Ganesh Utsav

Festival

According to others such as Kaur, the festival became a public event later, in 1892 when Krishnajipant Khasgiwale (also known as Nanasaheb Khasgiwale), a Pune resident, visited Gwalior then under Scindia rule where he witnessed a public Ganesh Chaturthi celebration (Sarvajanik Ganesh Mahotsav) for the first time. This inspired him to conceptualize a similar public festival back home in Pune. Khasgiwale shared this idea with his friends in Pune Shrimant Bhausaheb Rangari (a respected royal physician and freedom fighter) and Balasaheb Natu. Enthused by the idea, Rangari took the lead and installed the first sarvajanik (public) Ganesha idol in his wada in the Shalukar Bol area of Pune. In 1893, Lokmanya Tilak praised the celebration of Sarvajanik Ganesh Utsav in his newspaper, Kesari, and dedicated his efforts to launch the annual domestic festival into a large, well organised public event. Tilak recognised Ganesh's appeal as "the god for everybody", and according to Robert Brown, he chose Ganesha as the god that bridged "the gap between Brahmins and non-Brahmins", thereby building a grassroots unity across them to oppose British colonial rule.