I woke up on Sunday January 18, 2009 morning to read to my horror that Mastani’s (मस्तानी) samdhi/mausoleum/grave at Pabal (पाबळ) had been destroyed.
The tragic love tale of Mastani and Baji Rao-I (पहिला बाजीराव) is a great example of composite culture of India. Many have attempted to narrate it but no one has done it better than the late D G Godse (द ग गोडसे) who died seventeen years ago this month.
No doubt his Marathi book- truly a labour of love- “Mastani”, Popular Prakashan, 1989 contains a lot of speculation but it is because so little is mentioned about her in contemporary reliable sources.
We may never catch the vandals/ tomb-raiders who destroyed her final resting place in 2009 but Godse produces strong circumstantial evidence to name the 18th century people responsible for Mastani's persecution: Baji Rao-I's younger brother Chimajiappa (चिमाजीअप्पा) and their mother Radhabai (राधाबाई).
In a Marathi letter to me, appended here, Godse argues that Mastani was the victim of "Stalinism" of 18th century Maharashtra. (I don't agree with his this nomenclature...a lot of Godse's writing on the subject of Mastani is pure speculation.)
Godse describes Mastani’s samdhi so movingly in his book. I have enclosed the relevant page from the book here.
(Aside: Godse’s labour of love moved poet Sadanand Rege (सदानंद रेगे) so much that he wrote a poem on the subject of Godse’s visit to Pabal! Find it at the bottom of this post.)
If D G Godse were to be alive today, he would have felt devastated. He might have interpreted vandalism of her samadhi as a sign of her continued persecution almost 300 years after her death. I wonder if he would have still maintained optimism expressed in his line: "Still her future is bright!" ("तरीही तिचे भविष्य उज्वल आहे!").
(click on the pictures below to get much larger view of them.)
Mastani samadhi-Before vandalism and After
(courtesy: Godse's book and Pudhari(पुढारी), January 18 2009)
(Description of Mastani's Samadhi by D G Godse)
D G Godse's letter dated 1991 to me that has that immortal line "Still her future is bright!"
The late Sadanand Rege's poem on D G Godse's love of Mastani
The tragic love tale of Mastani and Baji Rao-I (पहिला बाजीराव) is a great example of composite culture of India. Many have attempted to narrate it but no one has done it better than the late D G Godse (द ग गोडसे) who died seventeen years ago this month.
No doubt his Marathi book- truly a labour of love- “Mastani”, Popular Prakashan, 1989 contains a lot of speculation but it is because so little is mentioned about her in contemporary reliable sources.
We may never catch the vandals/ tomb-raiders who destroyed her final resting place in 2009 but Godse produces strong circumstantial evidence to name the 18th century people responsible for Mastani's persecution: Baji Rao-I's younger brother Chimajiappa (चिमाजीअप्पा) and their mother Radhabai (राधाबाई).
In a Marathi letter to me, appended here, Godse argues that Mastani was the victim of "Stalinism" of 18th century Maharashtra. (I don't agree with his this nomenclature...a lot of Godse's writing on the subject of Mastani is pure speculation.)
Godse describes Mastani’s samdhi so movingly in his book. I have enclosed the relevant page from the book here.
(Aside: Godse’s labour of love moved poet Sadanand Rege (सदानंद रेगे) so much that he wrote a poem on the subject of Godse’s visit to Pabal! Find it at the bottom of this post.)
If D G Godse were to be alive today, he would have felt devastated. He might have interpreted vandalism of her samadhi as a sign of her continued persecution almost 300 years after her death. I wonder if he would have still maintained optimism expressed in his line: "Still her future is bright!" ("तरीही तिचे भविष्य उज्वल आहे!").
(click on the pictures below to get much larger view of them.)
Mastani samadhi-Before vandalism and After
(courtesy: Godse's book and Pudhari(पुढारी), January 18 2009)
(Description of Mastani's Samadhi by D G Godse)
D G Godse's letter dated 1991 to me that has that immortal line "Still her future is bright!"
The late Sadanand Rege's poem on D G Godse's love of Mastani
