Shivaji8217;s minister awaits a fair deal

Says the Amatya8217;s descendant, scion of the royal family of Gaganbavada, Bhaiyasaheb Bavadekar: 8220;The samadhis be renovated on a priority either by the State Government or the monument be handed over to a trust named after the Hukumatpanah which will get the work done.8221;

The history of Marathas proudly mentions name of Ramchandra Pant Amatya, as the youngest minister in the court of Chhatrapati Shivaji, who eventually went on to serve five Maratha rulers till his death in 1716. Instrumental in foundation of Kolhapur seat of Maratha Kingdom, Ramchandra Pant Amatya8217;s famous treatises on governance and politics, Adnyapatre has often been praised as Marathi equivalent of Kautilya8217;s legendary Arthshastra.

From a minister, he rose to become Hukumatpanah in 1690 and eventually Kulkullah 8212; second in command after the king 8212; in 1698.

According to Bavadekar, two samadhis of the Hukumatpanah and his wife Janakibai were built atop Panhala after Ramchandrapant8217;s death in 1716. 8220;In the course of time the two structures remained covered by heap of mud and rubble till 1941 when they were discovered by K G Sabnis, an official from the erstwhile Gaganbavda vatan,8221; Bavadekar told The Indian Express.

Following discovery of the two memorials, the erstwhile princely state of Kolhapur ordered its renovation in 1949. Accordingly a sum of Rs 20,000 was collected to renovate the samadhis in the same year, Bavadekar said. The funds were later transferred to the then Government of Bombay State as Kolhapur, like all other princely states in Maharasthra merged with the Indian Union, he added.

Since then there has been no word on renovating the samadhis. 8220;I wrote to Maharashtra Government in 1968. Only action then was transfer of the samadhis to the Department of Archives. This was done on October 10 of the same year.8221; Bavadekar stated that he categorically had mentioned that if no renovation was undertaken within a year, the land and the amount be returned to his family.

After repeated pleas from Bavadekar, the bureaucracy finally moved the files. A meeting of Jeernoddhar Samiti was conducted on December 6, 1977 and the Public Works Department was asked to carry out the renovation. However, said Bavadekar, the Panhala Municipal Council stayed the construction of samadhis. 8220;The PWD was trying to relocate the samadhis to some other place, which Panhala Municipal Council opposed,8221; he said. Since then the issue once again was hurled into the cold storage, till Baodekars began sending reminders to the State Government in 1994.

In a letter to State Archives in 1994, Bavadekar demanded Rs 20,000 meant for renovation of the samadhis which was handed over to the Government be returned to the Hukumatpanah Ramchandra Pant Amatya Trust. The Trust was prepared to undertake renovation without any further assistance from the Government.

8220;The land where the samadhis are situated is owned by our family. The State Government did not take our permission before declaring the samadhis as protected monument. And since the State Government has not done any work for so many years, we decided to do it on our own through the Trust. It is headed by Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur and citizens as its members,8221; he said.

The State Government replied in negative to these demands stating that conservation and development of a protected monument can not be handed over to a private Trust. Instead, in 1995 the district collector8217;s office asked the trust, if it was willing to donate funds to the State Government for renovation of the samadhis. There has been no correspondence between the State Government and the trust since then and things virtually have come to a naught. The Bavadekars and the government, wish to preserve the traces of once a glorious past, the renovation continues to elude it.