A Peek Into History: Who Started Ganesh Chaturthi Festival In Which Year? 

Mumbai: The 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival is celebrated across India with zest and fervour. Not just in Maharashtra, the festival is also celebrated across India in states like Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, Telangana, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh. Lord Ganesha idols are brought home with a lot of pomp and splendour and worshippers chant his name and sing devotional songs.

But have you ever wondered when did the puja start? Who started it? Where did it start? If you have these questions in your mind, here we have the answer for you:

The much-celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi was started by freedom fighter and social reformer Bal Gangadhar Tilak in the year 1893 in Pune, Maharashtra. A private festival at homes earlier, he used the occasion and turned it into a public event after visualising its cultural importance for uniting Indians and enhancing a sense of belongingness amongst them.

The places where Ganpati puja was started still have carried forward the legacy. Tambdi Jogeshwari Ganpati, Tulshibaug Ganpati, Kesari Wada Ganpati in Pune see a record number of people visiting the deity every year. Tilak was associated with the Ganpati at Kesari Wada Ganpati in Pune. It has two idols, one that has been retained and the other is the new Ganpati that is brought to the pandal every year for the festival.

Tilak, who was an ardent nationalist, had foreseen that people had to unite if India had to attain independence. He also made the festival a mass celebration to bridge the gap between Brahmins and non-Brahmins.

Since the Britishers had almost forbidden social and political gatherings, the celebration served as a meeting point for all communities.

He started the tradition of worshipping a clay idol of Lord of Wisdom and the festival lasted for 10 days. In that span, several leaders gave nationalistic speeches and also held cultural programmes. Not just Hindu leaders, Muslim leaders would also use the occasion to give speeches against the foreign rulers and to evoke nationalism.

The Ganesh Chaturthi festival; became a rallying point for protest against the British rule as it evoked nationalism.

Later, Ganesh Utsav committees were formed to collect funds and organise the event and by 1905, it was a full fledged national festival.

This year, Ganesh Chaturthi began on September 2 and will Ganesh Visarjan is on September 12.

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