Savitri Khanolkar

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Savitri Khanolkar
Born
Eve Yvonne Maday de Maros

(1913-07-20)20 July 1913
Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Died26 November 1990(1990-11-26) (aged 77)
New Delhi, India
Citizenship
  • Swiss
  • Indian
Known forDesigner of Param Vir Chakra
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1932; died 1952)​
Parents
  • André de Maday (father)
  • Marthe Hentzelt (mother)

Savitri Bai Khanolkar (born Eve Yvonne Maday de Maros, 20 July 1913 – 26 November 1990)

military decoration, awarded for displaying distinguished acts of valour during wartime. Khanolkar also designed several other major gallantry medals including the Ashok Chakra (AC), Maha Vir Chakra (MVC), Kirti Chakra (KC), Vir Chakra (VrC) and Shaurya Chakra (SC). She had also designed the General Service Medal 1947, which was used until 1965.[2]
Khanolkar was also a painter and an artist.

Born Eve Yvonne Maday de Maros in

Hindu
and acquired Indian citizenship.

Soon after

Major General Hira Lal Atal to design India's highest award for bravery in combat, the Param Vir Chakra.[1][3] Major General Atal had been given the responsibility of creating and naming independent India's new military decorations. His reasons for choosing Khanolkar were her deep and intimate knowledge of Indian culture, Sanskrit and Vedas
, which he hoped would give the design a truly Indian ethos.

Coincidentally, the first

Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 in Kashmir.[2]

Early life

Born in

Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst in the United Kingdom, and was visiting Switzerland during a term break. Although he was many years older than she was, Eve fell in love with him. Her father however, did not agree to let her go away to a faraway country like India but Eve was a determined young woman, and her love was strong. She followed Vikram to India a few years later, and in 1932, she married him in Lucknow.[4]
She subsequently changed her name to Savitri Bai Khanolkar.

Indian connection

Savitri Bai identified so closely with Hindu traditions and ideals, that her integration into Indian society was smooth and effortless. She was a

Major General Hira Lal Atal, the creator of the Param Vir Chakra
, to ask for Savitri Bai's help in designing a medal that would truly symbolize the highest bravery.

The design of Param Vir Chakra

Savitribai thought of the sage

Hindu warriors ever born, so she ensured Shivaji sword bhavani was placed into India's highest wartime medal, she made a design in which Indra's vajra was surrounded on two sides by Shivaji's sword bhavani.[5]

The medal itself is a small one. It is cast in bronze with a diameter of 13⁄8 inches (41 mm). In the centre, on a raised circle, is the state emblem, surrounded by four replicas of Indra's Vajra, flanked by swords. The decoration is suspended from a straight swiveling suspension bar, and is held by a 32 mm purple ribbon.

Later life

Savitri Bai had always done a lot a social work which she continued in her later years, working with soldiers and their families and refugees who had been displaced during the Partition. After her husband's death in 1952, she found refuge in spirituality, and retired to the Ramakrishna Math. She wrote a book on the Saints of Maharashtra that is still popular today.

Death

Savitri Bai Khanolkar died on 26 November 1990.[2][6]

External links

Notes

  1. ^ a b Satyindra Singh (20 June 1999). "Honouring the Bravest of the Brave". The Tribune, Chandigarh. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  2. ^ a b c "Veer Gatha:Stories of Param Vir Chakra Awardees" (PDF). NCERT. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  3. ^ Sumit Walia (Jan 23, 2009). "The first Param Vir Chakra". Sify. Archived from the original on October 27, 2010. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
  4. ISBN 978-8174362629
  5. ^ "Param Vir Chakra: Story of India's Highest Gallantry Award". www.jammukashmirnow.com. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  6. ^ Shukla, Ajai (20 July 2013). "The Swiss-born who crafted Param Vir Chakra". Business Standard India. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
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