Documentary being made on novelist, wanderer Gonida

Dandekar was famously known in Maharashtra as Gonida and is a revered figure in Maharashtra’s literary world

In a major initiative, a documentary on novelist and wanderer Gopal Neelkanth Dandekar is being made to pay tributes to the legendary man and inspire generations to head towards mountains, forts and nature.

Dandekar was famously known in Maharashtra as Gonida (July 8, 1916 – June 1, 1998) and is a revered figure in Maharashtra’s literary world.

The Akhil Maharashtra Giryarohan Mahasangh (AMGM), the apex mountaineering body of Maharashtra, has taken the initiative.

“Gonida has always been a source of inspiration and a revolutionary person who exemplified the art of fort exploration,” AMGM president Umesh Zirpe, a veteran mountaineer, trainer and mentor, said.

The management committee involves Zirpe, AMGM working president Hrishikesh Yadav, renowned actor and director Mrunal Kulkarni, who is Gonida's grand-daughter, Vijay Joshi, Ravi Paranjape and Abhijit Belhekar. Dr Veena Deo has agreed to guide this working committee and shall be working as a counsellor for the project.

Nilesh Deshpande will be the chief invitee of the project.

AMGM plans to produce this documentary within the next 5-6 months time period.

“Gonida had been a pioneering novelist who wandered every ghat, every trail and every fort of Sahyadri with utmost adulation to none other than Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. It would not be wrong to say that he spent most of his life exploring the forts of Sahyadri,” said Zirpe.

“Some of his favourite forts he visited several times. Raigad, Rajgad, Torna, were some of his special ones. He not only visited the forts, but he truly loved to be nested in their laps,” he said.

His exploration led to some of the classic documentations on forts such as Durgabhramangatha, Gurgadarsham Shivteerth Raigad and others. These reads led thousands of fort lovers to the foothills of Sahyadri.

According to Zirpe, Gonida’s exploration and documentation reveals an art of understanding the forts and their histories. From the archaeological remains of fort structures, he uncovered the historical facets of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his kingdom. Past three generations of Maharashtra have been following him.