Mumbai, May 1 (). Ahead of the 350th birth anniversary celebrations of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde flagged off a motorcycle rally for women on the 63rd Maharashtra Day celebrations here on Monday.
350 women participated in the rally, which marched from August Kranti Maidan in Grant Road to Swatanyaveer Savarkar Memorial in Dadar.
It was organized by the Maharashtra Tourism Department along with Amazing Namaste Foundation and Women Bikers as many women sporting traditional Maharashtrian style sarees attended the event.
The event marks the beginning of the 350th year of the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, held in Raigad, which will be celebrated in a grand manner with a series of major events in the state and other places across India associated with the Maratha warrior king.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (February 19, 1630–April 3, 1680) was coronated on June 6, 1674 at Raigad Fort, from where he laid the foundation of Hindawi Swaraj.
On June 1 and 2, several major events will be organized at Raigad Fort, besides socio-cultural programs will be organized in all the districts, along with other celebrations throughout the year.
Shinde said the state government would also set up a Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Center in Agra, from where he and his son made the great escape from the clutches of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb on August 17, 1666.
Earlier known as Rairi, Shivaji Maharaj seized it in 1656 from Jawali Raja Chandrarao More, a descendant of Chandragupta Maurya.
Surrounded by two villages, Pachad and Raigarhwadi on its grounds, it was renovated, repaired and expanded for more than a decade before Shivaji Maharaj finally arrived, declared it his capital, expanded and ruled the Maratha Empire from here And even his coronation ceremonies were held here.
After the death of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in 1689 and the assassination of his son Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, Raigad Fort was captured by the Mughals under Aurangzeb before being targeted by the British East India Company in 1818.
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