Balwant Moreshwar Purandare (29 July 1922 – 15 November 2021), popularly known as Babasaheb Purandare, was an Indian writer of books and plays from Maharashtra, India.[3] His works are mostly based on the life of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the 17th-century founder of the Maratha Empire; as a result he is called Shiv-Shahir ("Shivaji's bard").[4] He is mostly known for his popular play on Shivaji, Jaanta Raja. Purandare also studied the history of the Peshwas of Pune. In 2015, he was awarded the Maharashtra Bhushan Award, Maharashtra's highest civilian award.[5] He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's highest second-civilian award on 25 January 2019.
Works
Babasaheb Purandare Wax Statue at Wax Museum, Lonavala.
Purandare had started writing stories related to the period of Shivaji's reign at a very young age, which were later compiled and published in a book titled Thinagya ("Sparks"). His other works include books titled Raja Shiva-Chatrapati and Kesari, and a book on life of Narayanrao Peshwa. His most well-known work is the drama, Jaanata Raja, a widely popular play on Shivaji published and first staged in 1985. Since then the drama has been staged over 1000 times in 16 districts of Maharashtra, Agra, Delhi, Bhopal, and the United States. Originally written in Marathi, this work was later translated into Hindi.[1][6] This drama is performed by over 200 artists, and includes elephants, camels and horses. Generally the performance of this drama begins around Diwali each year.
He belonged to the Deshastha Rigvedi Purandare Family. His wife, Nirmala Purandare, was a veteran social activist. She founded the Vanasthali organisation in Pune.[7] She was known for working amongst rural women, and in the area of child development. Her brother, Shree Ga Majgaonkar, and Babasaheb Purandare had a very close association in the field of literature. Babasaheb Purandare has a daughter, Madhuri, and two sons, Amrut and Prasad. All his children are active in the Marathi literary field.[8] Madhuri Purandare, his daughter, is a renowned writer, painter, and singer.[9]
Purandare died from pneumonia on 15 November 2021, at the age of 99 in a hospital in Pune.[3][10][11]
Criticism
Purandare's critics have accused him of distorting history.[12] One of their biggest criticisms has been that Purandare has portrayed Dadoji Kondadeo as Shivaji's guru.[13]
