Kashi Vedic Pandit Descendent Of Shivaji Maharaj's Priest To Lead Ram Temple Pooja

Varanasi: The Ram Mandir 'Pran-pratishtha' ceremony to be held on January 22 is inextricably linked to another watershed moment in Indian history almost 350 years ago: Chhatrapati Shivaji's coronation in 1674. The chief 'Purohit' or 'Pandit' who will lead the other priests at the consecration ceremony is the 86-year-old 'Vedic Karmkand' (ritualism) scholar from Varanasi, Pandit Laxmikant Mathuranath Dixit, whose lineage tradition ('vansh parampara') goes back to the renowned 17th century Kashi scholar, Gaga Bhatt. Gaga Bhatt was the chief priest who presided over the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the year 1674. Pt Laxmikant Mathuranath Dixit is himself an authority on age-old traditions of Vedic rituals.

Pt Laxmikant Mathuranath Dixit will lead the team of 121 scholars from all branches of the Vedas from across India, including over 40 from Kashi, to solemnise the idol consecration rituals between January 16 and 22, according to a report in The Times of India.

Times Now spoke to historian and journalist Vaibhav Purandare whose book on Shivrajyabhishek or the Coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is well-received. Purandare mentions the details of the lineage of Gaga Bhatt - the master of the four Vedas, the six philosophies, and all the Hindu scriptures - who had also penned a book named "Shri Shiv Rajyabhishek Prayog' after the completion of the coronation of Shivaji Maharaj.

Purandare told Times Now that the name of Gaga Bhatta was Vishweshwar Bhatt and his ancestor had conducted the consecration ceremony for the idol of the Kashi Vishwanath temple. For the unversed, Kashi is the same Indian hold city which is also known as Varanasi and Benaras.

Gaga Bhatt's ancestors were Maharashtrian Brahmins who hailed originally from a village near Paithan in Maharashtra but had migrated to the holy city of Varanasi a few decades earlier.

While his ancestor Gaga Bhatt presided over Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's ascension as the fountainhead of Hindavi Swarajya or an independent Maratha state, Pt Laxmikant Mathuranath Dixit will lead the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at the Ram Mandir in a historic ceremony.

“It is the blessings bestowed upon me by the legendary saints and seers that Kashi and I have been assigned the responsibility of supervising the consecration of Ram Lalla. I will perform my duties with the blessings of Lord Ram,” the veteran scholar told TOI.

Incidentally, this is also the 350th year since the coronation of the Hindu king Shivaji Maharaj.

In September, a team comprising scholars including Dixit and Acharya Ganesh Shastri Dravid had also been sent to Ayodhya by the Kanchi Kamakoti Shankaracharya to decide the dates of consecration after meeting Champat Rai, the General Secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited to perform the ritual to mark the consecration of the Ram Lalla idol in Ayodhya in January 22 and thousands of guests have been invited to grace the ceremony.