Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called Satra his 'gurubhumi' saying Lakshmanrao Inamdar, who had an abiding influence on him and who took care of his "shiksha-diksha" (initial education) was born here.
"In a way, Satara is 'Gurubhumi' for me. Whatever I am able to do today, the values in which I have grown up, from whom I got education that Lakshmanrao Inamdar was born and brought up in Satra's Khatav village. We used to call him Vakil Saheb. He later came to Gujarat and took care of my initial education ," Modi said addressing an election rally here.
"This is why this land is 'Gurubhumi' for me. A visit to Satara is equal to a teerth (pilgrimage) for me," he added.
He said that Satara is a land of saints and visionaries " such as Veer Sambhaji, Veer Sahuji, Samarth Ramdasji, Ram Shastri Prabhune, Shrimant Pratap Singh, Savitribai Phule, Kranti Singh and Nana Patil" and they had given direction to the country.
"Visionary leader Yashwantrao Chavan was also born in Satara," he added.
He said that alliance governments in the state and the Centre have worked on the ideals of Shivaji in the past five years.
"Shivaji had formed a strong Army and worked to create a navy," he said, adding that his government has brought armed forces in the league of advanced nations.
Modi referred to Udayan Raje Bhosale, descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj joining the BJP last month and said the party has got further strengthened.
"So far we only had the ideals of Shivaji Maharaj, now we also have the blessing of his family. This merger of ideals and family will give us new energy in achieve a better and strong India of his dreams, Maharashtra of his dreams," Modi said.
( With inputs from ANI )