Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Indore’s Foundation Day is to be celebrated today at Bada Rawla. The Zamindar family, on Wednesday, organised a press conference briefing about Indore’s history. They also spoke abgout the ongoing issue of deciding the date of Indore’s Gaurav Diwas.
While talking to reporters, Rani Madhavi Mandloi Zamindar said that this would be the 306th Indore Foundation Day which will be celebrated on March 3. For the past 305 years it had been celebrated on the same date.
On deciding the date for Indore’s Gaurav Diwas, she said, “May 31 has been in discussions for deciding the date. The administration wants that date to be considered as Sthapna Diwas which, conceptually and historically, is very wrong. The date is the birth anniversary of Maharani Ahilya Bai Holkar not the birth anniversary of Indore.”
Adding to the statement, Yuvraj Varadaraj Mandloi Zamindar said, “We hold valid evidence and facts which the Supreme Court of India has also found corresponding to the claim that Indore’s Foundation Day is March 3. We’re not just claiming this. We hold strong evidence in support of our decision.”
“As much as the administration wants, they can celebrate Gaurav Diwas. There can’t be a single day on which Indoreans should feel proud about Indore. They can feel proud 365 days. But, the fact of the matter is that Indore’s Foundation Day can be only one and that is March 3,” he added.
Why March 3?
Mandloi said, ‘Rao Raja Rao Nandlal Mandloi laid the foundation of modern Indore in 1715. When Rao Raja shifted his capital from Kampel to Indore, he strategically located his fort Shree Sansthan Bada Rawala between mountains and rivers for protection from invaders. Indore city’s foundations were laid by the family’s forefather Rao Raja Nandlal Mandloi and some of the streets and parts of the city still bear the names of the family members, such as Nandlal Pura, Rani Pura, Nihalpura, Tejkaranpura (where the present Shani Gali, too, is located), Tara Devi Road, Daulat Ganj and other places’
