Manikdev Banduji Ingale (30 April 1909 – 15 October 1968), or Tukdoji Maharaj, was a spiritual saint from Maharashtra, India. He was born in 1909 in a poor family in the village of Yawali in

Amravati Amravati (pronunciation ( help·info)) is the second largest city in the Vidarbha region and ninth largest city in Maharashtra, India. It is administrative headquarters of Amravati district and Amravati division which includes Akola, Buld ...

. He was a disciple of Aadkoji Maharaj. Tukdoji Maharaj was involved in social reforms in the rural regions of Maharashtra, including construction of roads. He wrote '' Gramgeeta'' which describes means for village development. Many of the development programs started by him have continued to work efficiently after his death. He was once even claimed as a mad by one of the British officers. Tukdoji Maharaj once attended a ''World Religions and World Peace Conference'' in Japan.

Biography

Saint Tukdoji Maharaj was born in Yawali, Maharashtra. He received spiritual initiation from Samarth Adkoji Maharaj of Warkhed gram. Early in childhood, Saint Tukdoji Maharaj performed rigorous penance and spiritual exercises in self-realisation. He also was a great orator and a musician who composed more than 3000 bhajans (spiritual poems) in Hindi and Marathi, having performed for the spiritual teacher

Meher Baba Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani; 25 February 1894 – 31 January 1969) was an Indian spiritual master who said he was the Avatar, or God in human form, of the age. A major spiritual figure of the 20th century, he had a following of ...

in 1937 and 1944.Kalchuri, Bhau (1986). ''Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher''. Myrtle Beach: Manifestation, Inc. 7. p. 2986. He has also written many articles on Dharma, society, nation and education. He studied the existing religious sects and other schools of thought and discussed religious and secular problems of the devotees. He was determined to re-define socio-Spirituality and revitalise and awaken the nation.

Work

In 1941, Tukdoji Maharaj performed individual acts of civil resistance, famously called satyagraha, and took part in the mass upsurge of the '

Quit India The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule i ...

' movement. He was arrested in 1942 and was imprisoned in Nagpur and Raipur Central Jails. When India had become independent, he concentrated on rural reconstruction, establishing the 'All India Shri Gurudev Seva Mandal' and developing programmes for integrated rural development.

Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, Indian independence activist, journalist & scholar who served as the first president of Republic of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian Nationa ...

, who was the first President of India, bestowed the title of 'Rashtrasant' on him. He took part in Acharya Vinoba Bhave's land reform movement, known as the Bhoodan Movement, and he worked with relief aid at the time of the Bengal famine in 1945, at the time of the

Sino-Indian War The Sino-Indian War took place between China and India from October to November 1962, as a major flare-up of the Sino-Indian border dispute. There had been a series of violent border skirmishes between the two countries after the 1959 Tibet ...

in 1962, and the Koyna earthquake in 1967. He attended the World Conference of Religion and World Peace in Japan in 1955. He was one of the founding Vice Presidents of

Vishwa Hindu Parishad The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian right-wing Hindu organization based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is "t ...

. He died on 11 October 1968.

Honors

In 2005, the Nagpur University was renamed to

Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU), formerly Nagpur University, is a public state university located in Nagpur, Maharashtra. It is one of India's oldest universities, as well as the second oldest in Maharashtra. It is named a ...

. The postal department of India issued a commemorative stamp in his name in 1993.

Books written

* '' Gramgeeta'' (in Marathi; later translated by others in English, Hindi, Urdu, Gujrati, and Sanskrit.) * ''Sartha Anandamrut'' * ''Sartha Atmaprabhav'' * ''Geeta Prasad'' * ''Bodhamrut'' * ''Laharki Barkha'' Part 1, 2 & 3 * ''Anubhav Prakash'' Part 1, 2 and 3 * ''Meri Japan Yatra''.

Popular culture

* A short documentary depicting Maharaj was written and produced by Manoj Bhishnurkar. *''Jeevanyogi'', his biography, was written and published by his follower Sudam Sawarkar in the year 1990.

References

External links

Official website of Tukdoji Maharaj

Official website of Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj by Shri Sunilbhau Gainkar,Gurudev Seva Mandal, Wardha
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maharaj, Tukdoji 20th-century Hindu religious leaders 1909 births 1968 deaths Indian independence activists from Maharashtra People from Amravati district