Friday 22 December 2017

Shivaji Maharaj History: Shivrajyabhishek

Shivaji Maharaj was one of the greatest Maratha warriors who was instrumental in establishing the Maratha empire and starting the socio-politico movement by the name Hindavi Swarajya. He was known for his administration and disciplined military. But he was most famous for his military tactics or guerrilla warfare. Such was his skills that his strongest of enemies used to fear him. For they never knew when, how, and from where he would attack them. At the young age of 15, he conquered many regions around Pune under the rule of Bijapur Sultanate, with the help of his loyal soldiers of the Maval region.

After gaining control over Pune and Konkan regions, he decided to assume a title of the king and establish Hindu Sovereignty. That's what paved the way for his Rajyabhishek on June 6, 1674. The place selected for the ceremony was an open ground in a small village called Meghdambari in Raigad. It is estimated that there were 50,000 general people and 20,000 brahmins who attended the ceremony.

Shivrajyabhishek Sohla Description

The Rajyabhishek was done according to the Hindu shastras by Pandit Gaga Bhatt. He held a gold vessel containing sacred water from Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Ravi, Sindhu, Krishna, and Kaveri over Shivaji's head and chanted coronation mantras until the very last drop of water from the sacred vessel was completely emptied. Once the ablution was done, Shivaji Maharaj touched his mother Jijabai's feet and took her blessings. The main priest then put a sacred thread called jaanva over Shivaji's shoulder with the reciting of mantra.


After the rituals were over, Shivaji changed into the king's attire and proceeded to the throne. While he was heading, all the brahmins started chanting mantras. The crowd also shouted 'jai jai' ecstatically and musicians played music. To give the ceremony a royal touch, canon balls were also fired. Then, Pandit Bhatt headed towards the thrown with a royal umbrella decked with gold and pearls. He stood beside Shivaji Maharaj, held the umbrella over his head, and bestowed the title of Chatrapati (paramount sovereign), Kshatriya Kulavantas (head of Kshatriya), and Shakakarta (head and founder of an era), and Haindavi Dharmodhhaarak (one who uplifts the sanctity of Hinduism) to him and announced him the 'king'. This coronation was one of the best that India had ever seen in the history.


Soon after his coronation, a procession was held through the streets of the capital city with Shivaji on the back of an elephant. The march was accompanied by his ministers, generals, and commoners. There was jubilation all over and people were proud of him since he took the bold step of Rajyabhishek without bothering about taking permission for the same from the Mughals. But the joy didn't last for long because of the demise of his mother on 18th June 1674. Since the demise of his mother just after his coronation was considered as a bad omen, all the priests decided to have the coronation ceremony again on 24th September 1674, which was performed according to Bengali School of Tantricism by Nischal Puri.

*You May Also Like to Download: Shivcharitra in Marathi PDF

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