Commemorating the 298th Birth Anniversary of the Legendary Ahilya Bai Holkar

The Great Pioneer & Builder of Hindu Heritage...

"The reign of Ahilyabai, of Indore in central India, lasted for thirty years. This has become almost legendary as a period during which perfect order and good government prevailed and the people prospered. She was a very able ruler and organizer, highly respected during her lifetime, and considered as a saint by a grateful people after her death."

— Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India (1946)

Recommend the names of eminent contemporary personalities who have played a lead role in Reclaiming Indic Heritage of any denomination to editor@rethinkindia.in. For any query, please feel free to contact Dr. Surbhi at 9910050597.

The felicitation would happen on 13th of August 2022 - commemorating the 228th punyatithi of the legendary Rani Sahiba of Indore.

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Heritage Structures Constructed Refurbished & Reconsecrated throughout India by Ahilya Bai Holkar

The Holkar family was known for avoiding using public cash to meet their personal and family expenses.

They possessed their personal funds, which they had accumulated through their private property. Ahilyabai inherited personal funds estimated at sixteen crores rupees at the time. She donated money from her personal resources to charity.

The following structures were (re)constructed by Ahilyabai.

• Alampur (Madhya Pradesh)

  • Harihareshwar,

  • Batuk,

  • Malharimarthand,

  • Surya, Renuka, Ram Hanuman Temples,

  • Shriram Temple,

  • Laxmi Narayan Temple,

  • Maruti Temple,

  • Narsinh Temple,

  • Khanderao Martand Temple,

  • Memorial of Malharrao (I)

• Amarkantak(Madhya Pradesh)-

  • Construction of Shri Vishweshwar Temple,

  • Kotithirth Temple,

  • Gomukhi Temple,

  • Dharamshala &

  • Vansh Kund

• Burhanpur (Madhya Pradesh) – Construction of Raj Ghat, Ram Ghat, Kunda

• Ambegaon – Lamps for temple

• Anand Kanan – Vishweshwar Temple

• Aundha Nagnath Temple, destroyed during Aurangzeb's conquests, rebuilt by Ahilyabai Holkar

• Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh)–

  • Construction of Shri Rama Temple,

  • Shri Treta Rama Temple,

  • Shri Bhairava Temple,

  • Nageshwar/Siddhnath Temple,

  • Sarayu Ghat,

  • Well,

  • Swargadwari Mohatajkhana & Dharamshalas

• Badrinath (Uttarakhand)

  • Construction of Shri Kedareshwar Temple and Hari Temple,

  • Dharamshalas (at Rangdachati, Bidarchati, Vyasaganga, Tunganath, Pawali),

  • Construction of many kundas (at Gaurkund, Kundachatri),

  • a garden and a kunda of warm water at Devprayag, pastoral land for cows

• Gangotri – Vishwanath, Kedarnath, Annapurna and Bhairav Temples, many Dharmashalas

• Beed – Renovation of a Ghat & the Khandeshwari temple

• Belur (Karnataka) – Construction of Ganapati, Panduranga, Jaleshwar, Khandoba, Tirthraja and Fire temples & a Kunda

• Bhanpura – Nine Temples and Dharmashala

• Bharatpur(Rajasthan) – Construction of a Temple, Dharmashala, Kunda & Ghat

• Kumher – Well and Memorial of Prince Khandera

• Bhimashankar – Garibkhana

• Bhusawal(Maharashtra) – Construction of Changadev Temple

• Bitthur – Bhramaghat

• Chandwad – Vishnu Temple and Renuka Temple

• Chaundi – Chaudeshwaridevi Temple, Sineshwar Mahadev temple, Ahilyeshwar Temple, Dharamshala, Ghat

• Chitrakoot, Madhya Pradesh – Pranpratishta of Shri Ramachandra & 4 other temples

• Cikhalda – Annakshetra (public building from where food would be distributed among sadhus free of cost)

• Dwarka (Gujarat) – Mohatajkhana, Pooja House and donation of some villages to the priests of the Dwarkadhish Temple

• Ellora (Maharashtra) - Commissioning the last layer of paintings decorating the shrine of Kailasanath Temple within the Ellora Caves

• Gaya (Bihar) – Reconstruction of the Vishnupad Temple in 1787 which had been previously desecrated & demolished by Aurangzeb in 1669.

• Gokarna – Rewaleshwar Mahadev temple, Holkar Wada, Garden and Garibkhana

• Grishneshwar (Maharashtra ) – Construction of the Grishneshwar Shiva temple and the Shivalaya Tirth

• Handiya – Siddhanath Temple, ghat and Dharmashala

• Haridwar(Uttarakhand) – Construction of the Kushavarta Ghat on the river Ganga & 2 Dharmashalas

• Indore – Many Temples and ghats

• Jalgaon – Ram Mandir

• Jamghat – Bhumi Dwar

• Jalgaon – Land donated for Ramdas Swami Math

• Jejuri – Malhargautameshwar, Vitthal, Martand Temple, Janai Mahadev and Malhar lakes

• Karmanasini River – Bridge

• Kedarnath – Dharmashala and Kund

• Kolhapur – Facilities for temple pooja

• Khargone – Fort and many temples and ghats

• Kurukshetra (Haryana) – Construction of 2 Shiva Temples, Panchkund Ghat & Laxmikund Ghat

• Maheshwar – Hundreds of temples, ghats, dharmashalas and houses

• Mamaleshwar Mahadev Himachal Pradesh – Lamps

• Manasa Devi – Seven temples

• Mandleshwar – Shiv Temple Ghat

• Mangaon – Datta Mandir, Near Sawantwadi, Konkan, Maharashtra, India

• Meerut - Chandi Devi Temple

• Miri (Ahmednagar) – Bhairav Temple in 1780

• Naimabar(Madhya Pradesh) – Temple

• Nandurbar – At Temple, Well, Brahmanpuri Dantlochan Ganpati and Shiva temple.

• Nathdwara(Rajasthan) – Construction of Ahilya Kund, Temple, Well & Dharmashala

• Nandurkhi BK – Well

• Neelkantha Mahadev – Shivalaya and Gomukh

• Namisharanya(Uttar Pradesh) – Construction of Mahadev Madi, Nimsar Dharmashala, Go-ghat & Cakratirtha Kunda

• Nimgaon (Nashik) – Well

• Omkareshwar (Madhya Pradesh) – Renovation of the temples of Mamaleshwar Mahadev, Amaleshwar & Trambakeshwar Temples, completing the construction of Gauri-Somnath temple, construction of a Dharmashala & pond, donation of a silver mask for adoration of the Shivalinga

• Ozar (Ahmednagar) – 2 wells and kund

• Panj Tirath, Peshawar – Ahilyabai Holkar rebuilt the current temple at this site. Local tradition says that Ahilyabai had to leave in three days in the wake of Afghan invasions. The temple was built within three days under her supervision.

• Panchavati, Nasik – Shri Ram Temple, Gora Mahadev temple, Dharmashala, Vishweshwar Temple, Ramghat, Dharmashala

• Parli Vaijnath (Maharastra) – Renovation of the temple in 1784

• Pandharpur (Maharashtra) – Construction of Shri Rama Temple, Tulsibag, Holkarwada, Sabha Mandap, Dharmashala, Bajirao well. and donation of silver utensils to the Vitthal Temple, Pandharpur

• Pimplas (Nashik) – Well

• Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh) – Construction of Vishnu Temple, Dharmashala, Garden, Ghat

• Pune – Ghat

• Puntambe (Maharashtra) – Construction of a Ghat on the Godavari river

• Puri (Odisha) – Shri Ramachandra Temple, Dharmashala and Garden, embelli

• Pushkar(Rajasthan) – Construction of Ganapati Temple, a Dharmashala & Garden

• Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu) – Construction of Hanumana Temple, Shri Radha Krishna Temple, a Dharmashala, Well & Garden

• Rampura – Four Temples, Dharmashala and houses

• Raver – Keshav Kund

• Rishikesh – Many temples including Shrinathji and Govardhan ram temples

• Sakargaon – Well

• Sambhalgram(Uttar Pradesh) – Construction of Lakshminarayana Temple and two wells

• Sangamner – Ram Temple

• Saptashrungi – Dharmashala

• Sardhana Meerut – Chandi Devi Temple

• Prabhas Patan (Gujarat) – Renovation and Pranaprathistha(consecration) of the Somnath temple in 1785 which had been previously desecrated & demolished on the orders of Aurangzeb in 1665.

• Siddhivinayak temple's inner sanctum at Siddhatek in Ahmednagar District

• Shri Nagnath (Darukhvan) – Started pooja in 1784

• Srisailam (Andhra Pradesh) – Construction of a temple

• Shri Shambhu Mahadev Mountain Shingnapur (Maharashtra) – Well

• Shri Vighneshwar – Lamps

• Sinhpur – Shiv Temple and ghat

• Sulpeshwar – Mahadev Temple, Annakshetra

• Sultanpur (Khandesh) – Temple

• Tarana – Tilabhandeshwar Shiv temple, Khedapati, Shriram Temple, Mahakali Temple

• Tehari (Bundelkhand) – Construction of a Dharmashala

• Trimbakeshwar (Maharashtra) – Construction of a bridge on the Kushavarta Ghat

• Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh) – Construction of temples of Chintamani Ganapati, Janardana, Shri Lila Purushottama, Balaji Tilakeshwar, Ramjanaki Ras Mandal, Gopala, Balaji, and many other temples, 13 ghats on the river Shipra, well and many Dharmashalas

• Varanasi(Uttar Pradesh) – Reconstruction of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in 1780 which had been previously desecrated, demolished & converted into a mosque by Aurangzeb in 1669. Construction of 9 temples including those of Shri Tarakeshwar, Shri Gangaji, Ahilya Dwarkeshwar, Gautameshwar; (re)construction of Ghats including Manikarnika Ghat, Dashashwamedh Ghat, Janana Ghat, Ahilya Ghat, Shitala Ghat; construction of Uttarkashi Dharmashala, Rameshwar Panchkoshi Dharmashala, Kapila Dhara Dharmashala & gardens

• Mathura & Vrindavan (Uttar Pradesh) – Construction of Chain Bihari Temple, Kaliyadalana Ghat, Chiraghat, and many other ghats on the river Yamuna, Dharmashala, Annaksetra, thereby reviving pilgrimage to the site whose prominent temples had been desecrated & demolished by Aurangzeb in 1670.

• Wafgaon (Rajgurunagar, Pune) – Holkar Wada and one well

• Ambad (Maharashtra) - Matsodari Devi Mandir

• Vikharan (Shirpur Dist: Dhule Maharashtra) Well

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Ahilyabai arranged for supplying water from the river Ganga collected at Gangotri to be received by the following temples :

• Rameshwara Jyotirlinga, Tamil Nadu

• Mallikarjunaswamy Jyotirlinga, Andhra Pradesh

• Janardanaswamy temple, Kerala

• Padmanabhaswamy temple, Kerala

• Venkateshwara (Tirupati Balaji) temple, Andhra Pradesh

• Mahabaleshwara temple, Karnataka

• Subrahmanyeshwara temple, Andhra Pradesh

• Pasupateshwara temple, Tamil Nadu

• Dwarkadhish temple, Gujarat

• Ranchhorji temple, Gujarat

• Utkanteshwara temple, Gujarat

• Vaijanath temple, Maharashtra

• Tryambakeshwara Jyotirlinga, Maharashtra

• Panchavati temple, Maharashtra

• Matrugaya temple, Gujarat

• Siddheshwara temple, Maharashtra

• Bhimashankara Jyotirlinga, Maharashtra

• Pandharpur Panduranga temple, Maharashtra

• Eklingji temple, Rajasthan

• Somanath Jyotirlinga, Gujarat

• Nathadwara Shrinathji temple, Rajasthan,

• Vriddheshwara temple, Maharashtra

• Ghrishneshwara temple, Maharashtra

• Loteshwara temple, Gujarat

• Rajarajeshwara temple, Kerala

• Mahakaleshwara Jyotirlinga, Madhya Pradesh

• Omkareshwara Jyotirlinga, Madhya Pradesh

• Kashi Viswanath Jyotirlinga, Uttar Pradesh

• Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga, Jharkhand

Most of these services at present are maintained by The Khasgi (Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Charities) Trust of Indore.

For the benefit of sadhus & Hindu pilgrims, Ahilyabai had constructed roads laid with trees & dharamshalas that connected Haridwar, Mathura, Prayag, Ayodhya, Varanasi, Gaya, Deogarh, Bardhaman, Medinipur, Puri, Tirupati, Srikurmam, Kanchipuram, Srirangam, Madurai, Ramnathapuram, Kanyakumari, Thiruvananthapuram, Gokarna, Pandharpur, Prabhas Patan & Dwarka. These pilgrim roads fell out of use after introduction of railways in India.