Ganesh Chaturthi 2024:Â In Maharashtra, under the leadership of Lokmanya Tilak, Ganesh Utsav became a national festival to promote patriotism. According to the revolutionary Shri Khankhaje, it has got the form of national religion. Following the same, public Ganesh Utsavs started in cities like Mumbai, Amravati, Wardha, Nagpur etc.
According to the mantra ‘Gananaam Tva Ganapatih Hawamahe’ , it was widely propagated that Ganesha is the god of freedom and the giver of republic. Through excellent speeches and patriots, the task of organizing revolutionaries under the protection of Ganesha was successful. Since it was a religious festival, the police could not interfere in it.
According to a reputed publication, Lokmanya Tilak had firmly decided to dedicate his life for the country. Therefore, to prepare young men imbued with national education, he started publishing newspapers ‘Kesari’ and ‘Maratha’ just a year after the establishment of ‘New English School’ , whose main objective was to awaken the adult public from a political point of view.
Ganesh puja is being done since time immemorial
The original form of Ganesha is considered to be Om . In this form, his prayers and worship have been going on since time immemorial. No matter which god a person worships, he worships his deity only after the first Ganesh Puja. All religious rituals begin with the first Ganesh Puja. Even if it is a mantra, Om is always used in the beginning and if Om is used at the end, its power increases further.
Not only in India, but there is evidence available in Burma, Indo-China, Sthal, Tibet, China, Mexico, Afghanistan, Russia, Indonesia etc., which shows that there was influence of Shri Ganesh worshippers there too. Many pictures of idols obtained from those countries are found in books on iconography.
Earlier Ganesh festival used to last for 6 days
There are many ways of worship in Hinduism, such as Shaiva, Vaishnava, Shakta etc. Among these, those who worship Ganesha are called ‘Ganapatya’. These people worship Ganesha Panchayatan. Their worshippers are found in the south and especially in Maharashtra. Shrimant Peshwa Sarkar was a worshipper of Ganesha. During his reign, Ganeshotsav was celebrated with great pomp and splendor.Â
History of Ganesh Utsav
During the reign of Shrimant Sawai Madhavrao, this festival used to be celebrated on a grand scale in the Ganesh Mahal of Shaniwarwada. At that time, this festival used to last for six days. The Ganesh Visarjan procession used to reach Omkareshwar Ghat with government pomp and show, where the idol was immersed in the river. Similarly, the festival used to be held at the houses of Sardars like Patwardhan, Dixit, Majumdar etc. Kirtan, discourses, night vigils and singing etc. were also held in the festival.Â
This festival which was being celebrated privately in Pune was first given a public form by Sardar Krishnaji Kashinath alias Nana Saheb Khajgiwale. In 1892, he went to Gwalior where he saw a public Ganesh Utsav with royal pomp and splendor. Impressed by this, he started it in Pune in 1893. In the first year, Khajgiwale, Ghotavdekar and Bhau Rangari started Ganesh Utsav publicly at their places. A procession was also taken out for immersion. It is said that Khajgiwale’s Ganesh ji got the first place in the procession.
In the year 1894, their number increased a lot. The question arose as to which Ganesha should be in the lead. For this, Brahmachari Bovane Lokmanya and Anna Saheb Patwardhan were made judges. Both of them gave the first, second and third place respectively to Pune’s Gramdevta Shrikasbaganpati and Jogeshwari’s Ganpati and Khajgiwale respectively. This sequence is still going on. For national consciousness, Lokmanya started Shivaji Jayanti in Maharashtra in the memory of Maharaja Shivaji.
For the first time, Maratha kings also participated in it. This made the British government unhappy, because it instilled nationalism in the people and the government saw the seeds of rebellion in it, which it did not want to let germinate. Therefore, later, to save the government’s coffers, the Maratha kings became indifferent to it. Lokmanya got a golden opportunity in the form of Ganesh Utsav. He converted it into a national festival – gave it the form of a Gyansatra.
How the 6-day Ganesh Puja became the 10-day Ganeshotsav
The six-day festival was now extended to ten days. Due to English education, Hindu youth started getting corrupt in their conduct and thoughts. They started losing faith in Hindu religion. They started making fun of gods and goddesses and worship. Many people noticed this evil and started thinking about ways to end it. Lokmanya made Ganesh Utsav his medium for this. Through this, he started organizing programs that inspired life and awakening among Hindus.
Along with kirtan, discourse, lecture and fair (Khayal), the three components of music – singing, playing and dancing – also found a place in it. Comedy and drama also started adding to its beauty. The topics of the lectures were such that the hatred that people had for their past religion, Vedas and Puranas (Ved Puran), Indian literature and culture, their country, Ram and Ramayana, Krishna and Gita, astrology, Sanskrit and Ayurveda turned into respect. They realized that Vedas and Puranas are not imaginary. Foreigners and especially the British have written our history in such a way that our past appears tainted. But through these festivals, the bright pages of the past started coming to the fore.
The learned speakers of their respective subjects started explaining everything in such a way that despite their best efforts, they could not come under the grip of government law and whatever they wanted to say, they said it under the cover of religion. In the beginning, the government did not pay much attention to this. But as this festival started spreading its influence, its rays started spreading their light not only in the country but also in foreign countries like Aden, Nairobi etc., the government became alert. It started seeing a glimpse of rebellion in it.
An attempt was also made to divide Hindus over this. Lokmanya gave befitting replies to all these opponents and supporters of the government through his lectures and two newspapers ‘Kesari’ and ‘Maratha’, due to which they could not succeed and people started participating in it with double enthusiasm.
Later, the British incited the Muslims that ‘Ganesh Utsav is against you.’ But when they participated in it, the truth was revealed to them that it is a purely religious festival, under the guise of which nationalism is promoted; it is not against any religion, caste or community: hence their speeches also started being given in the festivals. From 1892 to 1920, apart from a few exceptions, there were no communal riots anywhere. This was the grace of Lord Ganesha.
Through Ganesh Utsav, Lokmanya was completely successful in conveying the message of the four-point plan of nationalism to the people, such as promotion of indigenous goods, boycott of foreign goods, spread of national education and prohibition of drinking etc. But since these festivals were completely religious, it was impossible for the government to directly ban them, so it adopted another path. Lokmanya was sent to Mandalay jail after his articles published in ‘Kesari’ were proved seditious.
The government was hoping that the celebrations would stop automatically after Lokmanya went to jail, but this did not happen. Waves of freedom were surging in the hearts of people. The partition of Bengal also happened during this period; hence the Ganesh festival kept growing day by day. Now the festival started being celebrated not only in big cities but also in small villages. In the festivals, there was an attack against Karzanshahi in the songs of fairs (Khayal). At that time there was no electricity like today.
Therefore, an oil torch was lit, which was prepared by wrapping cloth on wood. The government banned participation in the festival with a stick. The game of Lejhim was also stopped in the festival. The arenas which showed feats with fake spears were also banned. Not only this, the names and villages of the children singing the Mela (Khayal) were also written and their parents were informed about it. Due to this, the number of people singing the Mela decreased for some time. Not only this, the slogan of ‘Jai Tilak Maharaj’ was also declared illegal. People were also fined Rs. 400 each on the false accusation of raising this slogan.
People started getting punished even for chanting ‘Shivaji Maharaj ki Jai’ . Shobha Yatras and pictures of Shivaji and Lokmanya were banned. In this way the government started harassing the people participating in the festival. Still the message of freedom that was prevalent among the people started showing its effect. People started breaking the law. Even when the police stopped the Shobha Yatra somewhere, people left Ganeshji’s Sawari there and later the police had to pick it up and immerse it and these people were punished for the crime of blocking the road.Â
Influential people gave speeches during Ganesh festival
Now Ganesh Utsav was not limited to Maharashtra only, it started being celebrated with enthusiasm all over the country. Swami Brahmnand, Lala Lajpat Rai, Vipinchand Pal, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Abdullah Brelvi, Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya, Acharya Dhruv, Babu Bhagwandas, Nariman, Sarojini Naidu, Maulichandra Sharma, Jamnadas Mehta, Pannalal Vyas – influential people of all religions like Hindus, Muslims, Parsis etc. started giving speeches in it and unlike today there were no loudspeakers. Hence the speaker had to use his voice to convey his message to thousands of listeners.
On one hand, Ganesh Utsav strengthened national consciousness and on the other hand, it encouraged literature and art. All the programs of the festivals were conducted in Marathi, Hindi or local Indian language, which created respect for Indian languages ​​among the people that these are also the languages ​​of scholars.
Poets started composing songs for the fair (Khayal). Powadas (heroic poetry) became even more popular. Theatre progressed. New plays started being written. It was because of the festival that Marathi theatre got a new life. People’s attraction towards Shahaur (folk song) and Lavani increased. Sculptors started making innumerable idols of Ganeshji, from small to big, every year, which gave protection to sculpture and its artists: because the idols are made new and installed every year by using the clay.
In this way, Lokmanya made Ganesh Utsav a popular base for the progress of the country. Lokmanya Tilak passed away in 1920, but the festival of national consciousness started by him, Ganesh Utsav, is still being celebrated with double enthusiasm and pomp in the country and abroad. There have been many ups and downs in the last 100 years, the country was freed from slavery, but due to the grace of Lord Ganesha, there has been no reduction in these festivals. It is going on continuously and will continue to go on. Along with it, Lokmanya’s spirit of national awakening, this great flame of public awakening will always remain lit. That is why Bal Gangadhar Tilak was called ‘Lokmanya’.
