300 years on, Ahilyabai Holkar still defines true Nari Shakti

A few months ago, while driving through rural West Bengal, the GPS suddenly showed me as being on Ahilyabai Holkar Road. I was aware of Rani Ahilyabai’s work in terms of contributing to the construction or reconstruction of temples in key Hindu pilgrim destinations across many parts of India, but Bengal was a surprise. Some research revealed that while she may not have been active in Bengal, the impact of her spiritual contribution was so deep that respect for her was a national phenomenon.

Last Saturday was the 300th anniversary of her birth. As with many such stellar figures, her origins were humble. Born on May 31, 1725 in a village, in what is now Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, her father was a ‘Patil’ of their village – a revenue official. One day, the Maratha chieftain Malhar Rao Holkar was passing through the village and spotted little Ahilya in the temple. Impressed with her character, he sought her as his daughter in law.

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Ahilya was married to Malhar Rao’s son, Khanderao, in 1733. He was about ten and she was eight. Word is that Khanderao had been an errant boy and Malhar Rao had sought to temper him through the alliance with Ahilya. It worked and the older Khanderao began showing higher commitment to working with his father, in the latter’s rapidly growing responsibilities as a key pillar of the Maratha confederacy. Ahilya and Khanderao were blessed with a son in 1745 and a daughter in 1748. From her mother-in-law, who almost brought her up to an extent, Ahilya learnt not just values but also accounts and administration.

Life took a dramatic turn in 1754. Khanderao, who had been involved in many battles to expand the influence of the Marathas, was killed during an assault on Kumher Fort. Malhar Rao prevented the grieving Ahilya from committing Sati and over time, taught her the nuances of diplomacy, statecraft and even military affairs.

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In saving Ahilyabai from Sati, Malhar Rao had done Bharat an immense service. The decades that followed saw her work leave an indelible impact not just on the Holkar state, but across the country. It was an anarchic period to live in, even worse to govern a land in central India. As the Mughal empire crumbled, its provinces effectively became independent kingdoms. Incursions from Persia and Afghanistan were frequent. European merchants began to flex their military muscles and take control of territory. The Marathas themselves asserted their might and tried to carve out an empire of their own, overcoming the setback of Panipat 1761 to take control of Delhi for a period.

The guiding hand of Malhar Rao ended with his passing in 1766. Ahilya’s son succeeded him but died in less than a year. From that point, till her own death in 1795, Ahilyabai was de facto ruler of the Holkar state herself. Amidst the anarchy around the country, her territory was an island of sanctity and calm. Not only did she preserve the borders of the Holkar state but strengthened it financially – and she did so without expanding her borders. She leveraged her state’s geography by revitalising trade routes and growing trade and commerce. Even the communities that indulged in banditry were given an incentive to desist. While inheriting a robust agrarian revenue base from Malhar Rao, as well as revenue from defeated Rajput princes, she created a grain reserve which alleviated conditions when much of the country was impacted by famine. This ensured agricultural continuity.

But her greatest contribution – for which she is held in near-reverence – was in the religious space. She played a pivotal role in the re-installation of idols at Somnath and Kashi Vishwanath. She built temples, ghats, dharamshalas, gardens and ensured prayers at places as far removed from each other as the Char Dham, Mathura, Ayodhya, Gaya, Haridwar and even Kanchipuram. Apart from contributing to Ujjain and Omkareshwar, in her own kingdom. The full list of temples she touched is too long to recount here.

Given that so many of these temples were in territories outside her domain, she used to write to rulers of these distant regions, asking for her to be allowed to restore a dilapidated temple or build a new ghat, at her cost. It is said that merely the mention of Ahilyabai’s name in such requests was enough. And once permission was granted, her workmen would carry out the work. Coming after centuries of neglect and destruction, her contributions revived not just the temples but led to a reemergence of a Hindu consciousness also. The temples she restored to life are still in existence, the traditions she began still practiced, the ghats she created are still a place for journeys into oneself.

And in an era where rulers undertook vast construction projects from public money for the sole purpose of ensuring their own immortality, perhaps the most remarkable aspect of her religious work was the funding. The money for all of this was drawn from her personal fortune, not public money. And furthermore, in undertaking such projects, she had the clarity that many ‘liberals’ lack in modern India – seeing the deep, underlying cultural oneness in the land that is Bharat.

In her personal life, she was spartan. Her court was not extravagant, accounts were carefully maintained, and corruption weeded out – remarkable again, in an age where even minor nobles were profligate. Sadly, though, tragedy marked her life. Her son, Malerao, was mentally unstable – accounts say he was also debauched – and died an early death. In 1791, her daughter committed Sati on the funeral pyre of her husband – something Ahilya was unable to prevent. But the noble queen’s work continued, till her end came.

The legacy of the woman who truly defined Nari Shakti can be seen in two dimensions. The larger one is national and its impact seen from Kedarnath to Kanchipuram. But her personal legacy is in Madhya Pradesh. In Alampur (Bhind), where she built Malhar Rao Holkar’s cenotaph where he was cremated. In places like Indore’s Rajwada Palace, which has a museum on the queen. In Indore’s Chhatribaug, where she built memorials to her father-in-law, husband and son. In tiny Kampel near Indore, where a kacheri is now a tehsil headquarters. In nearby Omkareshwar’s Jyotirlinga, where she contributed a silver idol, a house for drums, a flower-garden, apart from a palanquin and boat to connect this island on the Narmada. At Bakawan and Mardana, where she built Shiva temples.

But if there is one place where one can almost feel her presence, it is the fort of Maheshwar on the banks of the Narmada.

In Maheshwar, the tradition of weaving that Ahilya began continues in the form of glorious Maheshwari sarees that provide employment to women. The ghats are dotted with Shiva lingas. Temples seem to be everywhere, among them the most magnificent is Ahilyeshwar shrine. At sunset, a visitor sitting quietly on these ghats might spot a woman lighting a diya—or was it just his imagination?

The author is a heritage explorer with a penchant for seeking obscure sites. A brand consultant by profession, he tweets @HiddenHeritage. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.