Jijabai

Jijabai Shahaji Bhosale (January 12-1598-June 17, 1674), sometimes referred to as Rajmata Jijabai or even simply Jijai, was the mother of Shivaji, founder of the Maratha Empire.

Family

Jijabai, born on January 12, 1598 was a daughter of Lakhojirao Jadhavar in present-day Sindkhed Raja Buldhana district of Maharashtra State. As per the customs of that age, she was wed at an early age to Shahaji Raje Bhonsle, a nobleman and military commander under the Adil Shahi sultans of Bijapur Sultanate in present-day Karnataka. She was his first wife. Jijabai gave birth to eight children, six daughters and two sons. All the daughters died in infancy and only the sons Sambhaji and Shivaji grew to adulthood.

On mission

She wholeheartedly supported her husband's cause. Shahaji had tried to establish a state on the ruins of the erstwhile Nizamshahi sultanate. However he was defeated by the combined forces of the Mughals and Adilshahi.Later Shahaji became a sardar in Adilshah's army. He settled in Karnataka and got married again. As per the treaty he was forced to move south. In order to continue the struggle, he deputed her as queen regent.

Shivaji

Shivaji Bhonsle (Marathi [ʃiʋaˑɟiˑ bʱoˑs(ə)leˑ]; c. 1627/1630 – 3 April 1680), also known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian warrior king and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out an enclave from the declining Adilshahi sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the Maratha Empire. In 1674, he was formally crowned as the Chhatrapati (Monarch) of his realm at Raigad.

Shivaji established a competent and progressive civil rule with the help of a disciplined military and well-structured administrative organisations. He innovated military tactics, pioneering the guerrilla warfare methods (Shiva sutra or ganimi kava), which leveraged strategic factors like geography, speed, and surprise and focused pinpoint attacks to defeat his larger and more powerful enemies. He revived ancient Hindu political traditions and court conventions and promoted the usage of Marathi and Sanskrit, rather than Persian, in court and administration.

Shivaji's legacy was to vary by observer and time but began to take on increased importance with the emergence of the Indian independence movement, as many elevated him as a proto-nationalist and hero of the Hindus. Particularly in Maharashtra, debates over his history and role have engendered great passion and sometimes even violence as disparate groups have sought to characterise him and his legacy.

Rajmata Jijau

Rajmata Jijau (Marathi: राजमाता जिजाऊ) is a 2011 Marathi language film based upon the life of Jijabai, mother of the 17th century Maratha king Shivaji, as told in Madan Patil's historical novel Jijausaheb. The film was directed by Yashwant Bhalkar and produced by Mandatai and Sharadrao Nimse from the studio Jijai Chitra in Shirdi.

Plot

Rajmata Jijau tells the story of Jijabai's life, beginning with the return of the child Shivaji to Pune, and in the process depicts Jijabai as a heroine in her own right, largely responsible for the formation of Shivaji, and therefore, for his accomplishments as founder of the Maratha empire.

Cast

Production

Rajmata Jijau was produced by the production company Jijai Chitra. Production began on 6 June 2008 at Raigad with research and pre-production. Filming began in 2009, and the film was released on 20 May 2011.

Jhaverchand Meghani

Jhaverchand Meghani (Gujarati: ઝવેરચંદ મેઘાણી; (1897-08-28)28 August 1897 – 9 March 1947(1947-03-09)) was a noted poet, writer, social reformer and freedom fighter from Gujarat. He is a well-known name in the field of Gujarati literature. He was born in Chotila. Mahatma Gandhi spontaneously gave him the title of Raashtreeya Shaayar (National Poet). Besides this he received many awards like Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak and Mahida Paaritoshik in literature. He authored more than 100 books. His first book was a translation work of Rabindranath Tagore's ballad Kathaa-u-Kaahinee titled Kurbani Ni Katha (Stories of martyrdom) which was first published in 1922. He contributed widely to Gujarati folk literature. He went from village to village in search of folk-lores and published them in various volumes of Saurashtra Ni Rasdhar. He was also the Editor of Phulchhab Newspaper of Janmabhoomi group (which is being published till date from Rajkot).

A sample of his collection of folk tales from Saurashtra has recently been published in an English, with the translation done by his son Vinod Meghani. The three volumes published so far are titled A Noble Heritage, A Shade Crimson and The Ruby Shattered.

Lalitya Munshaw

Lalitya Munshaw, a versatile singer and performer class apart.

Blessed with a melodious voice, she is known for her live performances in India and abroad. Lalitya transcends an expressive and innovative style of her singing in her albums. Her classical training proved to be a platform for her versatility in different genres like Fusion, Film songs, Ghazals, Sufi, Bhajans and Folk.

She recently celebrated Silver jubilee by releasing her 25th sufi and romantic album “Rab Piya” in her Live Concerts which got launched by Raveena Tandon and Shraddha Kapoor respectively in Bombay and in Ahmedabad and got a tremendous response from all over.

Her amazing videos add much more than just visualisation to her music and have been widely appreciated.

Albums and Films ( available to buy in all digital platforms and stores ) Her previously released albums include -Fusion ‘Maika Piya’ with Ranjit Barot & Hariharan, 'Indian Chill Harmonics' , 'Fusion Lounge’ with Ustad Sultan Khan & Ustad Rais Khan and Romantic album ‘Rum Gaya Dil’ . She has a slew of releases of devotional albums namely ‘Aartiyaan’, ,Gayatri Mantra, & ‘Hare Ram Hare Krishna’ with Suresh Wadkar, ‘Krishnarpan’ with Anup Jalota & ‘Shri Krishna Janmotsav’, 'Mahadev - The Almighty ' and “Guru Om”. Her lullaby albums ‘Halarda (Gujarati) and Lori (Hindi) are treat for Mothers and Children. Beside these her Non stop Raas - Garba album 'Aye Halo' is extremely popular. She has sung Bollywood songs in films like Camando , Hai Golmaal in White House and Queens.