The Present Generation

The Royal Family Today

The members of the Patwardhan family of Miraj who carry its legacy forward.

Head of the Family

The Rajasaheb & Ranisaheb of Miraj

Born: 1946, Miraj
Education: B.Com., BMCC, Pune (1966)
Role: Head of the Family

Rajasaheb of Miraj

His Highness Shrimant Gangadharrao Madhavrao alias Balasaheb Patwardhan Maharaj

Industrialist · Trustee

His Highness was born in Miraj in 1946, in the closing years of the princely State, and became one of the pioneering industrialists of his generation.

Industry

1967: founded Fine Packaging Private Limited, a pioneer of India’s corrugated box industry.
1971: founded Miraj Glass Limited, the region’s first major glass works, which grew into one of the largest glass factories in Asia.
1972–1986: Chairman, and Managing Director until 1986, of Miraj Electric Supply Limited, modernising the Miraj region’s power network.
From 1990: built enterprises in Pune in glass, industrial ancillaries, automotive components and information technology.
2000: founded the Surya Incubation Centre in Pune, today the India Co-Incubation Centre, supporting start-ups long before incubation was a familiar idea.
Today: Chairman Emeritus of UG Patwardhan Services Private Limited and of Madhavraje Advisors Private Limited.

Family legacy

He carried on Ganesh Kalagraha, the machine-tools workshop founded by his great-grandfather, His Highness Shrimant Sir Gangadharrao Balasaheb Maharaj, until it merged into Patwardhan Engineering in 2005.

Service to Miraj

In 1999 he became a trustee of the Devasthan Dharmadaya Shikshan Trust, a responsibility handed down from his great-grandfather. In 2010 he founded the Miraj Trust, which brings the community together through the annual Ganesh procession, a chess tournament, and cultural and religious programmes across the former Miraj State.

Born: 1952, Pune
Married: 1969
Education: B.A. and M.A. Economics, Fergusson College, Pune; B.Ed.

In loving memory · 1952–2024

Ranisaheb of Miraj

Her Highness Shrimant Sou. Umaraje Gangadharrao Patwardhan Maharaj

Educator · Institution-builder · Patron of the arts

Born in Pune, Her Highness studied at the Maharani Gayatri Devi School in Jaipur and married into the royal family of Miraj in 1969. After her marriage she earned her degrees in Economics at Fergusson College, Pune, followed by a B.Ed.

Educator

In 1969 she founded Blue Bells Nursery School in Pune, one of the city’s earliest stand-alone kindergartens, and led it for more than fifty years until 2023. She taught English communication, leadership and soft skills as visiting faculty at FLAME University, the Sinhgad Institute of Technology and other institutions, and set up a finishing school and training academy in Miraj for graduates and young professionals.

Music and painting

A connoisseur of Hindustani classical music, she could recognise and sing more than fifty ragas, and she enjoyed golf. In her later years she took up painting, inspired by her mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law, both patrons of the arts. She painted portraits and her dogs, and was working on a series of historical battle scenes.

Causes she championed

She loved animals, dogs most of all, and encouraged her grandson to start an animal health drive in college that vaccinated over 100 dogs in a single campaign. She instituted the Rani Laxmibaisaheb Trophy for Debate in memory of her grandmother-in-law, to give children a platform to express themselves.

Her legacy lives on in the students she taught, the institutions she built and the causes she cared about.

Next in Line

The Yuvarajsaheb & Yuvaranisaheb of Miraj

His Highness Shrimant Madhavraje Ramraje alias Raosaheb Patwardhan Maharaj and Her Highness Shrimant Sou. Anusayaraje Madhavraje Patwardhan Maharaj, Yuvarajsaheb and Yuvaranisaheb of Miraj

School: The Bishop’s School, Pune
Law: B.A. LL.B., ILS Law College, Pune (2018–2023)
Post-grad: LL.M. in Public Law, University College London (2024)
Lineage: 12th generation since the Saranjam of 1761

Yuvarajsaheb of Miraj

His Highness Shrimant Madhavraje Ramraje alias Raosaheb Patwardhan Maharaj

Advocate · Scholar · Trustee · Director

An advocate and legal scholar, the Yuvarajsaheb serves the family enterprises as a Director and leads the Rajasaheb of Miraj Foundation as its Managing Trustee.

Education

At The Bishop’s School, Pune, he won four state-level debate competitions and was twice awarded the Air Commander Suri Shield for Declamation. He then read law at ILS Law College, Pune, and completed his LL.M. in Public Law at University College London in 2024.

Legal aid and awards

Student Coordinator of the ILS Legal Aid Cell; led a team of students to Madhya Pradesh to assist people affected by resettlement under the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
Raghavendra Phadnis Legal Aid Award, the highest honour of ILS Law College’s 101st anniversary year, presented by Justice Abhay Oka of the Supreme Court of India.
Runner-Up Best Student of ILS Law College, chosen by the entire faculty.
First student at the college to organise a three-day certificate course on Venture Capital and Private Equity law.
Trainee Advisor with Citizens Advice in London; on his return, empanelled as an advocate with the ILS Legal Aid Centre.

Writing

Author of over twelve articles in peer-reviewed journals and of the book Navigating Law School in India (2023).

Public service

A Trustee of the Miraj Trust, which organises the Ganpati Festival at Miraj, a chess tournament and the Krishna River Festival. As Managing Trustee of the Rajasaheb of Miraj Foundation he leads the Ganesh Talav Cleaning Drive and Yuva 360 Legal, a legal aid and internship programme for young lawyers and students.

Family: Daughter of Shri Sarang Shriniwas Patil, Karad
Degrees: B.A. (Hons) Psychology, Symbiosis College, Pune; MBA (Marketing), MIT School of Business, Pune

Yuvaranisaheb of Miraj

Her Highness Shrimant Sou. Anusayaraje Madhavraje Patwardhan Maharaj

Trustee · Educator · Corporate Trainer · Communicator

The Yuvaranisaheb is a corporate trainer and a trustee of two foundations. She is the granddaughter of Shri Shriniwas Patil, IAS officer, three-time Member of Parliament and former Governor of Sikkim.

Education

She studied at St. Mary’s School, Pune, and completed junior college at The Bishop’s School, Pune. She earned a B.A. (Honours) in Psychology from Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce, and then an MBA in Marketing from the MIT School of Business, Pune, on a full scholarship.

Career

Drawing on psychology and marketing, she works in corporate training and communication, helping organisations develop their people, communication and leadership. She is currently a trainer with the Sunbeam Group of Institutes, Pune.

Public service

Trustee of the Rajasaheb of Miraj Foundation, contributing to the Ganesh Talav Cleaning Drive and Yuva 360 Legal.
Trustee of the Shriniwas Patil Foundation, which works for social welfare and grassroots development in Satara district.

The Yuvarajsaheb and Yuvaranisaheb of Miraj at a Rajasaheb of Miraj Foundation programme — At a programme of the Rajasaheb of Miraj Foundation

Continuing the Legacy

Trusts & Foundation

The family’s public work today is carried on through the Miraj Trust, founded by His Highness Balasaheb Maharaj in 2010, and the Rajasaheb of Miraj Foundation. Together they support the Ganpati Festival and Ganesh procession at Miraj, the Krishna River Festival, a chess tournament, the Ganesh Talav Cleaning Drive and Yuva 360 Legal.

Follow the family’s programmes on Instagram and Facebook at @patwardhansofmiraj.