Memorial on legendary Marathi poet GaDiMa to come up at Pune

Pune: A monument (smarak) in memory of legendary Marathi poet Gajanan Digambar Madgulkar aka GD Madgulkar aka GaDiMa will become a reality on his 100th birth anniversary.

While the decision to build a memorial was taken by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) three years back, Pune mayor Murlidhar Mohol has taken the lead and it will be built at Kothrud.

GaDiMa (October 1, 1919 – December 14, 1977), who was a poet, lyricist, author, playwright, actor and editor of a magazine, also took part in India’s independence movement.

The followers of GaDiMa had staged an agitation for delay in setting up a memorial at Balgandharva Rangmandir in 2018. The poet’s relatives are also seeking a smarak for the past 40 years.

Mohol said, “The land in Kothrud area was allocated in 2017. After that, tender was scrutinised. In February 2020, before the corona pandemic started, tender was sanctioned by the standing committee. However, work could not take off because of lockdown. Now, we have decided to start work and finish it as early as possible. The smarak will be constructed as per GaDiMa’s family members’ suggestions. The purpose of smarak is to conserve the contribution of GaDiMa in different fields such as culture, literature and films.”

The chosen site is behind Wonder Society in Kothrud. It will be built on 6.27 acre. The proposed four-storey building will have an independent auditorium with seating capacity of 300 people, GaDiMa Smarak, exhibition centre and an aquarium. At the ground floor, the corporation will develop a cafeteria, besides separate parking area for two-wheelers and cars.

The smarak will also include GaDiMa personal life journey, cultural and film contribution. PMC has given names to dalan (section) — Geet Ramayan Dalan, GDMa Sahitya Dalan, GD Ma Personal Dalan. PMC has allotted Rs 8.50 crore for the project.

Shivaji Lank, superintendent engineer, PMC building construction department said, “It will take two years to complete the smarak. We have allocated funds to construct the smarak within the deadline. The smarak was announced in 2017.”

Sumitr, grandson of Madgulkar said, “We have been seeking a memorial for for the last 43 years. Mayor Mohol showed a presentation of the plan. Finally, we are happy to see that smarak will be built. We don’t want only statues of GaDiMa, but people should see, listen and read his works, especially the younger generation.”

Contribution to Indian cinema

Gajanan Digambar Madgulkar created Geet Ramayana in Marathi language, a collection of 56 poems that were aired on All India Radio.

He has written stories for legendary actor-director- producer V Shantaram like “Do Ankhen Barah Haath”, “Navrang” and “Goonj Uthi Shehnai”.

He penned stories, screenplays and dialogues for around 157 Marathi and 25 Hindi films. He wrote more than 2,000 Marathi songs.

Proposed exhibition centre

Site: Survey number 70, Kothrud

Fund allocated: ~8.50 cr

Time of completion: Two years

Plot area: 25,110 sqm (6.27 acres)

Exhibition centre area: 7,169.82 sqm