Maharashtra govt plans grand memorial in honour of Saint Basaveshwara

A grand memorial in honour of Saint Basaveshwara, the 12th century statesman, philosopher, poet and Lingayat saint will come up in the Solapur district of Maharashtra.

Known for its importance in terms of places of pilgrimage, Solapur borders Karnataka.

Solapur is a city with tri-linguistic and multi-cultural features and has a mix of Marathi, Telugu and Kannada culture.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government is planning the grand memorial of Saint Basaveshwara in Mangalwedha.

Announcing Budget 2021-22, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who holds the Finance and Planning portfolios, said: “Sant Basveshwar Maharaj lived in Mangalwedha, Solapur district of Maharashtra for more than 30 years. He taught equality, hard work and morality to the common man. Necessary funds will be made available in the year 2021-22 for erecting a memorial in the memory of Sant Basaveshwar Maharaj.”

Mangalwedha is also known as the "Land of Saints" as Saint Jayatirtha, Saint Damaji, Saint Kanhopatra, Saint Basaveshwara and Saint Chokhamela had stayed there.

Mangalwedha is situated 55 km west of the district headquarters at Solapur and 25 km southeast of Pandharpur city.

The Solapur district is home to a very big Lingayat community.