Kesariwada, the abode of India’s revolutionary freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak, located in Narayan Peth, houses the legacy of his revolutionary zeal to make India independent. Perhaps Tilak’s vision to convert Ganesh Chaturthi into a public festival turned out to be his most potent instrument to shift the political discourse of pre-independent India towards mass awakening. Kesariwada is also known to host the fifth most revered Ganpati of Pune, ‘Kesariwada Ganpati,’ which was installed by Tilak himself in 1893 and serves as the singular birthplace of public Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations.
133rd year of celebrations
Like other revered Ganpatis of Pune, Kesariwada Ganpati is also celebrating its 133rd year of the public festival. Tilak, after establishing all four honoured Ganpatis in Pune’s market area, kept the last honour for Kesariwada.
Anil Sapkal, secretary of Kesariwada Ganpati Mandal, told The Free Press Journal, “Kesariwada Ganpati is inspired by the Dnyaneshwari, written by the 13th-century saint Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj, and Kesariwada is carrying forward this legacy from the time of Tilak.”
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All Ganapatis should hold equal prominence
The status accorded to the most revered Ganpatis, locally known as ‘Manache Ganapati,’ is based on the primacy given to the mandal for the immersion ceremony on Anant Chaturdashi. Sapkal is of the opinion that people have gone frenzy about this being Manacha Ganapati. “Can you call those people who install Ganpati idols in their homes as not revered Ganapati?” Sapkal explains, “All Ganapatis at homes and mandal Ganapatis should be equally revered, respected, and should hold equal prominence among the public.”
Mild celebrations this year
This year at Kesariwada, Ganeshotsav will be mild in nature with no exquisite procession arrangements because of the death of Deepak Tilak on July 15, the great-grandson of Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
Sapkal said, “There will be no grand celebration at Kesariwada; our advisor and guardian is no more with us, the procession will be mild in nature.” The procession will enter Tilak Wada from Kelkar Road with the sounds of drums from Shree Ram Pathak and Shiv Mudra Pathak leading the dhol-tasha procession, he added.
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