Maharashtra: A Land of Greatness

Maharashtra

 (A Land of Greatness)

        The modern state of Maharashtra was formed on 1^st May 1960. Hence, this day is celebrated as Maharashtra Day. This day is also celebrated as International Worker’s Day every year.

      Till 1^st May 1960 various regions of present day Maharashtra were parts of different states. The Marathwada region consisting districts like Sambhaji Nagar (Aurangabad), Jalna, Beed, Dharashiv (Osmanabad), Latur (Earlier it was part of Osmanabad), Parbhani, Hingoli (Earlier it was part of Parbhani) and Nanded was the part of Hyderabad Princely State ruled by Nizam. The Western Maharashtra, Khandesh and Konkan were included in the then Bombay Presidency. As far as Vidarbha was considered it was included in the Central Province and Berar and its capital was Nagpur.

    The Sanyukt Maharashtra Samiti played an important role in the formation of the state of Maharashtra. The stalwarts like Shreedhar Mahadev Joshi, Udhdhavrao Patil, Prabodhankar Thackeray, Anna Bhau Sathe, Shripad Amrut Dange, Narayan Ganesh Gore, Acharya Atre, Gajanan Tryambak Madkholkar, Madhu Dandvate, Amar Shaikh, etc. played an important role in Sanyukta Maharashtra Samiti and the creation of state of Maharashtra.

        The first Chief Minister of the state of Maharashtra was Yashwantrao Chavan, the veteran leader of Congress Party. Later on he joined the Central Cabinet of Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and handled the crucial portfolio like Defence Ministry among others. After Yashwantrao Chavan prominent leaders from various political parties, mostly Congress Party became the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra.

       The following is the list of Chief Ministers of Maharashtra since its inception:                                                  

Yashwantrao Chavan                                 

Marotrao Kannamwar                        

P K Sawant                                            

Vasantrao Naik                                     

Shankarrao Chavan                              

Vasantdada Patil                                   

Sharad Pawar                                        

Abdul Rehman Antulay                        

Babasaheb Bhosale                               

Shivajirao Patil Nilngekar                      

Sudhakarrao Naik                                   

Manohar Joshi                                        

Narayan Rane                                         

Vilasrao Deshmukh                            

Sushilkumar Shinde                            

Ashok Chavan                                        

Prithviraj Chavan                                 

Devendra Fadnavis                              

Udhdhav Thackeray                            

Eknath Shinde                                      

        Madhukar Bhave, a senior journalist has written a book in Marathi language titled as ‘Yashwantrao te Vilasrao’. In this book he has described the tenures and important decisions made by the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra from Yashwantrao Chavan to Vilasrao Deshmukh. It is a very nice book written in lucid language.

        The above-mentioned Chief Ministers have contributed to the progress of Maharashtra in their own way. Due to the consistent efforts made by different governments in power for promoting development the state of Maharashtra remains one of the highly developed States in India. Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra is the financial capital of the country.

        Maharashtra has a great history and heritage. During ancient times it was ruled by mighty dynasties like Satvahanas and Vakatakas. The most famous Maharashtrian king of Satvahana dynasty was Gautamiputra Satkarni. His inscription can be found in Nasik. The capital of the Satvahanas was Pratishthan, today’s Paithan in Sambhaji Nagar (Aurangabad). During medieval times the prominent dynasty ruling over Maharashtra was Yadava dynasty with their seat of power at Devgiri (Sambhaji Nagar, Aurangabad). During later mediaeval times one of the greatest kings of all time in world history namely Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj created Swarajya i.e. Maratha State (Kingdom of Marathi speaking people) which later on became the mighty political power in eighteenth century.

        The state of Maharashtra has the remarkable history of social reforms. During nineteenth century it produced great social reformers such as Balshastri Jambhekar, Justice Mahadev Gobind Ranade, Nana Jagganath Shankar Sheth, Lokhitwadi, K. T. Telang, Mama Parmanad, etc.

    Mahatma Phule, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar contributed greatly for liberating the erstwhile untouchables or Dalits from age-old exploitation, inhumane treatment and denial of rights. There is a strong tradition of Phule-Shahu-Ambedkar in Maharashtra.

        Many Maharashtrian personalities have contributed to the national cause in one or the other way. For instance, Maharashtra was on the forefront during the national struggle against British rule since the establishment of Indian National Congress in 1885. It has given great leaders like Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Lokmanya Tilak, Vinoba Bhave, etc. Before that Nanasaheb Peshwa, Rani Laxmibai of Zansi, Tatya Tope, etc. were actively involved in the Revolt of 1857.

        After independence when Constituent Assembly was formed in order to draft the Constitution of India, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, prominent jurist and legal expert of the time was appointed as the Chairman of the Drafting Committee. He responsibly and successfully shouldered this great task. He drafted the Constitution of India almost single-handedly, hence aptly considered as the Father of Indian Constitution.

        Leaders from across political parties since the inception of the state of Maharashtra have given priority to promote the development. Hence, as mentioned above it remains highly developed State with laudable achievements in the fields of agriculture, industrial development, tertiary sector, fishing and agro industry, etc. Maharashtra is one of the highly urbanised States in India. The two prominent highways built in Maharashtra are Mumbai-Pune Express way (also known as Mumbai-Bengaluru highway) and Samruddhi Mahamarg connecting Mumbai and Nagpur. A part of it has been opened for public in 2022. The work of bringing it upto Mumbai is in progress.

        Maharashtra is known for the progress made in the field of education. It has important agricultural universities located in Amravati, Ahmednagar, Parbhani and Ratnagiri districts. Apart from that, there are many non agricultural and non technical universities catering to the needs of students studying in the fields of humanities, commerce and management. It has famous engineering colleges located in different districts such as Mumbai, Thane, Sangli, Nanded, etc. IIT Bombay is most sought after engineering and technology education institute in the country. Maharashtra also has many medical colleges as well.

        Aa far as sports is concerned it has given famous cricketers like Rameshchandra Gangaram Nadkarni (Bapu Nadkarni), Chandu Borde, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sachin Tendulkar, etc.

        Maharashtra has a sea coast of 720 kilometers. Thick forests can be found in Konkan, Sahyadri Mountains, parts of Khandesh and Vidarbha.

        Maharashtrian people are proud of their Shahirs (the singers who sing heroic songs). The heroic songs sung by Shahirs are called as Powadas. The Powadas on the life of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj are especially popular among masses. The folk dance form called, Tamasha and Lavani are popular. The first motion picture in India was made by a Maharashtrian named Dadasaheb Phalke. The name of the first film made by Dadasaheb Phalke was Raja Harishchandra. The Hindi Film industry known as Bollywood is based at Mumbai. It is the biggest film industry in India. Maharashtra has given many influential plays, actors and artists from different areas to the country. It is also a land of great writers. The first book written in Marathi is said to Gatha Sattasai or Gatha Saptashati compiled by Satvahana King Hala all the way around two thousands years back.

        The state animal of Maharashtra is the Indian giant squirrel, the state flower is jarul  also known as Tamhan in Marathi and the state bird is yellow-footed green pigeon. The government of Maharashtra has accepted the ‘Garja Maharashtra’ song written by Shahir Sable as the state song. The other two famous Shahirs from twentieth century Maharashtra are  Shahir Amar Shaikh and Shahir Anna Bhau Sathe. They also inspired the migrant workers and spoke for the cause of the toiling masses.

        Clearly the state Maharashtra remains one of the highly developed and progressive states in all walks of life in India.