Hasan Mushrif holds meeting to discuss conservation plans for Chhatrapati Tarabai Samadhi site in Satara

Kolhapur: State medical education minister Hasan Mushrif on Monday held a meeting to discuss conservation of Chhatrapati Tarabai's samadhi site at Sangam Mahuli village in Satara district. This follows a letter from former MP Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis highlighting the poor state of the samadhi and protests by Shivaji Maharaj followers in Kolhapur.
In the meeting, Mushrif directed Satara collector Santosh Patil to submit a plan for the conservation of the samadhi site within one month. "The samadhi site should be immediately conserved. It should be preserved using the 3% reserve funds for forts in the district planning committee. The revival of the samadhi, as per the new plan of Rs 26 crore, will be done in the second phase. A meeting of experts from Kolhapur should be held in the next two days regarding the plan," Mushrif said.
District collector Amol Yedge, Shiv Sena (UBT) deputy leader Sanjay Pawar, Sena (UBT) district convenor Vijay Devane, Shaheer Raju Raut and environment expert Uday Gaikwad, among other officials, also attended the meeting via videoconferencing.
The Satara collector assured the minister that immediate steps would be taken for the preservation of the samadhi site. "Since the river bank (ghat) area of Chhatrapati Tararani's mausoleum is under the jurisdiction of the royal family of Satara, they have to be taken into confidence before taking a call on the conservation plan. After holding discussions with MP Udayanraje Bhosale and minister Shivendraraje Bhosale, we will send the draft proposal to govt for approval within a month," Patil said.
Activist Vijay Devane said, "Followers of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj have been fighting since 2006 for the revival of the samadhi of Chhatrapati Tararani, who established the throne of Kolhapur. If the tender for the plan is not issued by May 16, we will come to Satara and protest."
Chhatrapati Tarabai was the wife of Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj, the third Chhatrapati of the Maratha empire. Following the death of Rajaram Maharaj, Tarabai is widely known for keeping alive the flame of Maratha resistance against the Mughal empire. She is also known as the founder of the Karvir (Kolhapur) throne of the Maratha empire.