01A father’s grief
Dagdusheth Gadve was a prosperous sweet-maker, halwai, of Budhwar Peth in Pune. When his only son died young, he and his wife Lakshmibai were inconsolable, and on the advice of their guru they installed a murti of Ganapati and served him as their child. Every year at Ganeshotsav the Ganapati was worshipped with the household’s full devotion. In 1893, when Bal Gangadhar Tilak called on Pune to take Ganeshotsav out of homes and into the street, the Dagdusheth Ganapati became one of its centres, and Tilak himself is remembered among its early visitors.
02Gold, lights and a new pavilion each year
The murti, about seven and a half feet tall and decked in gold, sits in a small temple whose front is open to the street, so passers-by take darshan from the pavement. For the ten days of Ganeshotsav the trust builds a new pavilion each year, often a replica of a famous temple, and lakhs come through it day and night. On the last day the Dagdusheth Ganapati’s procession is among the most watched in the city. The trust, run by the families of the founders, also funds an old-age home, schools and ambulances.
The life of this place
- 1893Tilak launches the public Ganeshotsav in Pune; the Dagdusheth Ganapati becomes one of its centres.
In Budhwar Peth near Shaniwar Wada; open from early morning to late night. Ganeshotsav crowds are very heavy, so go after midnight or at dawn.
