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This year marks the tercentenary (three hundredth year) of Punyashlok Mata Ahilyabai Holkar. She was an ideal ruler who not only brought the principles of good governance to life but also upheld justice, public service, welfare of the poor, and the protection of Sanatan Dharma. Such devotion to duty as hers is rare not only in the history of the country but also of the world. She worked for the welfare of every section of society. Despite being a queen, she always led a simple life and cared for
Mata Ahilyabai Holkar not only protected her kingdom from Muslim invaders through skilled military and strategic management, but also safeguarded her subjects and realm from the terror of rebels and bandits. She undertook large-scale construction of temples, roads, dharmashalas (rest houses), and water reservoirs across her state
the backward and the weak. A short time after her marriage, she lost her husband in a war, but even as a lone woman, she not only managed her kingdom efficiently but also took steps for the welfare of her people with a farsighted vision that is unique in itself. Her personality and deeds are so great that she is revered as a divine pillar of feminine power. After Mata Ahilyabai Holkar, if anyone has truly brought her path to life on the ground, it is only and only our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji.
Mata Ahilyabai Holkar not only protected her kingdom from Muslim invaders through skilled military and strategic management, but also safeguarded her subjects and realm from the terror of rebels and bandits. She undertook large-scale construction of temples, roads, dharmashalas (rest houses), and water reservoirs across her state. To generate employment, she implemented several measures to promote industries. Her policy framework for industries was so visionary that the Maheshwar textile industry she established continues to operate even today, still providing livelihoods to hundreds. During her reign, the Malwa region became a stronghold of literature, industry, sculpture, music and arts.
The Marathi poet Moropant, Shahir Anantaphandi and Sanskrit scholar Khulasi Ram rose to prominence during her reign. She granted her subjects the right to adopt heirs in case of having no natural successor. She didn’t just treat her people like her children – she considered them her actual progeny. During her rule, she abolished many unnecessary laws, reduced farmers’ taxes (lagan), and made several efforts for agricultural development. In modern India, Prime Minister Shri Modi is faithfully following these very policies of hers.
Mata Ahilyabai Holkar would meet her subjects daily, listen to their problems, and resolve them. She celebrated every festival with common people. She believed that wealth was a divine trust bestowed upon her by the people and God – not as an owner but as a responsible trustee bound to use it for public welfare. This philosophy guided her governance. Caste discrimination found no place in her kingdom. Today, we see this same spirit reflected in PM Modi’s policy of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas” (Collective Efforts, Inclusive Growth, Everyone’s Trust, Everyone’s Contribution).
The greatness of Mata Ahilyabai Holkar is evident from the fact that during her lifetime itself, people began revering her as a ‘Goddess’. She constructed temples, built ghats, dug wells and step-wells, established annachatras (free food centers) and sadavarts (charitable feeding houses) for the hungry, set up water stations for the thirsty, and appointed scholars in temples across India – far beyond her kingdom’s boundaries.
Her annachatras and sadavarts provided free meals daily to people. She built roads from Calcutta to Varanasi, constructed the Annapurna Temple in Varanasi and
Mata Ahilyabai Holkar’s commitment to justice and governance was so unwavering that she didn’t hesitate to order the death penalty for her own son. Despite facing numerous challenges in her life, she never gave up and remained steadfast in her mission to ensure prosperity for her people
Vishnu Temple in Gaya. Her architectural contributions include temples at Kashi, Gaya, Somnath, Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Dwarka, Badrinath, Rameshwaram, Jagannath Puri, Paithan, Maheshwar, Vrindavan, Supleshwar, Ujjain, Pushkar, Pandharpur, Chinchwad, Chikhalda, Alampur, Devprayag, Rajapur and other prominent pilgrimage sites across India.
She also carried out the restoration of major pillars of Sanatan culture such as the Kashi Vishwanath and Somnath temples, which had been damaged by the Mughals. She undertook works like the construction of a rest house at the Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga, temples of Lord Shri Ram in Ayodhya and Nashik, and the Chintamani Ganapati Temple in Ujjain. It was she who had the Manikarnika Ghat built on the banks of the Ganga in Kashi. Additionally, she also built the Neelkanth Mahadev Temple in Mandu. Not only that, she continued to write to rulers—from the Maharaja of Odisha to the Nawabs of Hyderabad and Awadh—regarding temple construction. Alongside, she transformed Indore from a small village into a beautiful city. It is said that for all these works, she did not spend the state treasury but used “Khasgi property,” which means the official private wealth of the royal family.
Across the corners of the nation, there was a deep uncertainty in the minds of citizens, saints, and scholars alike—who would take up, like Lokmata Ahilyabai Holkar, the task of restoring the powerful centers of spiritual energy that had time and again been trampled by invaders? The politics of vote banks and appeasement had so deeply shackled the nation’s political will that people had entirely given up hope for the revival of divine Sanatan sites such as Kashi Vishwanath Dham, the temple of Lord Shri Ram in Ayodhya, and the birthplace of Shri Krishna in Mathura. But who could have foreseen that, like Mata Ahilyabai, Bharat Mata would send forth a son in the form of Shri Narendra Modi, who would fulfill not only the nation’s aspirations but also the dreams once envisioned by Mata Ahilyabai Holkar. Today, Ram Lalla smiles in his grand temple at Shri Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya, the brilliance of Kashi Vishwanath radiates inexhaustible energy, Somnath Dada is enshrined in divine form, and all the centers of Sanatan culture are illuminating us with their most sublime glow.
Mata Ahilyabai Holkar’s commitment to justice and governance was so unwavering that she didn’t hesitate to order the death penalty for her own son. Despite facing numerous challenges in her life, she never gave up and remained steadfast in her mission to ensure prosperity for her people. This same spirit is visibly embodied in the life and governance of our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji.
History, present and future can never produce another personality embodying all the virtues that defined Mata Ahilyabai Holkar’s legacy. Her sacrifice, valor, courage, devotion to protecting Sanatan culture, commitment to justice, and boundless generosity will resonate through the cosmos for eternity
After the untimely martyrdom of her husband on the battlefield, Devi Ahilyabai had resolved to commit Sati, believing that life had no meaning without her beloved husband. However, upon persuasion by her father-in-law Malhar Rao Ji, she abandoned the thought of self-immolation and instead devoted herself wholeheartedly to serving her people. Embracing public welfare as her core principle, she renounced royal comforts and made service to the distressed, oppressed, deprived and suffering masses the supreme goal of her life.
Mata Ahilyabai Holkar was so resolute in ensuring her citizens’ welfare that when traders, travelers and common people suffered from dacoits’ terror, she publicly declared she would marry her daughter to anyone who eliminated these criminals from her kingdom. Yashwant Rao Phanse fulfilled this condition, leading to the marriage of her daughter Muktabai with this brave and intelligent warrior. Not just a ruler but a social reformer of the highest order, she rehabilitated thieves and dacoits by reforming them and bringing positive transformation in their lives. Her generosity was legendary – when a Brahmin’s house burned down in Kashi, she personally verified his plight and gifted him a newly constructed home.
Despite facing countless storms of adversity in her life, Mata Ahilyabai Holkar never wavered from her duties. She endured successive tragedies – first her husband’s martyrdom, then the death of her father-like father-in-law, followed by the premature death of her grandson due to prolonged illness, then the tragic demise of her son-in-law Yashwant Rao Phanse, and finally her daughter Muktabai’s act of Sati. Yet through this unrelenting series of personal calamities, she worked tirelessly for the welfare and protection of her people with such extraordinary dedication that the world still bows before her legacy today. It was her selfless governance that earned her the title of ‘Lokmata’ (Mother of the People).
In the words of poet Moropant: “Devi Ahilyabai’s devoted and duty-bound character is revered not just in Maharashtra, but across the entire nation. She is as sacred as the Ganga River. Through her ever-benevolent actions, she worked for universal welfare. It is these virtues that make her live eternally in the hearts of the people.”
History, present and future can never produce another personality embodying all the virtues that defined Mata Ahilyabai Holkar’s legacy. Her sacrifice, valor, courage, devotion to protecting Sanatan culture, commitment to justice, and boundless generosity will resonate through the cosmos for eternity. Entire India remains indebted to her.
When Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji took the resolve to fulfill her vision, continue her work and walk the path she showed, he initiated not just an inspiring endeavor but a sacred mission that deserves our highest praise. Now is the moment for all of us to unite and strengthen PM Modi’s resolve, so that Bharat may reclaim its glorious heritage and radiate the light of human welfare, peace and universal brotherhood across the world.
(The writer is National Spokesperson, BJP)