Veer Savarkar- A profile in courage

The Chapekar Brothers

Nashik, straddling the western edge of the Deccan plateau, located on the banks of the holy Godavari river.  One of the holiest rivers of  India, that originates at Triambakeshwar, around 30 km from the city.  During the Ramayana, this was believed to be one of the places where Rama had spent during his 14 years in exile. A place where Lakshman was believed to have cut the nose of Shurphanaka, the sister of the Asura king, Ravan. And this also gave the city it's name, Nashika being the Sanskrit word for Nose.  To the north of the city is located Panchavati, where Sita was abducted by Ravan.   The Kalaram Temple at Panchavati built by the Maratha Sardar Odekar in 1790, is known for it's architectural excellence, and the beautiful idols of Rama, Sita and Lakshman.

One of the major cities during the Satavahana Empire, it was conquered by the Shaka ruler Nahapana, who got a cave excavated in the Trirashmi Hill for Buddhist monks. Nahapana was defeated by Gautamiputra Satkarni, and the city once again passed into the control of the Satavahanas. The city had it's period of glory under the Satavahanas,  who patronized learning and religion. While the early Satavahana rulers lavished gifts on the Brahmins, the later ones Gautamiputra, Yajnasri excavated caves for the Buddhist monks. It was during this time that Nashik emerged as an important trade center, lying on the route from Pratisthana( present day Paithan in Maharashtra) to Broach( Bharuch in Gujarat). It was known for it's exquisite silks.

After the fall of the Satavahanas, the city passed under the control of the Abhiras, Traikutakas, the Vishnukundins and Kalachuris. Before once again rising to it's former glory under the Chalukyas of Badami, and subsequently the Rashtrakutas.  After a long period of conflict between the Rashtrakutas and Chalukyas that lasted till 1157 AD, the city passed into the hands of the Yadavas of Devagiri.  Till 1318, the city was under their control, till the invasion by Malik Kafur, the eunuch general of Allaudin Khilji, resulted in the fall of the Yadavas. Known as Gulshanabad during the Mughal rule, the city was recovered by Netaji Palkar, Chattrapati Shivaji's trusted lieutnant in 1663.  Though Aurangzeb recaptured it under the reign of Sambhaji,  the Marathas firmly took back the city, in 1707,  and built some of the most famous temples of the city too. Rameshwara Temple, Kapaleswara Temple, the Kalaram Temple all were built or reconstructed during the Maratha reign.However by 1818, the British had defeated the Peshwas, taken over most of Maharasthra, with their success in the Anglo-Maratha wars. 

It was into such a place steeped with history, culture and tradition, that Savarkar stepped into for higher schooling. It was a period when Maharashtra, was slowly awakening from decades of slumber.  The once glorious land of  Shivaji Maharaj,  the Peshwas, Eknath, Tukaram, had lost it's vitality, post the defeat in the 1857 Mutiny. The Marathas had already fallen much before to the British, who were now lords of the entire state.  The 1857 Mutiny was a last ditch attempt to gain their former glory, led by men like Tatya Tope and Nana Sahib, which however was in vain. However Maharashtra, was now awakening, thanks to leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who roused the masses against the British rule, and reformers like Jyotibha Phule, D.K.Karve. The revolutionary fervor was spreading slowly among the ordinary people, all it needed was a spark to light the fire. And that spark would come from Pune, from a trio of brothers called Chapekar.

Chinchwad now an upcoming residential, and commercial suburb, was a small, dusty village, during the late 19th century. Adjoining the North West of Pune, it's right now famous for its furniture factories, and the adjoining industrial suburb, of Pimpri, which together form the Pimpri-Chinchwad Muncipal Corporation. The ancient Ganesh Temple built here by the saint Morya Gosawi on the banks of the Pavana River is one of the suburb's more prominent landmarks took.

The Chapekar brothers hailed from Chapa, one of the small hamlets adjoining to Chinchwad, which in a way explains their surname too. The eldest Damodar, was born in 1868, to Dwarka and Hari in a large joint family of twenty that included his parents, aunts, uncles and above all his grandfather, Vinayak, the patriarch. Though born into relative prosperity, the huge family would fall on hard days, mainly due to Vinayak's rather unsuccessful business ventures. Damodar had memories of the trip he had made to Varanasi, with his grandfather, and taking a dip in the holy Ganga, as well as taking the blessings of Kasi Viswanath.