The popular Marathi song ‘Garja Maharashtra Mahza’ has been granted the status of ‘Maharashtra Rajya Geet’. The decision was taken during the Maharashtra Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
The song, which describes the great culture and achievements of Maharashtra, was penned by renowned poet Raja Badhe, a Nagpurian. The music for the song was composed by Shriniwas Khale and publicly sung for the first time by Shahir Sable, on May 1, 1960, when Maharashtra State was formed. The first Chief Minister of MaharashtraYashvantrao Chavan was present at the function, held at Shivaji Park, Mumbai.
With the status of the Maharashtra Geet, the official programmes in Maharashtra will begin with the recitation of this song and end with the National Song. Only first two stanzas of the song will be recited as the song is too long to be recited every time.
The proposal for providing the status was made by Maharashtra Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and was approved by the Maharashtra Cabinet on Tuesday. The song is of the duration of 11.15 minutes to 1.30 minutes.