Political workers that had been protesting against Babasaheb Purandare alleged that he has sullied the reputation of Maratha warrior king Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj through his writings. Purandare died from pneumonia on 15 November 2021, at the age of 99 in a hospital in Pune. Madhuri Purandare, his daughter, is a renowned writer, painter, and singer.
All his children are active in Marathi literary field. Babasaheb Purandare has a daughter (Madhuri) and two sons, Amrut and Prasad. Her brother, Shree Ga Majgaonkar, and Babasaheb Purandare had very close association in the field of literature. She was known for working amongst rural women, and in the area of child development. She founded Vanasthali organisation in Pune. His wife Nirmala Purandare (1933–2019) was a veteran social activist. Generally the performance of this drama begins around Diwali each year.įor his works, in the field of drama, he was awarded the Kalidas Samman by the Madhya Pradesh government for the year 2007–08. This drama is performed by over 200 artists, as well as elephants, camels and horses. Originally written in Marathi, this work was later translated into Hindi. Since then the drama has been staged over 1000 times in 16 districts of Maharashtra, Agra, Delhi, Bhopal, and the United States. But the most well-known of his works is the drama, Jaanata Raja, a widely popular play on Shivaji published and first staged in 1985. His other works include books titled Raja Shiva-Chatrapati and Kesari, and a book on life of Narayanrao Peshwa. Purandare had started writing stories related to the period of Shivaji's reign at a very young age, which were later compiled and published in a book titled "Thinagya" ("Sparks"). īabasaheb Purandare Wax Statue at Wax Museum, Lonavala. In 2015, he was awarded the Maharashtra Bhushan Award, Maharashtra's highest civilian award. He is also known for his significant contribution along with Madhav Deshpande and Madhav Mehere as senior party leaders in the early-1970s of Shiv Sena along with Balasaheb Thackeray. Purandare has also studied the history of the Peshwas of Pune. He is mostly known for his popular play on Shivaji Jaanta Raja which was popular not only in Maharashtra but also in Andhra Pradesh and Goa. His works are mostly based on the events related to the life of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the 17th-century founder of the Maratha Empire as a result he is termed as Shiv-Shahir ("Shivaji's bard"). He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award on 25 January 2019. Balwant Moreshwar "Babasaheb" Purandare (29 July 1922 – 15 November 2021) was an Indian historian and theatre personality from Maharashtra, India.