The Great Shivaji Maharaj

[caption id="attachment_88" align="alignnone" width="457" caption="Shivaji Maharaj"][/caption]

CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI MAHARAJ - THE LEGEND
He founded the Hindu kingdom in the Deccan against all odds , fighting against the mighty Mughals.He inspired and united the common man to fight against the tyranny of Mughal ruler Aurangjeb, by inculcating a sense of pride and nationality in them. At the age of 16, he took a pledge to establish a sovereign Hindu state.He clearly outstands all the rulers and generals of India by the exemplary life he lived and is thus respected by the entire cross section of Indians. Shivaji's military skills could be compared to those of Napolean. He raised a strong army and navy, constructed and repaired forts, used gureilla warfare tactics,developed a strong intelligence network,gave equal treatment to the people from all religions and castes based on merit, and functioned like a seasoned Statesman and General. He appointed ministers with specific functions such as Internal security,Foreign affairs,Finance,Law and Justice,Religious matters,Defence etc. He introduced systems in revenue collection and warned the officials against harassment of subjects.He thought ahead of times and was a true visionary.In his private life, his moral virtues were exceptionally high.His thoughts and deeds were inspired by the teachings of his mother Jijabai,teacher Dadaji Konddev,great saints like Dnyaneshwar & Tukaram and the valiancy and ideals of the Lords Rama and Krishna. The tiny kingdom established by Chhatrapati Shivaji known as "Hindavi Swaraja" (Sovereign Hindu state) grew and spread beyond Attock in Northwest India (now in Pakistan)and beyond Cuttack in East India in course of time, to become the strongest power in India. After the death of Chhatrapati Shivaji & his son Sambhaji, their prime ministers or ‘the Peshwas' became the defacto rulers. The Peshwas and the Maratha Sardars (Chieftans) like Shindes of Gwalior, Gaekwads of Baroda & Holkars of Indore contributed to the growth of the Maratha Confederacy. The history of India is incomplete without the history of Marathas and Shivaji is the nucleus of Maratha history. Shivaji has been a source of inspiration and pride to the past generations and will continue to inspire generations in future. We salute this legend and humbly dedicate this website to him. PRATI KOLHAPUR AT SHIVAJI PARK Prati Kolhapur Mahotsav was inaugurated by Hon'ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra Mr. Ashok Chavan and Hon'ble Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Chhagan Bhujbal at Shivajji Park in Bombay (now Mumbai). The festival is a brainchild of Mr.Vinay Kore, Hon'ble Minister for Non-conventional Energy and Horticulture in Maharashtra, who succeeded in bringing Kolhapur to Mumbai with the festival that boasted of carefully selected monuments from Kolhapur, recreated by Nitin Chandrakant Desai of Raja Shivchhatrapati fame. A congregation of over 1 lakh Kolhapurites gathered at Shivaji Park to witness the celebration. The day also marked the establishment of Raja Shri Sahu Kolhapur Vikas Pratisthan that will strive for the development of the historic town. It was a privilege to cover the premiere of Mr. Desai's Raja Shivchhatrapati (Marathi serial on Star Pravah) held at Cinemax in Bombay. Also, as written earlier, the legendary Hindi films (Bollywood) singer Lata Mangeshkar has ancestral home in Kolhapur. I had a particular picture of Lataji's house in Kolhapur in some hard disk, will check and post it whenever I find it, most probably in this post itself. Qamaal Mustafa Sikander Raja Shivchhatrapati Wallpaper // <![CDATA[ ch_client = "mallikrao79"; ch_type = "mpu"; ch_width = 500; ch_height = 250; ch_color_bg = "FFFFFF"; ch_color_border = "FFFFFF"; ch_color_title = "DC8E29"; ch_color_site_link = "C0C0C0"; ch_color_text = "000000"; ch_non_contextual = 4; ch_vertical ="premium"; ch_font_title = "Arial"; ch_font_text = "Arial"; ch_sid = "Blog-550x250"; var ch_queries = new Array( ); var ch_selected=Math.floor((Math.random()*ch_queries.length)); if ( ch_selected RAJA SHIVCHHATRAPATI ON STAR PRAVAH STAR Pravah showcases its magnum opus Raja Shivchhatrapati at a star studded theatre premiere in Mumbai Television debut at 8.30 pm on November 24th, 2008 Mumbai, Nov. 19, 2008 : Star Pravah, the Marathi general entertainment channel of Star TV, slated for launch on Nov. 24th, 2008, premiered their magnum opus RAJA SHIVCHHATRAPATI at Cinemax today. In a unique presentation of a serial in a movie theatre, the Marathi TV & film glitterati converged to celebrate the grand premiere of the serial that is produced and directed by Nitin Chandrakant Desai. The event was widely attended by the cast and crew including director Hemant Deodhar, Nirmal D.Jani & Yogesh D. Jani, the Directors of Photography, Ajay Atul - Music Director and Marathi & Bollywood stalwarts like Ashutosh Gowarikar, N.Chandra, Mahesh Kothare, Sonali Kulkarni among others. Mr.Uday Shankar, CEO, Star TV said, "Star Pravah is yet another step in consolidating the leadership of Star networking in India. Star has always been committed to creating benchmarks in the world of television and Raja Shivchhatrapati promises to raise the bar for viewers of Marathi television. We are proud to present this magnum opus epic on the silver screen in keeping with grandeur of the tale and the persona of Shivaji." As per the press release, Star Pravah channel will be launched on 24th Nov. 2008 and aims to capture the true essence of the deep rooted cultural content of the Marathi hinterland through its innovative content. The USP of the channel is quality entertainment with a realistic depiction of multi genre original content that is contemporary and progressive. Raja Shivchhatrapati Cast : Dr.Amol Kolhe as Raja Shivchhatrapati Mrunal Kulkarni as Jijabai Avinash Narkar as Shahaji Yatin Karyekar as Aurangzeb Uday Sabnis as Vishwasrao Neena Kulkarni as Badi Begum Milind Safai as Adil Shah Neelam Shirke as Soryabai Rujuta Deshmukh as Saibai Chaitrali Gupte as Putalabai Prasanna Ketkar as Tanaji Sunil Godse as Shahistekhan Rahul Solapurkar as Baji Prabhu Deshpande Manoj Kolhatkar as Sonopant Dabir

Preity is pretty high on Team Mohali

Rohit Khilnani / CNN-IBN

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MOHALI MAGIC: Preity Zinta says she is confident that Team Mohali will win the IPL matches.

Mumbai: Preity Zinta is gearing up for the IPL almost as much as the cricketers are. The actress is more than happy with Team Mohali. In an interview with CNN-IBN Chief Entertainment Correspondent Rohit Khilnani, Preity said she is confident that Team Mohali will win the IPL matches.

 

Rohit Khilnani: Hi Preity, how are you doing?

 

Preity Zinta: I am doing very well. A little over-worked but very well. Thank you for having me for this interview.

 

Rohit Khilnani: Are you happy witth the team that you have managed to rope in?

 

Preity Zinta: Oh absolutely. I think that the only cricketer we missed out on was Harbhajan Singh. We tried very, very hard to get him, but Mumbai got him in the end. And he wanted to go into the Mumbai team as well I think. But since it was an open auction, we went for him. But besides that, we are very happy with our team. We wanted a team which would be balanced and a team that would be kings in their homeground.

 

Rohit Khilnani: Were you always interested in sports or was this a sudden interest?

 

Preity Zinta: I was always super interested in sports, but I don't know if I was super cricket interested. I used to only watch One-Day Internationals and that too finals. The most exciting used to be the India-Pakistan matches, so I have not really been such a great cricket fan, but I have been a huge sports fan.

 

Rohit Khilnani: Tell me, will Sreesanth be allowed to be himself or will he be asked to tone down a bit?

 

Preity Zinta: We love Sreesanth for who he is and he is going to be a very important part of the team. As long as he performs well, he can dance on one leg or scream at people. I have no problem with that.

 

Rohit Khilnani: You and Shah Rukh are great friends, but is this competition in any way?

 

Preity Zinta: Right now, we have to work together. What is going to happen in that field is the excellence of the team. Shah Rukh can't go and bat in there. Neither can Vijay Mallaya, nor Ness or me. The point is that we have to work together, but eventually, it is the team that has to perform.

 

Rohit Khilnani: When do you plan to announce your logo and team colours?

 

Preity Zinta: In a day or so.

 

Rohit Khilnani: Will Team Mohali win the Indian Premiere League?

 

Preity Zinta: Absolutely.

Preity Zinta And Ness Wadia Inspect Facilities For Their IPL Team

Top Bollywood star Preity Zinta along with her boyfriend Ness Wadia visited the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, located at Mohali in Chandigarh, earlier today. The star couple, the franchisee of Indian Premier League’ Mohali team, supervised the facilities prevailing at the stadium.

This is the first visit of Preity and Ness to the stadium, who as per media reports were said to be upset over the fire incident, which gutted the top floor of the main building of the stadium on February 10.