Ganesh Utsav in India

Ganesh Utsav , Pune

Besides cricket and politics, India is inordinately obsessed with religion. These three topics are the most important spices in any relished conversation, which includes self-proclaimed critic on one or more. Any conversation, may it start with the inflated prices of okra, say, will soon touch all three like in a game of tag and will stretch on for hours.

Cricket binds the nation - may it be the celebration of a world cup win by dancing on buses or the disappointment of the loss in a test series which inspires slapping cow dung on gates of the players' bungalows. Politics may unite or divide, depending on the latest exploits of the political leaders. But religion has always been considered a great stumbling block to unite the nation in India. Religion in India is complex and intricate. It is a network of faiths and sub-faiths, spanning the country. Hinduism, the largest faith in India has lots of festivals spread through out the year. Hinduism has a polytheistic approach and belief in thirty-three crore deities. Festivals may either worship these deities or can mark the change in seasons.

One of these festivals, having its roots in tradition has influenced the winds of change in the society.

Ganesh Utsav is the celebration of the birth anniversary of the elephant-headed God, Lord Ganesha. It is a ten day festival in the Hindu month of Bhadrapada, beginning on Ganesh Chaturthi and concluding on Anant Chaturdashi. An idol of the diety is installed on the first day of the festival, and worshipped twice a day. Depending upon the community, the immersion of the idol in water, which signifies that the Lord has gone back to his abode, may take place after one and half days, seven days or ten days. The festival is accompanied by the preparation of savory sweets and mouth watering feasts.

Ganesh utsav, has unknown origin, but can be traced back to the Rashtrakuta and Chalukya reign between sixth to twelfth century. It was celebrated in the society during the reign of Shivaji Maharaj, who fought against the Mughal reign in the sixteenth century and established the Maratha state. The Peshwas, who came to power in the seventeenth century honed and nurtured the festival, making it a large scale celebration in their palace, the Shaniwarwada in Pune. However, the event became restricted to the household and the family with the decline of the Maratha Empire, which finally became powerless in 1818. The dakshina fund, started by the Peshwas to support poor Brahmins financially was nullified by the new British Government, contributing to the end of the communal celebrations.

In 1894, Lokmanya Tilak, a prominent social reformer and revolutionary, revived the original tradition of Ganesh Utsav as a public event to promote the growth of emerging nationalism. He installed the deity in