''Kesari'' ( mr, केसरी

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

for lion) is a

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

which was founded on 4 January 1881 by Lokmanya

Bal Gangadhar Tilak Bal Gangadhar Tilak (; born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: eʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək; 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), endeared as Lokmanya (IAST: ''Lokmānya''), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence a ...

, a prominent leader of the Indian Independence movement. The newspaper was used as a spokes piece for the Indian national freedom movement, and continues to be published by the Kesari Maratha Trust and Tilak's descendants. Bal Gangadhar Tilak used to run his two newspapers, ''Kesari'', in

and '' Mahratta (Run by Kesari-Maratha Trust)'' in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

from Kesari Wada, Narayan Peth,

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

. The newspapers were originally started as a co-operative by Chiplunkar,

Agarkar Agarkar is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Gopal Ganesh Agarkar (1856–1895), Indian social reformer * Ajit Agarkar Ajit Bhalchandra Agarkar (born 4 December 1977) is a former Indian cricketer and a commentator. He has ...

and Tilak.

Initial years, editors and writers

The editors of ''Kesari'' included a number of freedom fighters and social activists / reformers, including

(its first editor), Chiplunkar and Tilak. Agarkar left Kesari in 1887 to start his own news paper, ''

Sudharak ''Gopal Ganesh Agarkar'' (14 July 1856 – 17 June 1895) was an Indian social reformer, educationist, and thinker from Maharashtra, British India, India. At one time a close associate of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, he was co-founder of multiple ...

'' (The Reformer) after which Tilak continued to run the paper on his own.

Narasimha Chintaman Kelkar Narasimha Chintaman Kelkar (N. C. Kelkar), popularly known as Sahityasamrat Tatyasaheb Kelkar (24 August 1872 – 14 October 1947), was a lawyer from Miraj as well as a dramatist, novelist, short story writer, poet, biographer, critic, historia ...

, a close associate of Tilak, served as editor twice when Tilak was imprisoned in 1897 and 1908.

''Kesari'' Prosecution of 1897

Bal Gangadhar Tilak mentions that the letter he received from

Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...

must have been destroyed along with many others after the close of the ''Kesari'' Prosecution of 1897.

Present day

An online Marathi periodical called ''The Daily Kesari'' continues to be published, edited by Lokmanya Balgangadhar Tilak's great grandson, Deepak Tilak.

Kesari wada and Tilak museum

The wada was originally known as Gaikwadwada, and owned by Sayajirao Gaikwad III the Maharaja of the

Princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

. It was sold to Tilak by the Maharaja in 1905 at a fair price., The original ''wada'' (

for courtyard / building) where Tilak published the newspaper still houses the current day offices of ''Kesari''. Along with offices of Kesari, the courtyard contains the Tilak museum and Kesari-Maratha library. These together house mementos of Tilak, including his writing desk, a number of original documents, and the first India national flag which was unfurled by

Madame Cama Bhikaiji Rustom CamaBhi''ai''- (with aspirated ''-kh-'') is the name as it appears in the biographies. Another common form is Bhi''ai''- (with unaspirated ''-k-''), as it appears on the postage stamp. The name is also frequently misspelled 'Bhi ...

in 1907 in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. During Ganapati festival, the Wada is visited by a large number of people.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kesari (Newspaper) Marathi-language newspapers Newspapers published in Maharashtra Indian independence movement in Maharashtra 1881 establishments in India Publications established in 1881 Hindu nationalism Bal Gangadhar Tilak