The Good Maharaja Square (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

: ''Skwer Dobrego Maharadży''), also known as the Opacz Park (

pronunciation: ;

: ''Park Opaczewski''), is a

garden square A garden square is a type of communal garden in an urban area wholly or substantially surrounded by buildings; commonly, it continues to be applied to public and private parks formed after such a garden becomes accessible to the public at large. ...

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, located in the district of

Ochota Ochota () is a district of Warsaw, Poland, located in the central part of the city's urban agglomeration. It is Warsaw's most densely populated district and home to the scientific campus of the University of Warsaw. The biggest housing estate ...

, between Grójecka, Opaczewska, and Szczęśliwicka Streets.

Name

The Good Maharaja Square (

: ''Skwer Dobrego Maharadży'') was named after

Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja Sir Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja (18 September 1895 – 3 February 1966), known widely in Poland as the Good Maharaja (Polish: ''Dobry Maharadża'') was the Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar from 1933 to 1966, succeeding his uncle, the f ...

, the

Maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...

Jam Sahib of

Nawanagar State Nawanagar was an Indian state and then a princely state in the historical Halar region, located on the southern shores of the Gulf of Kutch. It was ruled by the Jadeja Rajput dynasty and became a part of newly formed India. Its capital cit ...

in modern-day

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he invited 5,000

refugees fleeing from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

to settle within his state, and housed around one thousand orphaned children. He also convinced several other Indian rulers to contribute to the efforts. As such, he is referred to in Poland as the ''Good Maharaja'' (Polish: ''Dobry Maharadża''). The name was officially given on 31 May 2012. It was chosen, due to the square's proximity to the nearby school, which in 1991 housed the first reunion of the Polish children refugees from India. The name was proposed to honour the request made by Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, to have one of streets in Warsaw named after himself. It is also alternatively referred to as the Opacz Park (Polish: ''Park Opaczewski''), after the nearby Opaczewska Street (Polish: ''Ulica Opaczewska''; lit. ''Opacz Street''). It in turn was named after Opacz Wielka, a neighbourhood located to the south. In 2021, a neighbouring garden square at the intersection of Opaczewska and Białobrzeska Streets, was named the ''Angel Land Square'' (Polish: ''Skwer Ziemi Aniołów''). The name came from

Angyalföld Angyalföld (; literally: "Angel's Field or Angel Land") is a neighbourhood in Budapest, Hungary. Administratively it belongs to the 13th district. The traditionally working-class neighbourhood went through a process of gentrification due to t ...

, a neighbourhood in the 13th district of

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Hungary, which has a cooperation partnership with Ochota since 1993. It was also done in gratitude to one of garden squares in the 13th district of Budapest, being named Ochota Park in 2019.

History

On 8 September 1939, during the siege of Warsaw,

Polish Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland (, ; abbreviated SZ RP), also called the Polish Armed Forces and popularly called in Poland (, roughly "the Polish Military"—abbreviated ''WP''), are the national Military, armed forces of the Poland, ...

have constructed a barricade at the intersection of Opaczewska and Grójecka Streets, next to the current park. It was used as defensive position in the fight against the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

. It was commemorated with a

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

, designed by Julian Pałka, and unveiled at the location on 12 September 1979. The garden square was renovated in the 1990s. It received its name on 31 May 2012. On 31 October 2014, near the intersection of Białobrzeska and Opaczewska Streets, was unveiled a marble monument dedicated to the square namesake,

, nicknamed the ''Good Maharaja''. It was designed by Marek Moderau. On 21 August 2024, the square was visited by

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

, the

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

, who laid flowers in front of the monument of Good Maharaja.

Characteristics

Opacz Park is placed between both sides of Opaczewska Street, and has a form of a thin and long strach of land, between Grójecka and Szczęśliwicka Streets. It has the total area of around 3 ha. It is surrounded by midrise residential housing. Near the intersection of Białobrzeska and Opaczewska Streets, is placed a red marble monument dedicated to the square namesake,

, nicknamed the ''Good Maharaja''. It was designed by Marek Moderau, and consists of a sculpture of

Indian lotus ''Nelumbo nucifera'', also known as the pink lotus, sacred lotus, Indian lotus, or simply lotus, is one of two extant species of aquatic plant in the family Nelumbonaceae. It is sometimes colloquially called a water lily, though this more of ...

, a symbol from Indian religious iconography, placed on a triangular column, with inspirations in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. It is around 2 m tall. The Good Maharaja Square neighbours the Angel Land Square (Polish: ''Skwer Ziemi Aniołów''), a small garden square at the northern side of the intersection of Opaczewska and Białobrzeska Streets. Next to the park is placed the September Barricade Monument, commemorating a barricade that stood there during the siege of Warsaw. It consists of three large concrete sculpture, placed on both sides, and in the middle, of Grójecka Street. They depicts numerals ''8-IX'' (8 September), the day barricade was erected, ''1939'', the year of the siege, and ''27-IX'' (27 September), the day the city capitulated. Additionally, at the souther side of the intersection of Opaczewska and Białobrzeska Streets, is placed a

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

sculpture Tribute to Motherhood (Polish: ''W hołdzie macierzyństwu'') made by unknown artist. It depicts a pregnant woman.

Gallery

File:Pomnik barykada września bez tablic 8ix.jpg, The left part of the September Barricade Monument. File:Pomnik barykada września bez tablic 1939 2.jpg, The middle part of the September Barricade Monument File:Barykadawrzesnia05.jpg, The left right of the September Barricade Monument. File:W hołdzie macierzyństwu2.jpg, The sculpture ''Tribute to Motherhood''. File:Skwer dobrego maharadży przy szczęśliwickiej.jpg, The square as seen from the intersection of Opaczewska and Szczęśliwicka Streets. File:Wawa pomnik przyr 387 1.JPG, Angel Land Square in 2015.

References

{{Squares in Warsaw Parks in Warsaw Squares in Warsaw Garden squares in Poland 2012 establishments in Poland Buildings and structures completed in 2012 Parks established in the 2010s Ochota India–Poland relations