In yet another pursuit of name change of the cities, the Ahmednagar District in Maharashtra will now be known as Ahilyanagar, announced state Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday.

The district has been renamed after the 18^th century ruler of then Indore state Ahilyadevi Holkar.

CM Shinde while speaking at an event to mark the 298^th birth anniversary of Ahilyadevi or famously known as Ahilyabai at Choundi in Ahmednagar district, the birthplace of the erstwhile ruler, announced the decision.

Ahilya Bai was born to Mankoji Shinde and Sushila Shinde, a Marathi Hindu family.  

Shinde while addressing the gathering said his government works on the ideals of governance that was directed by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Ahilyadevi Holkar. Hence, as per the wish of all the people, the decision of renaming the district has been taken.

Deputy Chief Minister Fadnavis praising Ahilyadevi said, without her the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and other temples of Lord Shiva would not have existed. Fadnavis further termed  the current BJP and Shinde headed Shiv Sena goverment to a Hindutva government.

It is said that at around 1780 CE, the Kashi Vishwanath temple was built by Ahilyadevi Holkar.

Fadnavis also put stress on the earlier decision of their government renaming Aurangabad and Osmanabad in the state.

Earlier, Auranagabad was renamed as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv by the Shinde-Fadnavis government.

Ahmednagar is a district formed in 1822, situated 120 km northeast of Pune in Maharashtra and is said to have named after the 15^th century ruler of the region Ahmad Nizam Shah.

Ahilyadevi Holkar, the former Queen of Malwa has the credits on her name for the construction of many famous temples across India.

There many other structures named after her such as the Ahilyabai Holkar stadium in Indore, Madhya Pradesh along with a bus stand after her name in Uttar Pradesh and other such structures.

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