In a major announcement made on the occasion of 298th birth anniversary of queen of Malwa kingdom Ahilyadevi Holkar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde said here on Wednesday that the Ahmednagar district would be renamed ‘Ahilyadevi Holkar Nagar’ in her memory.
Simultaneously, State Health Minister Girish Mahajan announced the naming of a new government medical college at the NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s home town of Baramati in Pune district after Ahilyadevi Holkar.
Speaking at a function organised on the 298th birth anniversary of Ahilyadevi Holkar at her native village of Chaundi that he and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis attended, Shinde made a formal announcement about the re-christening of Ahmednagar district as Ahilyadevi Holkar Nagar’
Ahilyadevi, the Holkar Queen of the Maratha Malwa kingdom who is known for building temples and ‘dharamashalas’ throughout India, was born in Chaundi in Ahmednagar district on May 31, 1795. She ruled the Malwa kingdom from 1767 to 1795.
Minutes after Fadnavis expressed desire that Ahmednagar district be renamed as ‘Ahilyadevi Holkar Nagar’, Shinde said: “All of us want Ahmednagar district be renamed after Ahilyadevi Holkar. Keeping that in view, I announce that the state government is renaming Ahmednagar district ‘Ahilyadevi Holkar Nagar’” Heaping praise on Ahilyadevi Holkar, Fadnavis said: “If Rajamata Ahilyadevi Holkar weren’t there, Kashi wouldn’t have remained in a form it is today. If she wasn’t there, we wouldn’t have temples of Lord Shiva. That’s why people want Ahmednagar renamed Ahilyanagar”. “We are the people who chant the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. We have renamed Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar under your (Shinde’s) leadership, we have renamed Osmanabad as Dharashiv.
The chief minister himself is ‘mawala’ (soldier) of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. That being the case, Ahmednagar will be renamed asAhilyanagar,” the deputy chief minister said. Later in his speech, Shinde said: “Ahilyadevi’s maiden name is Shinde. Even I am a Shinde. ....Ahilyadevi Holkar is an inspiration for all of us. Ahilyadevi’s achievements are tall as the peaks of Himalayas. .. Our deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is also with me at this function. There cannot be a better occasion than her birth anniversary to rename Ahmednagar district after her,” the chief minister said. A ruler of the Maratha Empire, Queen Ahilyadevi Holkar had ascended the Malwa state throne after the deaths of her husband Khanderao Holkar, her father-in-law Malharrao Holkar and her son Malerao Holkar, aged barely 22.
