Posted on: 7 March 2013

Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar

It was the speciality of Holkar family that they did not use public funds to meet their personal and family expenses. They had their personal funds accruing from their private properties. Devi Ahilya inherited a personal fund which at that time was estimated to be around sixteen crore rupees. Ahilyabai used her personal funds for all her charitable works.

Her works throughout India:

Alampur (MP) – Harihareshwar, Batuk, Malharimarthand, Surya, Renuka, Ram Hanuman Temples, Shriram Temple, Laxmi Narayan Temple, Maruti Temple, Narsinh Temple, Khanderao Martand Temple, Memorial of Malharrao (I)

Amarkanthak- Shri Vishweshwar Temple, Kotithirth Temple, Gomukhi Temple, Dharamshala, Vansh Kund

Amba Gaon – Lamps for temple

Anand Kanan – Vishweshwar Temple

Ayodhya (U.P)– Built Shri Ram Temple, Shri Treta Ram Temple, Shri Bhairav Temple, Nageshwar/Siddhnath Temple, Sharayu Ghat, well, Swargadwari Mohatajkhana, Dharamshalas

Badrinath Temple (UP) – Shri Kedareshwar and Hari Temples, Dharamshalas (Rangdachati, Bidarchati, Vyasganga, Tanganath, Pawali), Manu kunds (Gaurkund, Kundachatri), Garden and Warm Water Kund at Dev Prayag, Pastoral land for cows

Beed – Jirnnodhar of a Ghat.

Belur (Karnataka) – Ganpati, Pandurang, Jaleshwar,
Khandoba, Tirthraj and Fire temples, Kund

Bhanpura – Nine Temples and Dharmashala

Bharatpur – Temple, Dharmashala, Kund

Bhimashankar – Garibkhana

Bhusawal – Changadev Temple

Bitthur – Bhramaghat

Burhanpur (MP) – Raj Ghat, Ram Ghat, Kund

Chandwad Waphegaon – Vishnu Temple and Renuka Temple

Chaundi – Chaudeshwaridevi Temple, Sineshwar Mahadev temple,

Ahilyeshwar Temple, Dharamshala, Ghat,

Chitrakoot – Pranpratishta of Shri Ramchandra

Cikhalda – Annakshetra

Dwarka(Gujrath) – Mohatajkhana, Pooja House and gave some villages to priest

Ellora –Grishneshwar Temple of Red Stone

Gangotri – Vishwanath, Kedarnath, Annapurna, Bhairav

Temples, many Dharmashalas

Gaya (Bihar) – Vishnupad Temple

Gokarn – Rewaleshwar Mahadev temple, Holkar wada, Garden and Garibkhana

Gruneshwar (Verul) – Shivalaya Tirth

Handiya – Siddhanath Temple, ghat and dharmashala

Haridwar (Uttarakhand) – Kushawarth Ghat and a Huge Dharmashala

Hrishikesh – Many temples, Shrinathji and Govardhan ram temples

Indore – Many Temples and ghats

Jagannath Puri (Orrisa) – Shri Ramchandra Temple, Dharmashala and Garden

Jalgaon – Ram Mandir

Jamghat – Bhumi dwar

Jamvgaon – Donated for Ramdas swami Math

Jejuri – Malhargautameshwar, Vitthal, Martand Temple, Janai Mahadev and Malhar lakes

Karmanasini River – Bridge

Kashi (Benaras) – Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Shri Tarakeshwar, Shri Gangaji, Ahilya Dwarkeshwar, Gautameshwar, Many Mahadev Temples, Temple Ghats, Manikarnika Ghat, Dashaaswamegh Ghat, Janana Ghat, Ahilya Ghat, UttarKashi Dharmashala, Rameshwar Panchkoshi Dharmashala, Kapila Dhara Dharmashala, Shitala Ghat

Kedarnath – Dharmashala and Kund

Kolhapur – Facilities for temple pooja

Kumher – Well and Memorial of Prince Khanderao

Kurukshetra (Haryana) – Shiv Shantanu Mahadev Temple,
Panchkund Ghat, Laxmikund Ghat

Maheshwar – Hundreds of temples, ghats, dharmashalas and houses

Mamaleshwar Mahadev Himachal Pradesh – Lamps

Manasa Devi – Seven temples

Mandaleshwar – Shiv Temple Ghat

Miri (Ahmednagar) – Bhairav Temple in 1780

Naimabar(MP) – Temple

Nandurbar[1] – Temple, Well

Nathdwara – Ahilya Kund, Temple, Well

Neelkantha Mahadev – Shivalaya and Gomukh

Nemisharanya(UP) – Mahadev Madi, Nimsar Dharmashala, Go-ghat, Cakrithirth kund

Nimgaon (Nashik) – Well

Omkareshwar (MP) – Mamaleshwar Mahadev, Amaleshwar, Trambakeshwar Temples (Jirnnodhar), Gauri Somnath Temple, Dharmashalas, Wells

Ozar (Ahmednagar) – 2 wells and kund

Panchawati, Nasik – Shri Ram Temple, Gora Mahadev temple, Dharmashala, Vishweshwar Temple, Ramghat, Dharmashala

Pandharpur (Maharashtra) – Shri Ram Temple, Tulsibag, Holkar wada, Sabha Mandap, Dharmashala and gave silver utensil for the temple,Well-Which known by Bagirao well.

Pimplas(Nashik) – well

Prayag (Allahabad UP) – Vishnu Temple, Dharmashala, Garden, Ghat, Palace

Pune – Ghat

Puntambe (Maharashtra) – Ghat on Godavari river

Pushkar – Ganpati Temple, Dharmashala, Garden

Rameshwar (TN) – Hanuman Temple, Shri Radha Krishna Temple, Dharmashala, Well, Garden etc.

Rampura – Four Temples, Dharmashala and houses

Raver – Keshav Kund

Sakargaon – well

Sambhal – Laxmi Narayan Temple and two wells

Sangamner – Ram Temple

Saptashrungi – Dharmashala

Sardhana Meerut – Chandi Devi Temple

Saurashtra (Guj) – Somnath Temple in 1785. (Jirnnodhdhar and Pran Prathistha)

Siddhivinayak temple's inner sanctum at Siddhatek in Ahmednagar District

Shri Nagnath (Darukhvan) – Started pooja in 1784

Srisailam Mallikarjun (Kurnool, AP) – Temple of Lord Shiva

Shri Shambhu Mahadev Mountain Shingnapur (Maharashtra) – Well

Shri Vaijenath (Parali, Maha) – Jirnnodhar of Baijenath Temple in 1784

Shri Vhigneshwar – Lamps

Sinhpur – Shiv Temple and ghat

Sulpeshwar – Mahadev Temple, annakshetra

Sultanpur (Khandesh) – Temple

Tarana – Tilabhandeshwar Shiv temple, Khedapati, Shriram Temple, Mahakali Temple

Tehari (Bundelkhand) – Dharmashala

Trimbakeshwar (Nashik) – Bridge on Kushawarth Ghat

Ujjain (MP) – Chintaman Ganapati, Janardhan, Shrilila Purushottam, Balaji Tilakeshwar, Ramjanaki Ras Mandal, Gopal, Chitnis, Balaji, Ankpal, Shiv and many other temples, 13 ghats, well and many Dharmashalas etc.

Varanasi, Kashi Vishwanath Temple 1780.[13]

Vrindavan (Mathura) – Chain Bihari Temple, Kaliyadeha Ghat, Chirghat and many other ghats, Dharmashala, Annakstra

Waphegaon (Nashik) – Holkar wada and one well

Source: Wikipedia


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Charity begins at Ahalya Bai !

Very good... But temple temple nd only temples ,... No school no university no hospital.

Vimal Singh Rawat: "Ahilyabai was born in 1725...!"

And yet I have a grouse against her. Ahilya Bai married a second time when she was widowed. But when her daughter was widowed she allowed her to commit Sati even though a grandchild was being left behind! Why was the daughter not as progressive as the mother?

Ahilya bai married second time???to whom?? hearing this for first time...as far as i know she spent rest of her life as a widow only...(after her husband's death she was also ready to go sati,but her father in law saved her from it by saying that people need a queen like her)....she cudnt tried to stop sati of her daughter in law but everybody around went against her and she couldnt help it. and ya,she did not only give donate to temples,but also worked for the welfare of people,built many Dharmashalas, wells etc....

I bow my head in reverence to this great soul....

Let her and all her ancestors be blessed with heaven...let us learn the meaning of selfless giving from her...!!!

Punyashlok Ahilyabai was amongst the one who strived to stop sati pratha which was largely prevelant in north india and bengal too...as far as progressiveness is concerned,very few women of her time dared to rule and expand her kingdom. at times she even went at war front to fight for truth..

one should read authentic biographies certified by descendants of such personalities before commenting on such pages..such grt personalities found in all states of India are to be respected,and not targeted..

1733 - 1766 Shrimant Sardar Malharrao I Holkar I Subedar Bahadur, Subedar of the Holkar Domains His eldest son Shrimant Sardar Khanderao Holkar Bahadur. b. 1723 (s/o Gautama Bai) was his heir apparent and married 10 wives including Shrimant Akhand Soubhagyavati Devi Shri Ahilya Bai Sahib Holkar who bore him a son Malerao and a daughter Shrimant Akhand Soubhagyavati Muktabai Sahib. Khanderao died. from a cannon shot at the siege of Khumbher, near Deeg, 15th March 1754. Nine of his wives committed sati. Ahilya Bai, with the consent of her father-in-law, married for a second time in 1755, Shrimant Sardar Tukojirao I Holkar IV second son of Shrimant Tanuji Holkar (her father-in-law’s cousin) Khanderao and Ahilya Bai’s son inherited Malharrao I’s throne on 23rd July 1766 as Shrimant Sardar Malerao Holkar II Subedar Bahadur, Subedar of the Holkar Domains. Developed signs of insanity, shortly after his investiture. He died at Indore, on 5th April 1767, and his mother assumed the reigns of government. Shrimant Akhand Soubhagyavati Devi Shri Ahilya Bai Sahib Holkar ruled from 1767 – 1795 jointly with her second husband who after her death continued to rule until he died in 1797. Ahilya Bai’s daughter Mukta Bai married Shrimant Sardar Yeshwantrao Phanse, of Tarana who died of cholera on 3rd December 1791 . Mukta Bai committed sati on 4th December1791 (while her mother and step father were queen and king) leaving behind an only child.

Holkar history is all about the vision of Malharrao I. There were several military geniuses like Jaswant Rao Holkar but the greatest of them all was the founder of the clan. My Royal Rajputs will not agree but that is their side of the story!

what i know about this gr8 lady is that many greatest hindu temples which were ruined were renovated by her as per the locals there

Manoshi Bhattacharya: I just finished watching all the parts of the movie Devi Ahilya Bai. In one word the film is 'brilliant'! This excerpt from the movie explains how Ahilya Bai tried to stop her daughter-in-law from committing Sati... and her inability to do so as the girl's own parents believed in the glory and sanctity of this practice. The overwhelming power of tradition and public opinion... Watch on YouTube: http://bit.ly/YP6OiR

it will be of real help if the proof of Ahilyabai getting married second time to Tukoji is presented.Since I haven't come across this side of story in her authentic biography in Marathi,also in my visit to Maheshwar where she ruled for a long time,she is always potrayed as a widow.

The movie too portrays her as a widow till the end.

answer xpected from Manoshi Bhattacharya...

This is an interesting debate. Please see http://www.royalark.net/India/indore3.htm Christopher Buyers is an authoritative source and the family trees on his site are provided by the royal families themselves. Since I have worked extensively with the Rajput and Maratha records for The Royal Rajputs - Strange Tales Stranger Truths, I have used his family trees, crossed checked and cross referenced them with the Rajput royal families on several occasions and found them to be accurate. I have written to him requesting him to look through his records and share with us the source of information for this second marriage. I too look forward to his answer with great interest.

Another interesting article is http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?210909 Now I cannot provide proof but Tavleen Singh's Durbar quotes Madhavrao Scindia and he repeats the same story saying his mother had made a comment that had she lived in the old days she like, Ahilya Bai, would have had her son, the maharaja, crushed to death! These stories are not an attempt to attack anyone but an attempt to understand a person. These are human beings that we are talking about.

Before we ask as to how Madhavrao Scindia would know of Ahilya Bai, we must remember that Ahilya Bai was a Scindia girl who married into the Holkar family.

manoshi bhattacharya first thing ahilyabai married in her life once with khanderao she died as a widow of khanderao maharaj & if you r talking about her fathers family mankoji shinde from chaundi mankoji was patil of chaundi belonging to dhangar cast which is cast of holkar royal family gwalior shinde is from maratha cast in dhangar cast there is shinde surname so there is no relation between gwalior shinde & ahilyabai clear this confusion

the person from UK writing something wrong about our legends & we r accepting this this really bad thing i have contact him i have mailed to Christopher Buyers about this thing he will reply very soon