For the first time, the birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj will be celebrated at the Agra Fort, where he was once held captive.
Many social groups had urged the Uttar Pradesh Government to celebrate the event in a grand manner at the ‘Diwan-E-Aam’ in the Agra Fort, but the appeal was rejected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which looks after the heritage monument.
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UP, Maharashtra govts to co-host
Later, they moved the Delhi High Court, which directed the ASI to allow the celebrations if the Maharashtra Government is involved as a co-organiser.
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Accordingly, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis wrote to the ASI and other authorities that the state government will associate with the event along with some social groups.
Shivaji’s links to Agra Fort
Agra Fort has a special significance in the history of the Mughal and the Maratha empires, which were at loggerheads for a long.
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In the summer of 1666, the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb invited the Maratha King Shivaji to attend his 50th birthday celebrations at the royal court in Agra.
Shivaji, along with his son Prince Sambhaji, reached Agra for the birthday celebration on May 12, 1666, and in an act of deceit, the duo was held captive by Emperor Aurangzeb’s troops.
Along with his band of loyal soldiers, Shivaji and Sambhaji remained captive for around three months before escaping on August 17, 1666.
Agra’s Mughal Museum renamed after Shivaji
In September 2020, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath decided to rename the Mughal Museum in the fort as ‘Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum’.
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Initially announced by Adityanath’s predecessor, Akhilesh Yadav, the construction of the Museum started in January 2016.
While announcing the decision to rename it, Adityanath had said that in “the new Uttar Pradesh, there is no place for symbols of the mindset of slavery”.
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