What is common between saints like Sai Baba of #Shirdi, Jangli Maharaj & Bidkar Maharaj (#Pune), Vidyanand Saraswati (Ahmednagar) & Swami Samartha of #Akkalkot? They may have had links with revolutionaries trying to overthrow #British rule over #India
#history #Maharashtra #Pune
This is a thread on sadhus and holy men and how they tried to aid the revolutionary struggle against the British.
Some holy men like Sant Bairagi Baba, who may have been Rango Bapuji Gupte, Swami Brahmananda from Digras in Yavatmal, Vitthalgiri Bua (Amravati) & Swami Nityanand were part of the 1857 war of independence. #1857
After the rebellion failed, some of these revolutionaries became sadhus & holy men because it would allow them to blend into the local populace & also wield a religious authority over them.
They and their devotees also helped revolutionaries by sheltering them & helping them evade the police. These revolutionaries in turn, revered these holy men and sought their blessings and advice.
The British were mindful that they could not arrest or act against these sadhus as this would provoke their devotees.
It is said that Sai Baba of Shirdi & Jangli Maharaj of Pune had fought against the British in the 1857 war.
The revolutionary Vasudeo Balwant Phadke (1845-1883) was a devout man. He went to several sadhus, including Swami Samarth of Akkalkot and sought their blessings for his uprising.
Phadke kept his sword before Swami Samartha Maharaj, touched his feet and sat before him. He wanted the saint to give him the sword with his hands, signifying that his efforts will succeed.
However, Swami Samartha asked one of his devotees to keep the sword on a nearby tree. Phadke waited in vain for the Swami to give him the sword & eventually left dejected. The Swami's act was meant to signify that Phadke's efforts will not succeed.
Phadke also met sadhus like Manik Prabhu, Kaalbua and Brahmachaitanya Gondavalekar Maharaj of Gondavale in Satara. Brahmachaitanya had tried to impress upon Phadke that this was not the right time for an armed rebellion.
Phadke put up a heroic resistance to the British but was arrested and imprisoned at Aden, where he breathed his last.
Swami Vidyanand Saraswati from Belapur in Ahmednagar district's Rahuri taluka was one such sadhu. He was arrested by Captain Natal in Thane district in 1857 and confined to the Solapur fort. He became a sadhu after his release.
He settled at Belapur later. The Swami, who hailed from Benaras, had a licensed gun. The police were maintaining a constant watch on him.
After he took samadhi, some youngsters from Kolhapur like Damu Joshi, Datto Prasade, Vaman Gopal Gulawane launched a 'Belapur Swami club' after worshipping his padukas.
Like Vidyanand Saraswati, Swami Brahmananda from Baroda had also fought in the 1857 war.
Some other sadhus and religious figures who were actively helping armed revolutionaries included Bidkar Maharaj and Bramharshi Annasaheb Patwardhan from Pune, Sheelnath Maharaj (Devas), Yogiraj Vinayakbua Fatak & Yogi Vishnu Bhaskar Lele.
You can also read this thread about another enigmatic & intriguing figure from #history. This is about the revolutionary Sadashiv Nilkanth Joshi aka Raosaheb Peshwe, Bhausaheb Limaye, Ganesh Keshav Limaye, Bhausaheb Kashinath Khasgiwale

Sources:
Lokmanya Tilak aani Krantikarak by Y.D. Phadke
Adya Krantikarak Vasudev Balwant Phadke by V.S. Joshi
References to Sai Baba & Jangli Maharaj are based on local lore. There are no firm textual reference about the lives of these saints before they became sadhus. As we say in Marathi, tracing the origins of a river and the roots of a rishi are tough
All photos from the internet.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Dhaval Kulkarni (धवल कुलकर्णी) 🇮🇳

Dhaval Kulkarni (धवल कुलकर्णी) 🇮🇳 Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @dhavalkulkarni

Oct 22
Bhawanrao 'Balasaheb' Pantpratinidhi (1868-1951) who ruled Aundh in #Maharashtra was an unusual king. His work at reforming criminals & convicts inspired V.Shantaram's acclaimed ‘Do Aankhen Barah Haath’ (1957). Balasaheb was born on 24 October 1868
#history #Marathi #films #art ImageImage
Unlike rulers who tried to cling to power even when the end of British rule was evident, #BalasahebPantpratinidhi handed over the reins of the state to the people much earlier in an experiment inspired by #MahatmaGandhi. He also helped freedom fighters & revolutionaries.
In a sense, #BalasahebPantpratinidhi was among the reformist kings who tried to birth welfare states in colonial India. He was also associated with one of the most popular forms of exercises—the suryanamaskars.
Read 31 tweets
Oct 21
This is a thread on the tradition of #wrestling in #Pune. The city was once known as a centre of wrestling. Even in those conservative times, these akhadas or wrestling schools acted as melting pots.
#sports #Maharashtra #Marathi #caste
The vastads or wrestling coaches included both, non-Brahmins & Brahmins. Their students too cut across communities.
Balambhatdada Deodhar, the man who is said to have invented the sport of mallakhamb, Bhikobadada Agashe, Ganpatrao Barve, Pandoba Jog, Dada Damle were among the #Brahmin vastads in #Pune.
Read 18 tweets
Oct 4
#ShivSena president #UddhavThackeray & #Maharashtra CM #EknathShinde have organised a show of strength on #Dusseshra. But, over 100 years ago, the festival was used to protest against the British & popularise swadeshi
#Savarkar #Tilak #Bengal #Dussehra2022 #Dashera #Maharashtra ImageImageImage
This is also about the historical links between #Maharashtra and #Bengal & how people from #Maharashtra supported their Bengali brethren in their fight against the British colonialists

#Dussehra #Dussehra2022 #Dasara #Dasara2022 #LokmanyaTilak #VDSavarkar #Savarkar #swadeshi
It was on #Dussehra day in 1905 that #VinayakDamodarSavarkar, a student at the Fergusson College in #Pune, organized the 1st such bonfire of imported clothes with stalwarts like #LokmanyaTilak & #ShivramMahadevParanjape & a huge crowd in attendance
Read 25 tweets
Oct 1
This thread is on a little-known attempt by a British police officer to assassinate #MahatmaGandhi at #Pune in 1942 & some previous bids on #Gandhiji's life.

#MKGandhi #GandhiJayanti #MahatmaGandhiAmarRahe #Gandhi #GandhiJayanti #gandhijayanthi #GandhiJayanti2022
On 30 January 1948, three bullets fired by #NathuramGodse claimed the life of #MahatmaGandhi as he was walking to his prayer meeting at the Birla House in #NewDelhi. However, even before that fateful day, there were multiple attempts to assassinate Gandhi.
In 1897, Gandhi was assaulted by a mob of Europeans in Natal. He was attacked by a group of Pathans in South Africa (February 1908). In 1914, some Muslims were upset that clauses in a bill that formalized the Gandhi-General Smuts agreement had denied polygamy, which amounted to
Read 18 tweets
Sep 25
Public celebrations of #Navratri in #Maharashtra began in 1926 & are linked to reformers Prabodhankar Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, Dr #BabasahebAmbedkar & Rao Bahadur S.K. Bole. This was a form of counter-culture against #Ganeshutsav, which was then dominated by #Brahmins
#Mumbai
Incidentally, #Ganeshutsav was popularised by #LokmanyaTilak in the backdrop of the Hindu-Muslim riots in 1893-94. It soon replaced #Muharram, which was then the most popular festival in the Bombay Presidency, with massive participation from Hindus
The #Ganeshutsav at #Dadar in #Mumbai, saw donations being collected from people across castes. However, the organising committee was dominated by Brahmins, who kept other groups away from it. The singers and religious orators were also Brahmins. In short, they ran the show.
Read 26 tweets
Sep 14
A little-known nugget about Netaji #SubhashChandraBose. At a time when most politicians supported prohibition, he was among the few who opposed the idea. #Netaji #SubhasChandraBose #history
The Bombay Presidency Government under Balasaheb Kher (Congress) had decided to impose prohibition from 1 August 1939. Netaji, who had then had quit as the Congress president, stood by the Parsi community which was opposed to prohibition & criticised the govt for this decision.
However, #MahatmaGandhi was upset at this & issued a statement from Abbotabad (he was touring the NWFP). Earlier #MahatmaPhule had pointed to the adverse social effects of liquor. #LokmanyaTilak had joined forces with Muslims & Christian missionaries to clamp down on liquor vends
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(