Balwant Moreshwar Purandare

Babasaheb Purandare Wax Statue at Wax Museum, Lonavala.

Purandare had started writing stories related to the period of Shivaji's reign at a very young age, which were later compiled and published in a book titled "Thinagya" ("Sparks"). His other works include books titled Raja Shiva-Chatrapati and Kesari, and a book on life of Narayanrao Peshwa. But the most well-known of his works is the drama, Jaanata Raja, a widely popular play on Shivaji published and first staged in 1985. Since then the drama has been staged over 1000 times in 16 districts of Maharashtra, Agra, Delhi, Bhopal, and the United States. Originally written in Marathi, this work was later translated into Hindi.[1][4] This drama is performed by over 200 artists, as well as elephants, camels and horses. Generally the performance of this drama begins around Diwali each year.

For his works, in the field of drama, he was awarded the Kalidas Samman by the Madhya Pradesh government for the year 2007–08.[1]

His wife Nirmala Purandare (1933–2019) was a veteran social activist. She founded Vanasthali organisation in Pune.[5] Her work for rural women, child development was renowned. Her brother, Shree Ga Majgaonkar, and Babasaheb Purandare had very close association in the field of literature. Babasaheb Purandare has a daughter (Madhuri) and two sons, Amrut and Prasad. All his children are active in Marathi literary field. [6] Madhuri Purandare, his daughter, is a renowned writer, painter, and singer.[7]

Maratha outfit that has been protesting against Purandare believes that he has sullied the reputation of Maratha warrior Shivaji through his writings. They also, protested when Maharashtra government decided to award Maharashtra Bhushan to the writer.[8]

• A 2008 TV show Raja Shivchatrapati depicting the life of Maratha king Shivaji was based on Raja Shivchatrapati novel of Babasaheb Purandare.