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There were 2 deities at the centre of Chhatrapati Shivaji’s religious & spiritual consciousness. One was Lord Shiva, whom he invoked in his battle cry of ‘Har Har Mahadev.’ The other was Goddess #Bhavani. One of the avatars of #Durga, Bhavani was Shivaji’s patron goddess. A🧵 
Her temple at Tuljapur - where she also takes the name ‘Tulja Bhavani’ or simply ‘Tulja - was for him the holiest of holies. Before every battle & before every campaign, small or big, Shivaji prayed to his Mother Goddess. His contemporary chronicler Parmanand wrote that just...
before he went in for his dramatic, life-or-death encounter with Bijapur general Afzal Khan, Shivaji ‘sent up a prayer in his mind to Bhavani.’ The killing of Afzal Khan marked a big turning point in Shivaji’s life, & in honour of the goddess who he was convinced was blessing...
