Pune’s most popular Ganapati

Every year, the Dagdusheth Halwai Sarvajanik Public Trust commissions a temporary structure to be built for the Ganesh festival celebrations. This year it was a model of Ayodhya's Ram Temple which is slated for completion by January 2024. (Photos by Kiran Mehta)

Neelam* has crossed borders, from Mangalore, Karnataka, to visit the Dagdusheth Ganapati, a star-studded idol that holds the faith of millions of devotees. Driven by her faith, she says, “I have a wish in mind (one she refuses to divulge) and I know that after visiting this temple, it will be fulfilled.” For Akshay*, a Mumbai-based businessman, the visit is about seeing ‘the fabulous decorations and backdrops’.

The Dagdusheth Halwai Sarvajanik Public Trust has been known to erect temporary temple structures - for Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations - that are replicas of famous temples across India. Every year a new theme is chosen. This year they recreated Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir. One of the trustees, Mahesh Shankar Survavanshi explains, “The Ayodhya Ram temple will be inaugurated in January 2024. We wanted to give the people a glimpse of it before it opens.”

The towering replica is over 100 feet high and over 50 feet wide. It took 400 artisans over 60,000 man-hours, spread across three months, to create this structure. It’s hard to believe that this structure is temporary with a total of 60 gigantic pillars holding it up. Visitors are greeted by a magnificent dome soaring into the sky. Attention to detail is apparent in the intricate carvings of deities on the pillars, a roof carved with floral motifs, and twinkling chandeliers hanging from above.

The pandal is named after sweet-trader and mud-wrestler, Dagdusheth Gadve, who had migrated from Karnataka to Pune to make this city his home. In 1893, Dagdusheth funded a Ganapati temple - a permanent temple separate from the pandal - which still stands, just a few feet of the temporary structure. A few years later - in 1896 - Dagdusheth lost his young son to the plague. Overtaken by grief, he also passed away a few months later. His wife Lakshmibai approached her guru, Maharaj Madhavnaji, who advised her to set up yet another temple, to Lord Dattatraya. He advised her to dedicate her life to the worship and care for the two temples, as though they were her own children. He predicted that the two deities would bless the family such that their names would never be forgotten, even centuries later.

The Ganesh utsav/festival at the temple started in the time of Dagdusheth and grew with Lakshmibai’s efforts. Over the years, a trust was formed to carry out the work of the utsav and the temple. But it is Lokmanya Tilak who is originally credited with having brought Ganapati celebrations to the public in the form of  sarvajanik/public Ganapati festivities. Prior to this, the people celebrated Ganapati within their homes, their temples, and smaller communities. Legend has it that he was inspired by leaders of the Muslim community, who sought and acquired permission for public prayers, reserved for auspicious festivals.

Tilak saw the potential of a public festival to bring people together, to unify them which he knew would go a long way in the freedom struggle. Dagdusheth is among those that hosted the festival prior to independence, as part of Tilak’s vision.

Today the festivities have grown phenomenally. Survananshi says, “We expect to see a total of two crore people by the end of the utsav.” Visitors to Dagdustheth look forward to the aarti, the themes, the music and the overall festivities. It takes upwards of two hours - on most days - to make one’s way through the crowds in the lane, and thereafter brave the queues, to get a glimpse of Bappa.

Sukhbir Solanki, a tourist guide certified by Incredible India, informs that for the festival the idol is shifted from the main temple to the pandal. The main temple - which is open year-round - has interiors carved of gold and silver. The Ganesh idol is adorned in gold jewellery, studded with diamonds and precious gems, all year round. And on any given day of the utsav/festival, you are likely to see the idol bedecked in no less than 40 kilos of gold intricately interspersed with twinklers, emeralds, rubies and more. The temple holds multiple jewellery sets, weighing a total of 125 kilos in gold. Many of these sets are donated by devotees.

Apart from jewellery, the trust receives sizeable monetary donations and funds are diverted towards charitable causes. The trust sponsors meals at a government hospital, regularly runs medical camps. runs skill development programmes aimed at marginalized sections of society, is involved in tree plantation projects, distributes food grains in tribal areas, and also runs an old age home.

On the day of immersion - September 28, 2023 - a smaller idol will be immersed into the waters, even as devotees let go of the idol saying ‘purchyavarshi lavkar ya’, translated as may the Ganesh festival return soon, next year.

The main idol is placed back into the permanent temple. The replica of Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir will be dismantled. Until next year, when a new theme and new replica will be created.