Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was born on 28 May 1883 in the Marathi Chitpavan Brahmin Hindu family of Damodar and Radhabai Savarkar in the village of Bhagur, near the city of Nashik, Maharashtra. He was a freedom fighter, politician, lawyer, social reformer, and formulator of the philosophy of Hindutva. Savarkar’s thoughts touch upon virtually every aspect of nation-building and are relevant even today.