Where it all began! – Ganesh Mandap at Madhav Vilas Palace in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh. We take the concept of Sarvajanik Ganesh Utsav for granted. However, interestingly, the whole concept of this mass celebration originated from this palace in Shivpuri, Gwalior State
Lokmanya Tilak started the celebration of Ganesh Utsav on a massive scale as a way to bring people together against the British. Tilak was thinking of ideas of how he could get people together on a common platform.
Tilak had just returned from a trip to Gwalior in 1892 where he had witnessed the opulent Ganesh festivities of the Gwalior court. A huge Ganpati would be installed at Ganesh Mandap in Madhav Vilas Palace, Shivpuri. This would be the official Ganpati of Gwalior state. The royal family, sardars and the common man would participate & celebrate this event together on a grand scale.
On his return, Tilak said to his friend Sardar Vinchurkar, why don’t we do the same thing as they do in Gwalior? . He even offered the Vinchurkar wada. Lokmanya Tilak loved the idea and first sarvajanik Ganesh Utsav was celebrated in Vinchurkar Wada, Pune in 1894. The rest as they say is history!
