DagduSheth Ganpati – When Divinity Beckons
Posted On November 11, 2011
Yes if you are a true Lord Ganesha devotee then surely you wouldn’t miss to visit the DagduSheth Ganpati temple in Pune. The oldest of such temples that exists since the year 1893. It is situated very near the Shaniwarwada which is in the centre of the city of Pune.
It was a sweet maker or a halwai in Hindi called DagduSheth who got this temple constructed. He lost his son in the outbreak of plague and he became very depressed and so was his wife. His spiritual Guru advised h him to makes small Ganesha idols and Shree Datta Maharaj idols and take care of them like they were his children. This sweet maker made his first Ganesha idol. His good friend was Lokmanya Balgangadhar Tilak who was then involved with the Indian independence movement. This was sometime in the late 18th century. He decided to make this festival of Ganesha Chaturthi a very grand festival so that the Hindus and the other Indians could get together as a community and thus the spirit of unity could be progressed against the British.
The Ganpati temple is a very simple construction and it allows all the devotees to pray and take a glimpse of the idol from the outside portion of the temple itself. Many devotees visit this temple daily and they like to take part in the activities like aarti and the entire pooja from the temple entrance.
The Ganesha idol looks very beautiful and resplendent in the lovely clothes and jewellery that adorn the Lord. There are many that are offered by devotees and the elephant god really looks beautiful in the silks and finery. Nearly 8 kilos of gold is on the deity every day. The idol has an ear of solid gold.
The pooja for this idol is done twice and all the devotees assemble during this time. Many coconuts are seen here as offerings from the devotees. The Ganesha Chaturthi festival sees an upsurge of devotees to this place as the demand for the blessings of this God increases.
The trust for this temple was established in the year 1893 and this has been existing ever since. When Tilak gave the festival of Ganesha Chaturthi a great political and social touch, then the Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Sarwajanik Ganapati trust started and was the main base of all celebrations across the state of Maharashtra.
If you want to avoid crowd and want to have a great darshan of the God then do visit this temple during the morning hours. This is the time the temple is comparatively empty. Lakhs of devotees are found coming here during the Ganpati festival.
Thus you can see a lot of meetings, kirtans and cultural programme during the Ganpati festival here and this 10 day programme is a literal jamboree time for the people in Pune.
Started since the time of the great Indian leader Lokmanya Tilak, the Dagdusheth Ganpati festival is a very common social occasion for all the Maharashtrian and also for the people across the country. Just like how the festival instilled a lot of unity amongst people in the past, the temple instilled a lot of unity and spirit amongst the people today.
