BHAWANRAO SHRINIWASRAO PANT PRATINIDHI THE KING OF AUNDH

BHAWANRAO SHRINIWASRAO PANT PRATINIDHI, KING OF AUNDH. The King who willingly donated and gave up his entire state and kingship for the cause of Independence of India.

Shri Raja Saheb Bhawanrao Shriniwasrao Pant Pratinidhi were born into the ruling Pant Pratinidhi deshastha Brahmana family of Aundh and Vishalgadh.

A direct descendant of Shri Parashuram Trimbak Kulkarni the first man to receive the title of Pant Pratinidhi bestowed by Chatrapati Shri Rajaram.

Shri Bhawanrao was 10th and last king in this lineage which ruled Aundh and Vishalgadh, he was also known with the name "Bala Saheb".

THE AUNDH EXPERIMENT.

"Raja Bhavanrao was a strong supporter of the Indian independence movement, and stood up for the welfare of the people of Aundh, in sharp contrast to the attitude and behavior of the majority of Maharajas and Rajas"

- Indira Gandhi.

Aundh was a princely state of British India which had autonomy in it's conduct and direct communication with the British Monarch unlike the other "provinces" of India which were fully under British control.

 In 1938, the ruler of Aundh,Raja Bhavanrao Srinivasrao, was approached by Frydman (also known as Swami Bharatananda), a Polish engineer who was a disciple of Gandhi.

According to the Raja's son, Apa Pant, "Frydman had great influence with my father, and on his seventy-fifth birthday he said, 'Raja Saheb, why don't you go and make a declaration to Mahatma Gandhi that you are giving all power to the people because it will help in the freedom struggle.''

The Raja readily endorsed the idea of self-government, Frydman wrote a draft declaration, and the Raja and his son traveled to Wardha to see Gandhi. There, Gandhi dictated the final draft of the constitution, which was sent to the state assembly to be ratified on January 21, 1939.

Pouring in this Ahuti of his kingship and entire state in the Swaraj movement of Gandhi, Raja Saheb Shri Bhawanrao said in the constitution inauguration - 

"We have to urge the people of Aundh to remember always that government being control, self government implies self-control and self-sacrifice. In the new era that is coming to Aundh, and we hope to the whole of our country, the strong will serve the weak, the wealthy will serve the poor, the learned will serve the illiterate. Self government without this spirit of service and sacrifice is bound to decay into some form or other of exploitation."

After ratification, the state of Aundh was reorganized from the ground up, with local administration put in the hands of village panchayats with five elected representatives, voted into office through new voting rights given to all adults. Each panchayat chose a president, who represented them at regional taluka councils. Each taluka council chose a president and two representatives to a Central Assembly presided over by the raja. In spite of the Raja's role as leader of the Assembly, responsibility for regional government was, for all practical purposes, in the hands of the people. The panchayats were given responsibility for all matters relating to education, welfare, justice, water supply, sanitation, construction and maintenance of roads and public buildings, and all other activities relating to the health safety, and social and economic wellbeing of the villagers.

Between 1939 and 1945, twenty-seven new primary schools were established, making more than one per village. In addition, fourteen middle schools and three high schools were built and staffed, with the total number of teachers more than doubling. Adult education also saw a doubling of expenditure.

Several Indian National Congress leaders from Maharashtra became actively involved in the Aundh Experiment in the 1940s, including Tatya Shikhare, Annasaheb Sahasrabudhe, and Nana and Bhau Dharmadhikari. When Achutrao Patwardan went into hiding to avoid arrest during the Quit India movement in 1946, he used Aundh villages as his base of operations. He went as far as adopting the language of the Aundh State Constitution, declaring that he and his band of freedom fighters were "Prati Sakar"—"self-governing and independent of the Central Authority."

The Aundh Experiment in village-level self-rule endured until Indian independence in 1947, when all of the princely states were merged into the new Republic of India

In pictures : 

1. THE TEN-POINT WAY TO HEALTH, A book by Raja Saheb Shri Bhavanrao Pant Pratinidhi, he was an expert in Surya Namaskara Yoga Aasana.

2. Raja Saheb in his royal splendor.

3. Raja Saheb as a robust yogasana practitioner.