Thread by @VaibhavP21

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...

his endeavours, Shivaji built a temple for her at the fort of #Pratapgad, where Afzal had been slain. Pic in this
🧵is of idol at Pratapgad. At the time of consecration, Shivaji ensured the Bhavani idol was adorned with fine jewellery of different kinds. He performed...

several deeds of charity as the temple opened & even granted ‘mokasa’ (land) rights to the goddess & appointed a separate Peshwa and other officials for administration of the temple premises. In two important letters he wrote, Shivaji spoke of how the goddess cast a watchful...

and benign eye on his life and his life’s work. When his half-brother Vyankoji or Ekoji sided with his enemies and was defeated by Shivaji’s troops, Shivaji shot off a letter remonstrating him. In it, he said, ‘You should’ve given thought to something [before allying with...

the enemy]: He (Shivaji) is blessed by Shri Mahadev and Goddess Bhavani.’ When a young Bundela, Chhatrasal, deserted the Mughals, arrived at Shivaji’s camp & voiced his desire to join Shivaji’s army, Shivaji told him he should go home to Bundelkhand & build his own state...

‘Win back and rule over your native land. You and I are almost one. Don’t be scared of the Turks. Goddess Bhavani blesses me, so I’m not afraid of the Turks and have drawn my sword against them.’ Just days before he was crowned as #Chhatrapati on June 6, 1674, Shivaji went...

to Pratapgad to seek Bhavani’s benediction. The Britisher Henry Oxinden wrote he had learnt Shivaji had gone ‘to Pratapgad to visit the Shrine of Bhavani, a pagoda (temple) of great esteem with him.' There Shivaji performed several ceremonies ahead of his coronation...

He had carried with him, wrote the British official, ‘several presents, and amongst the rest a sombrero of pure gold weighing about 1¼ maunds which he had dedicated to the pagoda’s use.’ The temple built by Shivaji still stands at Pratapgad and is, like Tuljapur, a place...

of pilgrimage for many, especially during #Navratri.
The biggest legend about #ShivajiMaharaj & Bhavani of course is that the goddess appeared to him in a dream & gifted him a sword, which subsequently came to be known as the Bhavani sword. What’s the truth of that story?...

What really happened? It’s a fascinating story in itself. I have explained how the legend arose and how the name of the sword came to be 'Bhavani' in my new book.
@juggernautbooks
#Shivaji #Marathas #Navratri #Pratapgad #Chhatrapati