The Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Sarvajanik Ganpati Pune, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.
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This was shot by my very dear friend Pratik Koli and he has sent me this picture on request as I have never been able to go to Pune to shoot this and so on his behalf I share it with all of you.
The text I copy from the official website of Shrimant Dagduseth Halwai Sarvajanik Ganpati.
The Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Sarvajanik Ganpati Trust, based in Pune was established in he year 1893 and has thus been in the service of devotees since 108 years.
It was in 1893 when Lokmanya Balgangadhar Tilak gave a public form to the celebration of the festival of Ganpati and made it a genuinely people's festival. The Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Sarvajanik Ganpati trust exists from the year of the inception of the sarvajanik (public) Ganpati festival and is the fulcrum of all sarvajanik(public) celebrations in Maharashtra.
The festivities of Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati festival attract people from all over India and now in this age of liberalization and globalization, from all round the world.
The goal of the trust is to make the celebration of Ganeshotsav based on the principles set out by Tilak and the path of devotion shown by saints Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram. To make it a celebration of morality and humanity and nationalism.
India is following the path of economic liberalization, which is bringing in many changes in Indian society, opening up many opportunities for those who are ready to learn and work hard. It is even more important in these times of change to sustain the humanity of human beings, the homeliness of our homes and the godliness of our gods.
In the last few decades, the celebration of this festival left a lot to be desired. The intelligentsia began pointing out to the malpractices that had entered the celebrations. The rituals and the sense of social participation was giving way to commercialization. It was felt that the direction of the festival needed to be changed. It was felt by many that it was only the shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Sarvajanik Ganpati trust that could show the way.
The trust took up this responsibility and organized many seminars and camps and workshops to discuss and guide people about how the festival could be made more participatory and at the same time contribute to society. Various mandals from all round Maharashtra started coming to seek advice on topics like how to maintain a temple, how to use the contributions gained during festivities for public welfare etc. Based on the principles propounded by Bal Gangadhar Tilak the trust has guided hundreds of Ganeshotsav mandals.
http://www.dagdushethganpati.com/temple.asp?serialno=1&tempid=T019&desctitle=Introduction
