E-Paper
Descendants of Kelkar family demand forefathers’ Samadhi to be protected as heritage structure
The Samadhi which has Shivling installed atop, is located in the Mutha riverbed behind Omkareshwar temple
The family members of Gangadhar Kelkar on Wednesday demanded that his Samadhi (mausoleum), built in 1928 by his sons - Bhaskar Kelkar of the famous Kelkar opticians and Dinkar Kelkar, founder of the Raja Kelkar museum - must not be converted into a religious shrine by unidentified persons and instead the original structure be protected and preserved.
The family has requested that the site be preserved as a heritage structure for future generations. The Samadhi which has Shivling installed atop, is located in the Mutha riverbed behind Omkareshwar temple.
The locals have turned the Samadhi into Lord Shiva temple with preparations on for its revamp ahead of Mahashivratri. The Kelkar family has also raised a complaint with Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) though there has been no response.
Dr Shrikant Kelkar, founder, the National Institute of Ophthalmology (NIO) and nephew of late Dinkar Kelkar, founder of Raja Kelkar Museum along with his wife Aruna, Satyajit Kelkar and Dr Sudhanwa Ranade of Kelkar museum - visited Samadhi structure on Wednesday and informed devotees present about the history of the structure and request them to maintain and protect the heritage structure.
“The Samadhi was constructed during British rule, not during the Peshwa regime, and it was at the location where Gangadhar Kelkar’s last rituals were performed,” Dr Srikant Kelkar explained.
“There is a Pind (Shivling) on the top of Samadhi and because his name was Gangadhar which means Shankar and now, some people want to convert it into a temple,” he said.
According to Shrikant Kelkar, the available photograph shows Bhaskar Kelkar sitting on one side and Dinkar on the other side sitting near the structure. The Samadhi structure was quite tall, but the Panshet dam floods in 1961 caused it to sink by about 6 feet.
The family claims to have written several letters to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) requesting that the site be maintained and protected. The heritage cell wrote to Dr Srikant Kelkar in 2018 to say that the matter had been brought up for discussion at the heritage cell meeting, but there has been no response since then.
On September 17, 2022, the executive engineer of the PMC heritage cell wrote a letter to architect Saurabh Joshi, who had previously requested that the Samadhi be protected as a heritage structure.
In its response, the PMC stated that, while the monument is not on its heritage list, its protection can be considered and implemented as part of the river improvement project due to its unique structure and beauty. On March 8, 2022, Dr Srikant Kelkar wrote to then PMC Mayor Muralidhar Mohol, requesting permission to restore the Samadhi at his expense, citing his previous four-year correspondence with the civic body.
