Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Maharashtra today and inaugurating the Sant Tukaram temple in Pune’s Dehu, inaugurate the ‘Gallery of Revolutionaries and Jal Bhushan temple in South Mumbai, and also participate in the ‘Dwishatabdi Mahotsav’, the 200th-anniversary celebrations of Mumbai’s iconic newspaper, the ‘Mumbai Samachar’ at the Bandra Kurla Complex. PM Modi will also, eventually share the stage with Maharashtra Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray during today’s tour.
Sant Tukaram Temple Dedicated To The 17th Century Saint
PM Modi took to his official Twitter account on Monday to share, ‘I feel blessed to be getting the opportunity to inaugurate the Jagatguru Shrisant Tukaram Maharaj Temple in Dehu. We are all inspired by the divine teachings of Sant Tukaram Ji, particularly the emphasis on serving society and empowering the downtrodden.’
I feel blessed to be getting the opportunity to inaugurate the Jagatguru Shrisant Tukaram Maharaj Temple in Dehu. We are all inspired by the divine teachings of Sant Tukaram Ji, particularly the emphasis on serving society and empowering the downtrodden.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 13, 2022
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Just A ‘Shila’ Before Being A Temple
Jagatguru Shrisant Tukaram Maharaj was a well-known poet and saint. Although, a ‘shila’ temple was built on the rock before it was formally turned into a temple. The saint had sat on the rock or ‘shila’ for 13 days when he was questioned on the Abhyang poetry that he had written. It is said that this rock is a holy site and a place of pilgrimage for the people of the Warkari community.
Sant Tukaram believed in the concept of a casteless society. And his works were crucial to Maharashtra’s Warkari community.
PM Modi’s First Visit To The Temple
This will be the PM’s first visit to the Pune temple. And before him, in 2009, former President Pratibha Patil had visited the site of the Sant Tukaram temple.
It may be mentioned that PM Modi’s visit can be a crucial one considering the local body elections are to be held in the state soon. Maharashtra’s two parties – the NCP and Shiv Sena have a stronghold in the political scenario within the state.
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First Published: June 14, 2022 12:45 PM