Shripad Damodar Satwalekar

Shripad Damodar Satwalekar was born in the Princely state of Sawantwadi, now part of Sindhudurg district in the Present day Indian state of Maharashtra to Damodar Pant and Lakshmi Bai. He attended J J School of Art in Bombay and worked for six months at the same institute as a tutor.{{Cite book|title=ಶ್ರೀಪಾದ ದಾಮೋದರ ಸಾತವಳೇಕರ್|last=S R|first=Ramaswamy|publisher=Bharata-Bharati|year=1980|location=Bangalore}}

Satwalekar began his career as an artist, painter, and photographer with a studio in the city of Lahore, Punjab State. He mainly painted portraits of Maharajas and other prominent personalities of the day.{{cite book|last=Ramaswamy|first=Sumathi|title=The Goddess and the Nation: Mapping Mother India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OWfcoMnHU8gC&pg=PR9|access-date=25 March 2013|date=2009-01-01|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=9780822391531|pages=24, 25, 378}} Under the patronage of Bhawanrao Pant Pratinidhi, the ruler of Aundh near Satara, Satwalekar started doing paintings along with vedic research. Within a short period he became popularly known as Pandit Satwalekar due to his excellence and concentration on Vedic research. He published and edited journals like Amrit Lata, Veda Sandesh and Purusharth.{{Cite book |title=Encyclopaedia visual art of Maharashtra: artists of the Bombay School and art institutions (late 18th to early 21st century) |date= |publisher=Pundole Art Gallery |isbn=978-81-89010-11-9 |editor-last=Bahulkar |editor-first=Suhas |edition=First |location=Mumbai |editor-last2=Ghāre |editor-first2=Dīpaka |editor-last3=Patwardhan |editor-first3=Sudhir |editor-last4=Ranade |editor-first4=Dilip |editor-last5=Pundole Art Gallery}} In 1900, he opened his own painting studio in South Hyderabad.

Satwalekar was interested in both individual and social health, Ayurveda, Yoga, and Vedas

YajurVed Title: [https://archive.org/details/vaidikavyakhyana02satw Vaidika vyakhyana mala] Author: Satwalekar, Shripad Damodar, 1873?-

Volume: 2

Subject: Vedas

Publisher: Pra Svdhyya Maala

Language: Hindi

Call number: AAA-7707

Digitizing sponsor: University of Toronto

Book contributor: Robarts - University of Toronto (particularly in the analysis of the Vedas at the level of adhibhuta) and wrote several books on these subjects, including '

• Subodha Bhāṣya, etc.
• Rigveda Samhita{{cite book|author1=K. C. Singhal|author2=Roshan Gupta|title=The Ancient History of India, Vedic Period: A New Interpretation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hoXqCmo-Xs8C&pg=PR9|year=2003|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist|isbn=978-81-269-0286-6|page=1}}
• Atharveda in Hindi.{{cite book|author=M. S. Valiathan|title=The Legacy of Caraka|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ocOktxn-u28C&pg=PP17|year=2003|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-250-2505-4|page=xxii}}
• Puruṣārtha-Bodhinī-Bhāṣā-Ṭīkā - A four volume Commentary on Bhagavad Gita - S.Rama calls this the best commentary on the Gita by a 20th century authorRama, S., 1985. Perennial psychology of the Bhagavad Gita. Himalayan Institute Press.page=8-9 [https://books.google.com/books?id=UVTfbBezcfcC&q=satwalekar%29&pg=PP9]{{cite book |last1=Patel |first1=Preeti |title=E teaching capsule for Srimad Bhagavad Gita. |date=2018 |publisher=University of Hyderabad |location=Hyderabad, India |page=11 |url=http://sanskrit.uohyd.ac.in/faculty/amba/PUBLICATIONS/Student_Thesis/Preeti_PhD.pdf |access-date=2 September 2021}}
• Translation of the Mahabharata - The Government of India assigned the task of translating the constituted text of the Mahabharata published by the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute to Satwalekar. After his death, the task was taken up by Shrutisheel Sharma.{{Cite book|title=ಮಹಾಭಾರತದ ಬೆಳವಣಿಗೆ|last=S R|first=Ramaswamy|publisher=Kavyalaya Publishers|year=1972|location=Mysore}}

As early as in 1884, he started an institute for Sanskrit enthusiasts, Samskruta Vyaakhyaana Mandala. He established the Vivekavardhini Vidyaalaya, a public lecture hall, a gymnasium for young people, and so forth. For years he was associated with the Arya Samaj and the Theosophical Society. At one point of time, he served as a teacher of Vedas and painting at Kangadi Gurukula in Haridwar.

Satwalekar was associated with several social service and outreach activities. He was a proponent of yoga and advised Gandhi on the subject. During his stay in Aundh he worked with the Raja Bhawanrao to promote Surya Namaskar.{{cite book |author1=Newcombe |editor1-last=Barton |editor1-first=John |title=Oxford Research Encyclopedias: Religion |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press. |location=Oxford |pages=17, 20, 46 |url=http://oro.open.ac.uk/48147/1/April_Yoga_Revival_Newcombe.pdf |access-date=6 October 2020 |chapter=The Revival of Yoga in Contemporary India}}

Satwalekar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1968.{{cite web|url=http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/LST-PDAWD.pdf |title=Year-Wise List |work=Padma Awards Directory (1954-2011) |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs (India) |access-date=23 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510095705/http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/LST-PDAWD.pdf |archive-date=10 May 2013 }} He was conferred the Mayo Award twice, once for painting and once for sculpting.

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{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1960–69}}

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Category:1867 births

Category:Writers from Maharashtra

Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education

Category:Year of death unknown

Category:People from Ratnagiri district

Category:19th-century Indian photographers

Category:19th-century Indian writers

Category:Photographers from Maharashtra

Category:Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art alumni