Sarvajanik Ganpati - why we celebrate?

SARVAJANIK GANPATI, EXPLAINED! 👇

You must’ve seen the shameful video of how the crowd is pushed, kicked & treated at Lalbaug Cha Raja this year … this is the exact opposite of why we started doing Sarvajanik i.e. public Ganpatis & here’s the tea!

In Maharashtra, the next rulers after Shivaji Maharaj i.e. the Royal Peshwas, popularised Ganesh worship, esp. in Pune but it still wasn’t a public affair.

When the British came over, they banned public gatherings to keep Indians from uniting against them but religious meetings were allowed.

One of our freedom fighters, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, used this loophole to make Ganesh Chaturthi a public event, starting with his activity base at Kesari Wada in Pune in 1893.

This idea was then picked up by different communities in Mumbai with the Keshavji Naik Chawl in Girgaon leading the charge, not to mention the Shivaji Mandal one in Pune, which hosted many nationalist speeches by freedom fighters, too.

So Ganpati festival was made to bring people together, not make them fight in large crowds.

Tilak spread the news through his newspaper Kesari & united Hindus from all backgrounds together, also fighting the caste system that the British had exploited & twisted for their divide-&-rule agenda.

Lalbaug cha Raja came much later in 1934 & was actually started by mill workers in the region to celebrate their survival through tough times.

Unfortunately, today, these pandals have become businesses that sell our bhakti for cash, offering VIP lines for darshan to celebs while others face stampedes.

It’s not worth visiting these over-crowded community Ganpatis because you end up fighting in the crowd for Instagram Stories & social media points, which defeats the whole point of worshipping Bappa.

If you ask me, rather than pandal hopping, you’d rather donate some food to the poor & needy on the streets - Bappa will be more happy & really bless you.