify historical figures' Arvind Sinha, a retired history professor from Jawaharlal Nehru University, told ThePrint that history, as a discipline, should be rooted in objectivity, warning that 'prejudice' not only distorts facts but also has a harmful influence on young minds. 'You cannot selectively glorify or vilify historical figures. For instance, Shivaji cannot be viewed as a hero in isolation, without acknowledging the historical context, including Aurangzeb,' he said, adding that rulers operated under different circumstances, something that needed to be understood, not judged. He also drew parallels with Pakistani textbooks and their 'ideological portrayals' that made thinking among students narrow. 'If you omit facts or twist them to suit a narrative, you are not teaching history, you are promoting propaganda,' he said, adding that the problem was not limited to any one political party. 'Ideological influence, whether Marxist or Right-wing, has no place in History textbooks.' (Edited by Madhurita Goswami) Also Read: Aurangzeb is politics, not history. Indian Muslims must bury his ghost
Indian Express
16-07-2025
- Indian Express
India's monuments and heritage need to recognise it's civilisational history
The history of India is not just about slavery. The history of India is about emerging victorious… The mistake of not keeping those events in the mainstream is being rectified now' — Narendra Modi Putting the Maratha Military Landscapes on the UNESCO World Heritage list is a significant step towards recognising Indian monuments of victory and glory and decolonising the heritage space. The momentum must be taken further as this area had been neglected for a long time post-Independence. Monuments are our collective memory etched in stone. After Independence, there was little effort to correct the mindset of teachers and those preparing history books. The colonial mindset continued even in the preservation of monuments and archaeological sites. Teaching took place under the shadow of what PM Modi has called the history of our defeat and the stories of enemies' victories. It is only under the Modi government that the decolonisation drive has begun, giving us new insights into the history that the British and the Left cabal sought to bury. It has highlighted the stories of King Suheldev, Rani Durgavati and Lachit Barphukan. The founder-king of Delhi, Maharaja Anangpal Tomar, was long ignored — now, Anang Tal, which was a neglected sewer reservoir, has been designated a Monument of National Importance. Excavations at Rakhigarhi have restarted. The Navy has new insignia inspired by Chhatrapati Shivaji. There have also been efforts to delve into the history of tribal communities' wars of independence in the Northeast, specifically the Tai-Khamti War (1839). These are just a few examples of the Modi government's vision of resurrecting India's glorious history and detoxing colonised minds. As chairman of the National Monuments Authority (NMA), I had an opportunity to flag some anomalies and suggest changes in the way we look at preservation. We have created a list of 3,695 Monuments of National Importance that have brought out interesting facets of Indian history. Afzal Khan, the cruel general serving the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur, believed a prophecy about his death before his 'meeting' with Shivaji. Some tales suggest that he killed his many wives the night before he departed to encounter his foe. We know Shivaji killed him. But the graves of his wives are now a Monument of National Importance in Bijapur. Maharani Tarabai Bhonsle fought the Mughals and ruled as a Maratha queen for 30 years. But her samadhi is in ruins in Satara. It deserves the honour of being a Monument of National Importance. The great Sikh warrior Baba Baghel Singh conquered Delhi in 1783, made the Mughal emperor pay fines and constructed seven gurdwaras including Sis Ganj Sahib. His 30,000 Sikh soldiers camped near the Red Fort — and so, the camp became known as Tis Hazari. But nowhere, even in the Red Fort Museum, is there any mention of this conquest. The National Monuments Authority was asked to approach the Tis Hazari court to ask if it would like to have the name explained in its precincts. The Marathas conquered Delhi in 1757 under Raghunath Rao and in 1771 under Mahadaji Shinde. They controlled the Red Fort and continued to rule until 1803, when the British overpowered them in the second Anglo-Maratha War. The British took Delhi from the Marathas and not the Mughals. This fact, too, is completely missing from the Red Fort museum. The NMA struggled for two years to have this mentioned on a wall of honour inside the fort without any success. On the Delhi-Meerut highway, there lies a nondescript grave of British soldiers who were killed by local revolutionaries in 1857. This was declared a Monument of National Importance. But the Kali Paltan Augharnath temple, Meerut, a renowned place that housed revolutionaries and Purabia soldiers — a shelter for the marching armies of the freedom struggle — has been refused the honour. There isn't a single Monument of National Importance connected with the Dalit struggle and B R Ambedkar's life. His first primary school in Satara and the Sayaji Baug Vadodara Banyan tree, where he resolved to bring equality for all Indians, now known as Sankalp Bhumi, have yet to be accepted as national monuments. After a detailed site inspection by the NMA, the Governor of Kerala sent a recommendation to declare the birthplace of Adi Shankara, Kalady, a Monument of National Importance. It was not even responded to. Mangarh has been a place of the greatest reverence for PM Modi. He visited the place many times before he became Gujarat CM, and recently, as PM. The NMA visited the site and recommended that it be declared a Monument of National Importance. It was the site of the massacre of more than 1,500 Bhil tribals by the British army in November 1913. We are still waiting for action on the matter. There are more than 100 monuments like Tota-Maina Ki Kabr that have absolutely no history. Nobody knows what they represent and why they have been declared Monuments of National Importance. Similarly, some Monuments of National Importance, like the Mohammad Gauri Ke Senapati Ki Chhatri and Babur Ka Bagicha (where he is said to have stayed for a few hours), defy any logic. Not a single Monument of National Importance from Kashmir, like Martand, Parihaspore or Harwan, was ever recommended to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and none has been given even a security guard. I had recommended a relook at the functioning and mandates of all the agencies working on monuments to unshackle them from the colonial mindset. We need an Archaeological Foundation to preserve civilisational and revolutionary monuments of India. The writer was chairman, National Monuments Authority
