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It gives me great pleasure to lay the foundation-stone of this memorial to one of India's greatest soldiers and statsmen. A few minute ago I laid the foundation-stone of the memorial to the Maratha Soldiers who laid their lives in the Great war, men who proved that the spirit which animated the armies of Shivaji still burns bright and clear.
I feel snre that this occasion will be worthy of a Memory of a great Indian Statesman and Soldier, and that the monument will stand for all times as a testimony to Maratha greatness in the arts of peace as well as those of War."
H. R. H. the Prince of Wales.
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Shivaji Maharaj-one of the greatest of Indir's Warriors and Statesmen X There was a time when attempts were being made to use the memory of Shivaji as a political weapon, and efforts were not lacking to associate it with party or sectional sentiments. That time has passed. I believe that Shivaji is now rightly regarded as an Indian Hero and I trust that this Memorial will be a sign and a symbol of Unity-not of disunityand will be accepted as celebrating not merely a great Maratha, but a great Indian.
H. E. Sir Leslie Wilson Governor of Bombay
(On the occasion of the unveiling of the Shivaji Statue at Poona). Congratulation on the occasion of the unveiling of the statue of Shivaji, the renowned Maratha leader and Statesman. I trust that this Memorial may stand both as a lasting token of the pride of the Maratha people in their national hero, and as a reminder of how th recent years, and particularly in the Great war, the Marathas have shown by their deeds that the traditions of the past still inspire them.
H. E. The Viceroy of India (1928)
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
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