Pune: In a unique international homage, the Aamhi Punekar organization, in association with the All Japan Indian Federation and Edogawa India Culture Center in Tokyo, will install an equestrian statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Tokyo, Japan.
The groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for late January, with the inauguration planned for the first week of March 2025, according to Hemant Jadhav, President of Aamhi Punekar, during a recent press conference.
Prominent representatives from both the project and its Japanese partnerships attended the announcement.
These included Japan coordinator for the Shivaji Maharaj memorial, Shashikant Kamble; Aamhi Punekar trustees Akhil Zanzale, Advocate Milind Pawar, Abhayraj Shirole, Shyam Daundkar; sculptor Vivek Khatavkar; and Uttam Mandhare.
The project is a significant cultural effort, aiming to promote awareness of Maharashtra’s heritage sites internationally.
Eleven forts in Maharashtra—Salher, Shivneri, Lohgad, Raigad, Suvarnadurg, Panhala, Vijaydurg, Sindhudurg, Khanderi, Rajgad, Pratapgad, and Gingee Fort in Tamil Nadu—were recently given preliminary status as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, a milestone the Tokyo memorial seeks to celebrate and publicize.
This international initiative follows a similar project by Aamhi Punekar in November 2023, when an equestrian statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was installed in Kupwara, Jammu & Kashmir, at an event graced by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Sudhir Mungantiwar, and Governor Manoj Sinha.
The success of that installation has inspired Aamhi Punekar to bring the legacy of Shivaji Maharaj to Tokyo.
For the Tokyo groundbreaking ceremony, soil and water from Maharashtra’s eleven historic forts will be brought to Japan, symbolizing the link between Maharashtrian heritage and this new international memorial.
The statue itself will be crafted by Vipul and Viraj, sons of Pune-based sculptor Vivek Khatavkar, representing the third generation of the Khatavkar family in the art of sculpture.
The project has also received support from Yogendra Puranik, President of the All Japan Indian Federation and Director of Edogawa India Culture Center, Tokyo.