Lucknow, May 14 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday hailed Ahilyabai Holkar as the very personification of “dharma, justice, and national duty,” and credited her with pioneering the revival of Sanatan heritage.
Adityanath made the remarks at a ceremony that marked the queen of Indore’s 300th birth anniversary in Lucknow’s Indira Gandhi Pratishthan.
The CM, according to a statement, recalled that during an era marked by foreign invasions and widespread temple destruction, Ahilyabai Holkar, who earned the moniker Lokmata, undertook the restoration of religious sites from Kashi to Rameshwaram.
In doing so, she embodied the Vedic principle ‘Dharma raksati raksita’ — dharma protects those who protect it, he said.
“My path is the path of dharma; the path of dharma is the path of justice, and only justice can make us powerful and capable,” the CM quoted Ahilyabai, to say that this ideology shaped both her statesmanship and her service.
He said that the present-day splendour of the Kashi Vishwanath temple rests on the foundation she laid between 1777 and 1780 with her personal resources.
All the same, her efforts stretched far beyond Kashi, he said.
According to the statement, Ahilyabai rebuilt and renovated Kedarnath, Rameshwaram, Somnath, Haridwar, Mahishmati, and numerous other holy sites, while commissioning ghats, wells, and step-wells to ensure pilgrims’ ease and access to pure water.
Adityanath said the Indore queen promoted the sari industry to foster self-reliance among women, encouraged widow remarriage, and moved to end child marriage, acts that remain exemplary today.
Drawing a parallel with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s post-Independence restoration of Somnath, Adityanath said Ahilyabai sowed the same seeds of cultural resurgence centuries earlier.
He also invoked Adi Shankaracharya’s four ‘peethas’ as proof of India’s enduring cultural unity.
He noted that, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, monumental projects in Kashi, Ayodhya, Ujjain, and Maa Vindhyavasini Dham carry forward this legacy.
“Let us take inspiration from Maharani Ahilyabai’s life and commit ourselves wholeheartedly to restoring India’s timeless splendour and the vitality of Sanatan culture,” he said.
Adityanath also described the recently concluded Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj as a remarkable testament to India’s cultural consciousness and administrative excellence. PTI ABN VN VN
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