PANAJI
Hindu culture in Goa could be retained because of the efforts of Shivaji Maharaj, who according to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, was the first to kick-start the journey of establishing a Hindu Rashtra in India.
Sawant was speaking at a function organised in Ponda sub-district to celebrate the birth anniversary of the Maratha king, whose reign saw some military forays into Portuguese-held Goa.
Sawant also said that there was a need for the youth in the state to imbibe Shivaji’s qualities and get inspired by him once again.
“Goans will always be indebted to him. The Colvale fort, Betul fort and several temples in this state remained intact because of Chhatrapati Shivaji. Just now, the compere said that Chhatrapati Shivaji played the biggest role in preserving Hindu culture here. Goans cannot forget this,” the Chief Minister said.
Sawant further said that the Maratha king was one of the earliest Indian rulers who set out to establish a Hindu Rashtra in India.
“Everyone says that the youth today should imbibe Chhatrapati Shivaji’s qualities. In his lifespan of around 50 years, he showed exemplary qualities related to good administration, economic policies, his objective of good governance and self-rule. If anyone who has started the journey of establishing a Hindu rashtra in India, it was him,” Sawant said.
This is not the first time that the Chief Minister has extolled the virtues of Shivaji, as well as his son Sambhaji, both of whom were credited by Sawant in the past for preserving Hindu culture in the former Portuguese colony.
“Not just in Maharashtra, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj took efforts to preserve Hindu dharma and the concept of Swadharma in Goa too. The biggest contribution to preserving Hindu religion and Swadharma (in Goa) was made by Shivaji Maharaj and Sambhaji maharaj. He (Shivaji) played a major role in preserving Hindu culture at a time of conversion,” Sawant had said at the same birth anniversary event in 2021 while speaking about the 17th-century king.
“Goa has had links with Maharashtra from the time of Shivaji Maharaj. Shivaji Maharaj preserved religious and Hindu culture in Goa in his time. It was during his reign and that of Sambhaji that the indigenous religious practices were retained,” the Chief Minister had also said in February last year.
