Rajmata Ahilyabai Holkar was the Holkar Queen of the Malwa kingdom

 🚩 Born in the village of Chondi in Jamkhed, Ahilya Nagar,Maharashtra, Maharani Ahilyabai or as she was fondly referred to Rajmata Ahilyabai Holkar was the Holkar Queen of the Malwa kingdom.

Her father, Mankoji Rao Shinde, was chief of the village. Despite women’s education being a far cry in the village, her father homeschooled her to read and write.

Lord of the Malwa territory, Malhar Rao Holkar, spotted Ahilyabai at the temple service feeding the hungry and poor, on his stop in Chaundi while travelling to Pune.

Moved by the young girl’s charity and strength of character, he decided to ask her hand in marriage for his son Khanderao Holkar. She was married to Khanderao Holkar in 1733.

But her husband Khanderao was killed in the battle of Kumbher in 1754, leaving her a widow at only 29.

When Ahilyabai was about to commit Sati, her father-in-law Malhar Rao refused to let it happen.

He had been her strongest pillar of support at the time. But a young Ahilyabai could see her kingdom fall like a pack of cards after her father-in-law passed away in 1766, only 12 years after the death of his son Khanderao.

The old ruler’s death led to his grandson and Ahilyabai’s only son Male Rao Holkar ascending the throne under her regency.

The last straw came when the young monarch Male Rao too died, a few months into his rule, on 5 April 1767, thus creating a vacuum in the power structure of the kingdom.

One can imagine how a woman, royalty or not, would suffer after losing her husband, father-in-law and only son. But Ahilyabai stood undeterred. She did not let the grief of her loss affect the administration of the kingdom and the lives of her people.

She took matters into her own hands.She ascended the throne and became the ruler of Indore on 11 December 1767.

Just a year into her rule, one saw the brave Holkar queen protect her kingdom – fighting off invaders tooth and nail from plundering Malwa. Armed with swords and weapons, she led armies into the battlefield.

There she was, the queen of Malwa, slaying her enemies and invaders on battlefronts with four bows and quivers of arrows fitted to the corners of the howdah of her favourite elephant.

Her confidante on military matters was Subhedar Tukojirao Holkar (also Malhar Rao’s adopted son) whom she appointed the head of the military.

The Queen of Malwa, apart from being a brave queen and proficient ruler, was also an erudite politician. She observed the bigger picture when the Peshwa couldn’t pin down the agenda of the British.

In her letter to the Peshwa in 1772, she had warned him, calling the British embrace a bear-hug: “Other beasts, like tigers, can be killed by might or contrivance, but to kill a bear it is very difficult. It will die only if you kill it straight in the face, Or else, once caught in its powerful hold; the bear will kill its prey by tickling. Such is the way of the English. And given this, it is difficult to triumph over them.”

The Holkar queen also embellished and beautified various sites including Kashi, Gaya, Somnath, Ayodhya, Mathura, Hardwar, Kanchi, Avanti, Dwarka, Badrinarayan, Rameshwar and Jaganathpuri as recorded by the Bharatiya Sanskritikosh.

Her capital at Maheshwar was a melting pot of literary, musical, artistic and industrial achievements. She opened her capital’s doors to stalwarts like Marathi poet Moropant, Shahir Anantaphandi and Sanskrit scholar, Khushali Ram.

Her capital was known for is distinct craftsmen, sculptors and artists who were paid handsomely for their work and kept in high regards by the Queen. She also moved on to establishing a textile industry in the city.

Some Religious monuments built by Maharani Ahilya Bai alone :

Alampur (MP) – 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- Shri Vishweshwar Temple, Kotithirth Temple, Gomukhi Temple, Dharamshala, Vansh Kund

Ambegaon – Lamps for temple

Anand Kanan – Vishweshwar Temple

Ayodhya (U.P)– Built Shri Ram Temple, Shri Treta Ram Temple, Shri Bhairav Temple, Nageshwar/Siddhnath Temple, Sharayu Ghat, well, Swargadwari Mohatajkhana, Dharamshalas

Badrinath (Uttarakhand) – Badrinath Temple, Shri Kedareshwar and Hari Temples, Dharamshalas (Rangdachati, Bidarchati, Vyasganga, Tanganath, Pawali), Manu kunds (Gaurkund, Kundachatri), Garden and Warm Water Kund at Dev Prayag, Pastoral land for cows

Beed – Jirnnodhar of a Ghat,khandeshwari temple.

Belur (Karnataka) – Ganpati, Pandurang, Jaleshwar, Khandoba, Tirthraj and Fire temples, Kund

Bhanpura – Nine Temples and Dharmashala

Bharatpur – Temple, Dharmashala, Kund

Bhimashankar – Garibkhana

Bhusawal – Changadev Temple

Bitthur – Bhramaghat

Burhanpur (MP) – Raj Ghat, Ram Ghat, Kund

Chandwad – Vishnu Temple and Renuka Temple

Chaundi – Chaudeshwaridevi Temple, Sineshwar Mahadev temple,

Ahilyeshwar Temple, Dharamshala, Ghat,

Chitrakoot – Pranpratishta of Shri Ramchandra

Cikhalda – Annakshetra

Dwarka (Gujarat) – Mohatajkhana, Pooja House and gave some villages to priest

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

Gaya (Bihar) – Vishnupad Temple

((Gokarna)) – Rewaleshwar Mahadev temple, Holkar wada, Garden and Garibkhana

Grishneshwar – Shiva temple and Shivalaya Tirth

Handiya – Siddhanath Temple, ghat and dharmashala

Haridwar – Kushawarth Ghat

Indore – Many Temples and ghats

Jalgaon – Ram Mandir

Jamghat – Bhumi dwar

Jamvgaon – 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

Kumher – Well and Memorial of Prince Khandera

Khargone – fort and many temples and ghats

Kurukshetra (Haryana) – Shiv Shantanu Mahadev Temple, Panchkund Ghat, Laxmikund Ghat

Maheshwar – Hundreds of temples, ghats, dharmashalas and houses

Mamaleshwar Mahadev Himachal Pradesh – Lamps

Manasa Devi – Seven temples

Mandaleshwar – Shiv Temple Ghat

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

Meerut Chandi Devi Temple

Miri (Ahmednagar) – Bhairav Temple in 1780

Naimabar(MP) – Temple

Nandurbar – Temple, Well

Nathdwara – Ahilya Kund, Temple, Well

Nandurkhi BK – Well

Neelkantha Mahadev – Shivalaya and Gomukh

Nemisharanya(UP) – Mahadev Madi, Nimsar Dharmashala, Go-ghat, Cakrithirth kund

Nimgaon (Nashik) – Well

Omkareshwar (MP) – Mamaleshwar Mahadev, Amaleshwar, Trambakeshwar Temples (Jirnnodhar), Gauri Somnath Temple, Dharmashalas, Wells

Ozar (Ahmednagar) – 2 wells and kund

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

Parli Vaijnath – Shri Vaidyanath Mandir

Pandharpur (Maharashtra) – Shri Ram Temple, Tulsibag, Holkar wada, Sabha Mandap, Dharmashala and gave silver utensil for the Vitthal Temple, Pandharpur, Well-Which known by Bagirao well.

Pimplas (Nashik) – well

Prayag (Allahabad UP) – Vishnu Temple, Dharmashala, Garden, Ghat, Palace

Pune – Ghat

Puntambe (Maharashtra) – Ghat on Godavari river

Puri (Odisha) – Shri Ramchandra Temple, Dharmashala and Garden

Pushkar – Ganpati Temple, Dharmashala, Garden

Rameswaram (TN) – Hanuman Temple, Shri Radha Krishna Temple, Dharmashala, Well, Garden etc.

Rampura – Four Temples, Dharmashala and houses

Raver – Keshav Kund

Rishikesh – Many temples including Shrinathji and Govardhan ram temples

Sakargaon – well

Sambhal – Laxmi Narayan Temple and two wells

Sangamner – Ram Temple

Saptashrungi – Dharmashala

Sardhana Meerut – Chandi Devi Temple

Saurashtra (Guj) – Somnath Temple in 1785. (Jirnnodhdhar and Pran Prathistha)

Siddhivinayak temple's inner sanctum at Siddhatekin Ahmednagar District

Shri Nagnath (Darukhvan) – Started pooja in 1784

Srisailam (AP) – Mallikarjuna Swamy 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) – Dharmashala

Trimbakeshwar (Nashik) – Bridge on Kushawarth Ghat

Ujjain (MP) – Chintaman Ganapati, Janardhan, Shrilila urushottam, Balaji Tilakeshwar, Ramjanaki Ras Mandal, Gopal, Chitnis, Balaji, Ankpal, Shiv and many other temples, 13 ghats, well and many Dharmashalas etc.

Varanasi – Kashi Vishwanath Temple (1780[15]), Shri Tarakeshwar, Shri Gangaji, Ahilya Dwarkeshwar, Gautameshwar, Many Shiva Temples; Ghats including Manikarnika Ghat, Dashashwamedh Ghat, Janana Ghat, Ahilya Ghat, Shitala Ghat; UttarKashi Dharmashala, Rameshwar Panchkoshi Dharmashala, Kapila Dhara Dharmashala,

Vrindavan (Mathura) – Chain Bihari Temple, Kaliyadeha Ghat, Chirghat and many other ghats, Dharmashala, Annakstra

Wafgaon (Rajgurunagar, Pune) – Holkar wada and one well

Ambad (maharashtra) -Matsodari Devi Mandir

Vikharan (Shirpur Dist:Dhule maharashtra) Well

Rennovation of Somnath Temple

Salute to this Great Maharani, whose contribution towards Dharma is more than anyone in recent history.

Jai Bhavani!

Har Har Mahadev!