Pune Airport To Be Named After Jagadguru Sant Tukaram Maharaj, Maharashtra Govt Approves Proposal – News18

The Maharashtra government on Monday approved a proposal to rename the international airport in Pune as Jagadguru Sant Tukaram Maharaj Airport. The announcement was made by Minister of State (MoS) for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol on the social media platform X.

The airport is located in Lohgaon, Pune, which is also the birthplace of Jagadguru Sant Tukaram Maharaj.

“The first step towards renaming the international airport in Pune as ‘Jagadguru Santshrestha Tukaram Maharaj Pune International Airport’ has been taken today and the proposal given by us has been approved by the state government,” Mohol wrote in his post.

The minister further stated that the proposal has been approved in a state cabinet meeting and will be forwarded to the central government for further processing.

Thanking Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Mohol noted that the announcement regarding this proposal was made just two days ago by Fadnavis, who stated it would be approved in the upcoming cabinet meeting. “True to his word, this proposal has been approved in the very first cabinet meeting following that announcement,” he said.

The proposal to rename the airport honours Sant Tukaram, a prominent saint and spiritual poet of the Bhakti movement.

Mohol explained that Sant Tukaram spent his childhood in Lohgaon, establishing a deep connection between the village and him. “With the support of the villagers and the wishes of the entire Warkari community in Maharashtra, we submitted this proposal to the state government. Additionally, through the Warkari community, Tukobaray (Sant Tukaram) has made significant contributions to promoting Bhakti philosophy, offering new ideas to society that remain relevant today,” he said.