Ahmedabad gets first statue of erstwhile queen Ahilyabai Holkar
The statue was installed following demand from the Pal Baghel community, which has a small presence in the city.
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The statue was inaugurated by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel in Vatva area on August 21. (Express photo)Ahmedabad has got its first statue of Indore’s erstwhile queen Ahilyabai Holkar installed at a party plot named after her following demand from the Pal Baghel community, which has a small presence in the city.
The statue was inaugurated by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel in Vatva area on August 21, in the presence of Union Minister of State for Law and Justice S P Singh Baghel, as part of the “resolutions of August 15 for preserving heritage” on the occasion of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, said a Gujarat government release.
Standing Committee Chairman at Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) Hitesh Barot told The Indian Express that the party plot had been built in 2020. A plaque at the site shows it was inaugurated by the then minister of state for home Pradeepsinh Jadeja who is an MLA from Vatva
“The party plot was allocated the budget of about Rs 2 crore. However, it was not named at that point of time. The name was given to it as a demand by the Baghel community to Pradipsinh Jadeja,” Barot said.
The Baghel community has been demanding a statute of Devi Ahilyabai Holkar in Ahmedabad for the past 15 years.
“She not only holds importance to our community but also to this country. We pushed the AMC for so long to establish a statute of Ahilyabai, especially at the nearby crossroad. Finally, through Pradipsinh Jadeja, the MLA of the area, we got the approval for the statue here at the party plot,” said Mewaran Singh Baghel, the president of Pal Baghel Samaj Seva Sangh.
The samaj has contributed around Rs 5 lakh to the building of the statue, which is built on a five-feet foundation in an area of 10 by 10. “There are about 50,000 people from Baghel community who reside in the city . Vatva has the maximum population of Baghels. There are around 5,000 registered voters from our community here. However, 10,000-15,000 people of the Baghel community reside here. Most of us came to this area in 1970s from Bhind district in Madhya Pradesh,” said Lakharam Singh Baghel, the vice-president of Pal Baghel Samaj Seva Sangh.
The first statute of Ahliyabai in Gujarat was installed in Somnath. This is the second statue in the state, but the first one in the city, Lakharam added.
“Ahilyabai Holkar revived 12,000 Hindu temples across the country. The major temples like Kashi Vishwanath temple, Somnath, Omkareshwar and so on. While inaugurating seaside promenade (Samudra Darshan Path) at Somnath, PM Narendra Modi acknowledged her contribution in the nation-building and cultural redevelopment in the eighteenth century,” said Lakharam.
“She is the icon for women empowerment and pioneer in education especially for women. But hardly anyone knows about her. She is the first Indian queen to have ruled in the subcontinent, that too for 28 years. Not only this, her tools and tactics of governance are to be learnt from, said Nandkishor Dhangar, the convener of Pal Baghel Samaj Seva Sangh. The community member now plans to demand for including a chapter on Ahliyabai Holkar and her works towards nation-building in the school curriculum.
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