Why bal gangadhar tilak started ganesh utsav?

Answer 1

The modern history of the Ganapati festival dates back to 1894, when the Maratha politician and Indian nationalist, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, lionized as Lokamanya, or "Beloved of the People", gave it a distinct political face. Though the festival had largely been a private affair, where each family purchased an idol of Ganesh and then took it out in procession on Ganesh Chaturthi before immersing it in the river, pond, or tank, it had not been without its public and community aspect, since often several families joined in the procession, or otherwise pooled together their resources to buy a larger-sized idol. But one of Tilak's achievements was to make the Ganapati festival the vehicle, so to speak, for the aspirations of the Maratha people as well as those of other Indians who desired independence from British tutelage. Henceforth, the Ganapati festival was to become a largely public affair.

The precise innovations introduced by Tilak consisted in making the Ganapati festival into a community-based enterprise. Subscriptions were collected on behalf of a residential area, market, or organization for the purchase of large idols of Ganesh, which were then placed on pavilions (mandaps) and made the object of collective worship. Secondly, whereas previously immersions had taken place on various days of the festival, Tilak sought to have all the immersions take place on the tenth and final day. Thirdly, various song-and-dance parties were attached to each mandap, and more often than not, the songs had strong political overtones. Fourthly, some of the mandaps were themselves made the site of political plays, and groups of young boys and men, who dressed in military uniform and shouted political slogans, staged marches in the community that was hosting the mandap. In this manner, Tilak sought to link the Ganapati festival to his political agenda, and as his newspaper Kesari openly editorialized (8 September 1896): "This work [of political education] will not be as strenuous and expensive as the work of the Congress. The educated people can achieve results through these national festivals which it would be impossible for the Congress to achieve. Why shouldn't we convert the large religious festivals into mass political rallies? Will it not be possible for political activities to enter the humblest cottages of the villages through such means?"

Within two years, the Ganapati festival in its new form had been widely accepted across the Marathi-speaking parts of the Bombay Presidency, and Bombay, Nasik, Sattara, and other cities were to follow Pune's example. But the politicization of the festival was to invite the attention of the British government, which though at first inclined to view the developments as devoid of much political significance, was soon to take the position that many of the active participants in the festival had little interest in religious affairs, but were certainly interested in fomenting political unrest. As long as the festival had been intended, as the British believed, to turn the Hindus away from Muharram, in which Hindu participation had not been an insignificant factor, they were not disposed to interfere; but when the festival took on "the character of an annual anti-Government eruption", to quote the words of the Bombay Police Commissioner in 1910, it was felt necessary to take some action. Moreover, the transformation of the festival was seen as an attempt by the Brahmins to regain their traditional leadership roles, and the British thought they also detected in this enterprise a glorification of the martial traditions associated with Shivaji and the Marathas. Consequently, by 1910, the Ganapati festival would be severely curtailed on the government's orders.