The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has expressed firm resolve to rescue the samadhi of great Maratha general and statesman Bajirao Peshwa who was laid to rest on the banks of Narmada at Raver Khed in Madhya Pradesh. The samadhi of the expert swordsman, outstanding rider and master strategist is situated on the bank of Narmada at Raver Khed under Khargoan district. It is in danger of getting submerged with the increase in water level due to under-construction of the Maheshwar Dam.
RSS Sahsarkaryavah Shri Suresh Soni visited Raver Khed on April 28 to participate in a programme to mark the death anniversary of the great Maratha general. He expressed a resolve that the RSS would not allow the samadhi to get submerged. “All efforts will be taken to preserve the historical monument,” he said. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Shri Anil Dave said a huge wall would be constructed around the samadhi to protect it from increasing water level. Collector of Khargone, Shri Navneet Mohan also said that a amount of Rs five crore have been sanctioned for building the wall around the samadhi.
Bajirao died on April 28, 1740, of a sudden fever, possibly a heat stroke, in Khargaon. He was en route to Delhi with one lakh troops under his command at his camp in the district near Indore. His mortal remains were consigned to flames on April 28, 1740 at Raver Khed on the banks of the Narmada River. The great Maratha general changed the map of India in the mid-eighteenth century. His military campaigns were classic examples of his genius. In the havoc of the religious intolerance continued by the tottering Mughals after Aurangzeb, he stood out as the champion of Hinduism as he protected Hindu Dharma from the onslaught of Islamic rulers.
It was Bajirao who expanded the Hindu Kingdom beyond Maharashtra across the Vindhyas and got it recognised in Delhi, the capital of the Mughals, who kept India under their rule for many hundred years. The Hindu Kingdom created by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and later expanded by Bajirao reached its peak during his son’s reign twenty years after his death. After driving the Afghans out of the Punjab, they raised the saffron flag of Hindus not just on the walls of Attock, but even beyond. (FOC)
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