In his prolific writing career, Purandare wrote several books, almost exclusively focussing on Shivaii's life and times, including a two-volume biography of 'Raje Shivchhatrapati
In 1930, when Balwant Purandare was seven, his family had to move out from Pune as a wave of plague had returned to the city. The Purandare family temporarily shifted to a relative’s home in Donje on the city outskirts, at the foothills of Sinhagad Fort. During this stay, the family would visit the fort and Balwant’s father would tell him stories of the fort and King Shivaji’s rendezvous at the hilly citadel which was once called Kondhana
A young Balwant was so taken by the history and stories of Maratha empire and the ramparts of the forts, that for the next nine decades that would be the sole preoccupation of his life. He would become Babasaheb Purandare, honoured across Maharashtra and beyond as ‘Shiv Shahir’ (Shivaji’s Bard), as a living embodiment of the King Shivaji’s history.
In his prolific writing career, Purandare wrote several books, almost exclusively focussing on Shivaii’s life and times, including a two-volume biography of ‘Raje Shivchhatrapati’. His other prominent publications include ‘Maharaj’, ‘Shelar Khind’, ‘Gadkot Kille’, ‘Agra’, ‘Lal Mahal’, ‘Purandar’, ‘Rajgad’, ‘Panhalgad’, ‘Sinhagad’, ‘Pratapgad’, ‘Fulwanti’, ‘Purandaryanchi Daulat’, ‘Mujaryache Mankari’, ‘Savitri’ and ‘Kalawantinicha Sajja’.
His writings on Shivaji, however, are not liked by all. A number of Maratha organisations have fiercely opposed him for several decades, accusing him of writing the history with a “Brahmanical prism” and deliberately playing up the role played by Dadoji Konddev in Shivaji’s upbringing. When he was awarded with ‘Maharashtra Bhushan’ by the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government in the state, several organisations, including Maratha Mahasangh, Sambhaji Brigade and Maratha leaders from NCP and Congress, had opposed the move.