New Delhi: Smriti Mandir (temple) in Nagpur is dedicated to the memories of RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar. He was born on April 1, 1889 in Nagpur, Maharashtra. He was involved in the non-cooperation movement of the Congress and went to jail for a year. He was the founder of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and also a physician. The temple located in Nagpur is a place of worship for those wanting to pay respect to the great leader of the organisation. The temple is built at the place where the leader’s last rites took place in 1940.
The temple was constructed 2 decades after the death of Hedgewar. Before the temple came into existence a basil plant had been planted at the place where the last rites of the leader took place. In 1949 the platform signifying the place of burial of the leader was repaired. In October 1956, a map of the “Smriti Mandir’ was prepared. Five key decisions were taken at that time. They were:
1. There will be no changes in the place of the burial site
2. In order to protect the burial site, a room was to be constructed upon which an idol of Dr Hedgewar was to be established
3. The entire temple will be constructed using stones
4. There will be special focus on beautification of the monument
5. Indigenously procured materials (Swadeshi) material to be used in the construction and the construction should be according to Indian Vaastu Shastra tradition
By October 1956, a design according to Vaastu Shastra was ready and a famous sculptor from Mumbai, Nana Bhai Goredankar was given the task of making the idol of Hedgewar. A Pune based Vaastu expert created a beautiful picture of the Smriti Mandir and RSS head of the time, Sri Guruji gave some special inputs to the entire design. He gave the idea to make a bow styled design to the walls of the temple.
In 1959, the ‘bhumi pujan’ of the Smriti Mandir was held in 1959. After this under the guidance of then Nagpur RSS head, Pandurangpant Shirsagar, RSS members Moropant Pingle, Babasaheb Talatule, Engineer Kanvinde, Rajmistri Ahirrao, Manohar Indrapawar, Vasantrao Joshi and others, the task of building the temple started.
The construction of the temple was completed in 1962. It was inaugurated by Sri Guruji on April 5, 1962. This was also the birth anniversary of Hedgewar. Apart from the invitees, RSS workers from across the country had gathered in Nagpur and they were to stay in the houses of 2,000 volunteers.
On the morning of April 5 that year, a Sri Guriji worshiped the resting place of Hedgewar. That afternoon, the mother of Sri Guriji, came to the place to pay her respects.
Talking about the Smriti Mandir, Sri Guruji had said, “The objective of this Smri Mandir is not just to make just another place of worship for the followers. I wanted a temple here because this place is very pure. Our respected founder worked hard for the growth of the RSS from here and it was here that his last rites were held. This is the most pious place for us. This will continue to inspire us in future too.”
When Sri Guruji died on June 5,1973, his last rites were also held at this very place.
The place has been visited by personalities like the Dalai Lama, former President Pranab Mukherjee, former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and many others.
