Vishveshvara Bhatta, popularly known as Gaga Bhatt was a 17th-century Brahmin scholar from Varanasi, best known for presiding over the coronation of the Maratha king, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
18 Facts About Gaga Bhatt
2.
Gaga Bhatt's great grandfather Narayana Bhatta was a well-known scholar and his notable works on smriti include, Prayogaratna, Tristhalisetu and Antyestipaddhati.
3.
Gaga Bhatt's grandfather was Ramakrsna Bhatta, the eldest son of Narayana.
4.
Gaga Bhatt's father Divakara Bhatta, the eldest son of Ramakrsna was an author on smriti.
5.
Gaga Bhatt's uncle, Kamalakara Bhatta, was a noted scholar, mostly known for his Nirnayasindhu, a popular work on smriti.
6.
Gaga Bhatt himself is known for his Bhattacintamani, a work on Mimamsa.
7.
Gaga Bhatt has previously met Shivaji more than a decade before his coronation year of 1674.
8.
Gaga Bhatt appeared without invitation in the chronicles of Sabhasad and Chitragupta, when he decided to visit his court after hearing about the fame of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
9.
Gaga Bhatt was impressed with Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj court and their treatment of him, quoting:.
10.
Gaga Bhatt presented a genealogy declaring that Shivaji's ancestors were Kshatriyas descended from the solar line of the Kshatriyas Ranas of Mewar.
11.
Gaga Bhatt was given the title Kshatriya Kulavantas Sinhasanadheeshwar Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj by Gaga Bhatt.
12.
Scholars suggest that Pandit Gaga Bhatt was secured in charge of authoritatively declaring him a Kshatriya as Bhonsales being Marathas did not belong to Kshatriya nor any other upper caste but were mere tillers of soil as Shivaji's great-grandfather was remembered to have been.
13.
Gaga Bhatt was made compliant, and he accepted the Bhonsle pedigree as fabricated by the clever secretary Balaji Avji, and declared that Rajah was a Kshatriya, descended from the Maharanas of Udaipur.
14.
Gaga Bhatt was rewarded for the bogus genealogy with a huge fee.
15.
Gaga Bhatt officially presided over the ceremony, and had a gold vessel filled with the seven sacred waters of the rivers Yamuna, Sindhu, Ganga, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri.
16.
Gaga Bhatt held the vessel over Shivaji's head and chanted the coronation mantras, as the water kept dripping from the several tiny holes in the vessel.
17.
Gaga Bhatt had insisted on an Indrabhishek ritual, which had fallen into disuse since the 9th century.
18.
Gaga Bhatt was bestowed with the Zaanva, with the Vedas and was bathed in an abhisheka.