Rama Krishna Sangem
A grand memorial of Dr Keshav Rao Baliram Hedgewar, founder of RSS, will come up at Kandukurti village of Renjal Mandal in Nizamabad district. Perhaps, this is a big memorial of Dr Hedgewar in Telangana. The memorial named as Spoorthi Kendra will come up on a sprawling 12 acres which will include different halls, each dedicated to a theme related to him. This village is the ancestral home of Dr Hedgewar, as his grandfather who migrated to Nagpur in Maharashtra later.
Dr Hedgewar’s grandfather Narahari Sashtry, a Sanskrit scholar, migrated to at the behest of Chhatrapahti Shivaji Maharaj’s great-grandson to deliver lectures on Ramayana and Bhagawat Githa, etc. Still there is a little home of their ancestral home in Kandukurti that has been developed into a small memorial by RSS in 1996. But, now the Sangh wants to build a grand memorial keeping in view the centenary year of RSS, which wsa founded in 1925.
The RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) has been making efforts to see that this memorial will be include a life-size statue of Dr Hedgewar, an art gallery, temples, a cultural centre, a school, auditorium and a skill development centre. This Kandukurti is close to Maharashtra border and abutting confluence of three rivers including River Godavari.
Union Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has sanctioned a national highway connecting Kandukurti to Nagpur where RSS headquarter is located and it is named as “From Janmabhoomi to Karmabhoomi”.The Spoorthi Kendra’s work has already begun and is expected to be inaugurated by middle of 2026. Once it is opened for public, this will be a major cultural centre for RSS in the northern Telangana area where BJP has gained ground since recently.
Doctor Ji, RSS founder and ideologue
Hedgewar was born on 1 April 1889 in a Deshastha Brahmin family in Nagpur, Central Provinces and Berar. His parents were Baliram Pant Hedgewar and Revatibai, a Marathi couple of modest means. When Hedgewar was thirteen both of his parents died in the plague epidemic[of 1902. Hedgewar’s uncle ensured that he continued to receive a good education, and B. S. Moonje became a patron and a father-figure for the young Hedgewar.
Dr Hedgewar died on June 21, 1940 To mark his death anniversary, the BJP led Central government has proposed to the UN for celebrating Internatgional Yoga Day., which is held all over the world. Dr Hedgewar founded RSS in September 1925, with a handful of people in Nagpur and later it has expanded to become a major force. Currently, RSS has around 55 lakh members and 74,000 Shakhas (units) all the over the country, with about 40 affiliate bodies. It has associate bodies over the world too.
