How Prabodhankar Thackeray contributed to the rise of Hindutva in 20th-century Maharashtra
He presented a version of Hindutva based on an intense aversion for the socio-cultural dominance of Brahmins. Keshav Sitaram "Prabodhankar" Thackeray.
Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, the father of Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray, was among the prominent figures in the Samyukta Maharashtra movement in the 195
s that pushed for the formation of the state of Maharashtra. But he had already emerged as an influential public figure three decades before, especially after he started a periodical called
Prabodhan (Awakening) in 1921.
This year marks the centenary year of this magazine, which played a crucial role in shaping the world of non-Brahmin Marathi writing between the two world wars. In the 19th-century, public discouse in Marathi was dominated by Brahmins. Early in the next century, the emergence of Thackeray and a few other non-Brahmin voices helped reshape the idea of the “public” in the region.