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“When I see her statue on the banks of the Ganga, at the Kashi Vishwanath Dham, I feel a deep sense of pride – as a woman and as someone from her community,” says Vandana Tomar, showing us a photograph of her in front of the 18-foot black stone statue of Ahilyabai Holkar, installed at the entrance of the Kashi Corridor.

“To see someone from our background remembered like this, in such a sacred space, is beyond words,” says Vandana, who teaches at Subharti University in Meerut.

The statue was unveiled in December 2021, when the Kashi Vishwanath Dham was inaugurated. Among the other figures commemorated within the complex are Adi Shankaracharya and Bharat Mata, but for Vandana, it is Ahilyabai’s presence that holds the greatest significance.

“I write Tomar as a title but I’m a Gadariya like our queen,” continues Vandana. Ahilyabai Holkar, the 18th-century queen of the Holkar dynasty, is widely remembered for her piety and for the many temples she commissioned or restored. But for Vandana and others from her community, the recognition means something more – it marks the acknowledgment of the Gadariya identity, a sub-caste including communities of the Dhangars and Pals, traditionally involved in shepherding and livestock rearing.

The Gadariyas see themselves as vansaj – descendants – of Ahilyabai. According to oral traditions, Malhar Rao Holkar spotted the young Ahilyabai deeply immersed in temple rituals, and chose her as the bride for his son, Khanderao Holkar. Following the deaths of her husband and son, Ahilyabai ruled with skill and resolve. She is known for the reconstruction of key temples such as Kashi Vishwanath in Varanasi, Somnath in Gujarat and shrines across Rameswaram, Dwarka and Puri.

The stone statue of Ahilyabai at the Kashi Vishwanath Dham. Photo provided by author.

The perfect icon

For the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the BJP, Ahilyabai serves as a powerful and strategic icon – a deeply religious queen whose legacy seamlessly fits Hindutva narratives on multiple fronts.

Her temple-building legacy directly aligns with the RSS’s core project of reclaiming Hindu sacred spaces, particularly her restoration of Somnath and Kashi Vishwanath, two of the most important shrines in RSS temple politics.

As a ruler, she embodies the golden age of Hindu sovereignty that the RSS draws inspiration from for modern India – the legacy of Maratha and Peshwa-Brahmin rule that they see as a template for a Hindu rashtra.

Her identity as a woman from a Gadariya community fits the BJP’s electoral push among the more backward of the OBC communities – the Pals, Dhangars and Baghels who form crucial vote banks across northern and western India.

In recent years, efforts to position her as a national figure have gathered momentum, particularly ahead of her 300th birth anniversary on May 31, 2025. Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the chief guest at a function in Bhopal on women’s empowerment commemorating her 300th birth anniversary.

In this image posted by @CMMadhyaPradesh via X on May 31, Prime Minister Modi and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav pay tribute to Ahilyabai Holkar on........

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