It is not known when and how Ganesh Chaturthi was first celebrated. [1a] Ganesh Chaturthi was being celebrated as a public event in Pune since the times of Shivaji (1630-1680), the founder of the Maratha Empire. [1b] The Peshwas, the de facto hereditary administrators of the Empire from 1749 till its end in 1818, encouraged the celebrations in their administrative seat Pune as Ganesha was their family deity (Kuladevata). [1c] With the fall of the Peshwas, Ganesh Chaturthi lost state patronage and became a private family celebration again till its revival by Indian freedom fighter and social reformer Lokmanya Tilak. [1d]
In 1893, Lokmanya Tilak transformed the annual domestic festival into a large, well-organized public event. [2] Tilak recognized the wide appeal of the deity Ganesha as "the god for everybody", [3][4] and popularized Ganesh Chaturthi as a national festival in order "to bridge the gap between Brahmins and 'non-Brahmins' and find a context in which to build a new grassroots unity between them", and generate nationalistic fervour among people in Maharashtra against the British colonial rule. [5][6] Tilak was the first to install large public images of Ganesh in pavilions, and also established the practice of submerging in rivers, sea, or other pools of water all public images of the deity on the tenth day after Ganesh Chaturthi. [7]
Under Tilak's encouragement, the festival facilitated community participation and involvement in the form of intellectual discourses, poetry recitals, performances of plays, musical concerts, and folk dances. It served as a meeting ground for people of all castes and communities in times when, in order to exercise control over the population, the British discouraged social and political gatherings. [8]
'The most serious impact of the festival on the environment is due to the immersion of idols made of Plaster of Paris into lakes, rivers and the sea. Traditionally, the idol was sculpted out of mud taken from nearby one’s home. After the festival, it was returned to the Earth by immersing it in a nearby water body. This cycle was meant to represent the cycle of creation and dissolution in Nature.
However, as the production of Ganesh idols on a commercial basis grew, the earthen or natural clay (shaadu maati in Marathi and banka matti in Telugu) was replaced by Plaster of Paris. Plaster is a man-made material, easier to mould, lighter and less expensive than clay. However, plaster is non-biodegradable, and insoluble in water. Moreover, the chemical paints used to adorn these plaster idols themselves contain heavy metals like mercury and cadmium, causing water pollution. Also, on immersion, non-biodegradable accessories that originally adorned the idol accumulate in the layers of sand on the beach.
1] a b c d Kapoor, Subodh. The Indian Encyclopaedia. Cosmo Publications. p. 2514. ISBN 978-81-7755-257-7.
[2] Metcalf, Thomas R.; Metcalf, Barbara Daly. A Concise History of India. ISBN 0-521-63027-4.Metcalf and Metcalf, p. 150.
[3] Momin, A. R., The Legacy Of G. S. Ghurye: A Centennial Festschrift, p. 95.
[4] For Ganesha's appeal as "the god for everyman" as a motivation for Tilak, see: Brown (1991), p. 9.
[5] Brown, Robert L. (1991). Ganesh: Studies of an Asian God. Albany: State University of New York. ISBN 0-7914-0657-1.Brown (1991), p. 9.
[6] For Tilak's role in converting the private family festivals to a public event in support of Indian nationalism, see: Thapan, p. 225.
[7] For Tilak as the first to use large public images in maṇḍapas (pavilions or tents) see: Thapan, p. 225.Thapan, Anita Raina (1997). Understanding Gaņapati: Insights into the Dynamics of a Cult. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers. ISBN 81-7304-195-4.
[8] Indian Festivals. "Ganesh Chathurthy". Retrieved 31 August 2012.
