Custodians of a proud history

MiD DAY takes you on a round of the Ganapatis in the lanes and by-lanes of the city as it celebrates its favourite festival

AS Ganeshotsav nears its end, the residents and visitors to the city are looking forward to the enthralling climax that is the visarjan, or immersion of the Ganapati idol.

Hundreds of Ganapati mandals take part in the procession, putting up colourful tableaux that are a feast for the eyes.

Today we profile two mandals that have a rich history of celebrating the festival of the city's favourite deity.
We also reveal to you the plans they have made for the grand visarjan procession.

Kasaba Ganapati Ssarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal

THIS mandal is of great historical significance, making it the most prominent one in the city. It is honoured as the number one mandal in the city. Its idol was installed by Shivaji Maharaj's mother Jijabai more than 400 years ago. The mandal itself was established in 1893.


u00a0The Kasba Ganapati. Pics/Nikhil Ghorpade

The city once had many temples, but by 1621 many of these were destroyed in battles --but the Ganesh idol in this mandal was retrieved from Kasba Peth years later.

In 1630, Jijabai came to the city with her son Shivaji. When Shivaji was 12, he vowed to liberate the land from Mughal power.
u00a0
Around this time, an idol of Ganesh was found near the house of Vinayak Thakar, close to the residence of Jijabai, who perceived this as an auspicious development and decided to build a temple, which is popularly known as the Kasba Ganapati Mandir.

A unique feature of this mandal is that celebrations are held without the use of gulal.Shrikant Shete, president of the mandal since five years, said, "We had the honour of having Sri Sri Ravi Shankar here four years ago and he felicitated prominent people of the city.
u00a0
Our main aim is to keep the spiritual, social foundation strong."It was Lokmanya Tilak himself who granted the privilege of leading the immersion procession to the Kasba Ganapati Mandal as it had the most ancient idol in the city.

Elaborate plans are being chalked out for the visarjan. Shete said, "This year the immersion procession will be officially inaugurated by B K S Iyengar and the Kasba Bhushan award will be given to him."

Murlidhar Deshpande, former president, said, "The procession will start at 9 am. This year we have many foreigners who will join us.u00a0 We will have two bands - Prabhat and Sidhivinayak and New English Rambagh School's groupu00a0 will play the dhol and tasha."

The throne that Ganapati sits on is silver and the vahan for visarjan is also silver. "Next year we plan to make the ears in gold," Deshpande said.

Kesariwada Mandal

The Kesariwada Mandal has a lot of history attached to it. Kesariwada is the home of the Kesari newspaper that was started by the great freedom fighter and social reformer Bal Gangadhar Tilak.


u00a0Ganapati of social change: The Kesariwada Ganapati, and mandalu00a0
u00a0president Rohit Tilak (left)

Kesariwada is the fifth Ganapati of Honour in the city. The mandal organises functions during various festivals throughout the year. Lokmanya Tilak had established the idol of Ganesh for this mandal in the year 1893. Every year famous artists perform in shows organised by the mandal.

The wada itself was built by Sayajirao Gaikwad, the prince of Baroda. During the Ganapati festival, it is visited by a large number of people. Kesariwada also protects the first Indian National flag unfurled by Madame Cama, and many other documents. This mandal in Narayan Peth had a big role to play in inculcating unity and patriotism among people during the freedom struggle.

Aartis and bhajans are held on all days here. Rohit Tilak, the president of the mandal, is from the Lokmanya's family.

"We have a rich cultural history and we have always been involved in educational programmes and social activities," he said.

For visarjan, the mandal has been taking the alternative Tilak Road route for eight years now as a social responsibility aimed at avoiding congestion and chaos.

"We changed the route and instead of going through Laxmi Road, we take Tilak Road. We also appealed to others to do so to lower congestion so that processions can proceed peacefully and be on time too," Tilak said.
u00a0
"On the last day, we will be promoting the message of fighting terrorism. You will find people holding placards with this message in the procession."