Exclusive: How Lord Ganesh united India Via Sify News

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Exclusive: How Lord Ganesh united India

By Dr Deepak Jayant Tilak in Pune

Sunday, 31 August , 2003, 11:36

Ever since Ganesh Chaturthi was celebrated as Sarvajanik (public) Ganeshotsav by

my great grandfather Lokmanya Balgangadhar Tilak in Pune in 1894, it has always

been a Rashtriya (national) Utsav. Even today, it should not be seen as

religious celebrations, but a national festivity that gathers people of all

caste, creed and religion together. Of all the Hindu deities, Lokmanya Tilak

found that Lord Ganesha had the charm to attract people of all faiths and

castes. Even the Muslims joined in the celebrations and delivered speeches

during those times. This is the speciality of the elephant headed God,

inspiring even Muslims to celebrate the festival along with their Hindu

brethren. Lokmanya Tilak was a visionary and a revolutionary par excellence. A

lawyer by training, he was a man of wisdom and deep insight. The political guru

of Mahatma Gandhi, the hoi polloi and the elite revered him as leader of the

downtrodden, mathematician of repute, architect of modern India, a learned

commentator of Bhagawad Gita and above all, the father of the Indian unrest.

Born in 1856 (died in 1920) in Ratnagiri in Konkan belt of Maharahstra and

christened Keshav, his mother called him by his pet name Bal. After graduating

in law in Pune, Lokmanya Tilak along with his friends Vishnu Chiplunkar, Gopal

Agarkar, founded the New English School in Marathi medium (it was called so to

distinguish English Schools established by the British) and Deccan Education

Society in 1884, which started the famous Fergusson College in 1885. He was

convinced that British education only produced clerks to run their growing

British Empire, and therefore, he started many educational institutions to

produce thinkers, scientists, doctors, engineers et al. But soon, realising

that it would take a generation or so to bring about social and political

changes, the restless trio- Tilak, Chiplunkar and Agarkar - started two

weeklies: Mahratta in English on 2 January 1881 and Kesari in Marathi on 4

January 1881 to awaken the masses. While Tilak became the editor of Mahratta,

Agarkar edited Kesari. In those days there were no public festivals. All small

and big festivals were celebrated individually and privately. At the most, they

were confined to small communities. At the time, only the intellectuals were

involved in the freedom struggle and his Swaraj movement against the British.

There was no big festival to bring people of all castes and even different

faiths together. Tilak knew that the common man loved festivals and undoubtedly

religious festivals could gather together mammoth crowds. Thus, in order to

inspire the common man and galvanise them into a movement, he started

Sarvajanik Ganesh festival and Shiv Jayanti festival in 1984. Daily Keertans

and speeches by prominent leaders marked the occasions. The celebrations

attained national importance in 1896 with Tilak addressing mammoth crowds for

the duration of the Ganeshotsav in Pune and Bombay. Shivaji Utsav was launched

on the Raigard Fort in 1894 which also became popular in Japan by 1905.

Lokmanya Tilak used these two festivals to educate the masses, especially to

fight for freedom and thus, gave a national call “Swaraj is my birthright”. In

fact, the British, sensing trouble, did not allow the masses to use the slogans

like “Tilak Maharaj Ki Jai” during the Ganeshotsav celebrations, so they chanted

“Tilak Maharaj Ganapathicha Jai Jai Kar”. According to Lokmanya Tilak, the

festival would unite people of various castes and religious and educate them.

In those days, many people criticised Lokmanya for bringing Ganesh, the Lord on

the street and trivialising the religious sanctity befitting Lord Ganesh. But

his only reply was that educated people should mix with the common man and

forge unity. Only then can the situation of the country improve and take on the

might of the British Empire. Inspired by Lokmanya Tilak’s way of celebrating the

festival, this year, as in the previous years, we have organised public lectures

in the evening on various themes which would educate, entertain and inform the

common man. For my family it is the biggest of all festivals as it brings home

to us the memories of our great grandfather. Besides the big Ganesh idol with

six hands installed in the Kesariwada for the public, we also install a small

idol in the house and perform aaratis in the morning an evening. Because I am

the great grandson of the leader, most of the Ganesh Mandals in Pune invite me

for performing the Aaratis and I use the occasion to give the message of Tilak.

If only 50 per cent of the donation collected by various Ganesh Mandals was

spent for the welfare of the community, then it would be a great tribute to the

founder of the Ganeshotsav celebrations. But the festival today unfortunately

has degenerated into business. Nearly Rs 25 to Rs 30 crore are collected as

donations in Pune district alone. People naturally become generous during

Ganesh festival but the money, instead of squandering on expensive decorations,

should be utilised for good causes. Like in 1996 Madhav Sanap, who was

superintendent of police in Kolhapur district, succeeded in launching an “Ek

Gaon, Ek Ganpati” revolutionary concept. He spearheaded a social campaign to

provide sanctity to Maharashtra’s Ganesh Festival by discouraging Ganesh

mandals that sprouted in every locality and and gulli, giving rise to one

upmanship, rivalry and sometimes communal skirmishes. Through his efforts, more

than 1,000 villages were educated to have only one Sarvajanik Ganesh Mandal for

each village and the saved money was used to repair and build schools, dig

roads and wells, build sanitary blocks, provide tap water etc. The scheme is

working so well that Sanap who is posted in Pune as SP has this year inspired

more than 1,200 villages to adopt the “Ek Goan, Ek Ganapati” concept.

Deepak Tilak is the great grandson of Lokmanya Balgangadhar Tilak.

(As told to Michael Gonsalves in Pune)