Ganesh Chaturthi was a domestic festival in Maharashtra for centuries. What changed it was politics. The Anti-Public Assembly rules that followed the communal riots of 1893 made it difficult for Indians to gather in numbers — but a religious festival was exempt.
Bhausaheb Laxman Javale, known as Bhau Rangari, installed what is generally recorded as the first sarvajanik — public — Ganpati in Pune in 1892. Bal Gangadhar Tilak saw what it could become and promoted it hard from 1893 through his newspaper Kesari: a ten-day public gathering, open to all castes, with lectures, music, poetry and processions. Within a decade it had spread across the Bombay Presidency.
In Mumbai the Keshavji Naik Chawl at Girgaon began its sarvajanik Ganeshotsav in 1893 and has held it every year since. It is the oldest public Ganpati in the city and it still runs in the old form — small idol, no sponsorship banners, the original melas and bhajans.
The names
Mandals, places and people, with what each one is| Name | Where | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Keshavji Naik Chawl1893 | Khadilkar Road, Girgaon | Mumbai’s first sarvajanik Ganeshotsav, begun the year Tilak took up the idea. Still held in the original form, without sponsorship. |
| Bhau Rangari Ganpati1892 | Budhwar Peth, Pune | Generally recorded as the first public Ganpati anywhere; the idol shows Ganesha slaying a demon, which was read politically at the time. |
| Bal Gangadhar Tilak1893 | Pune and Bombay | Promoted the public festival through Kesari as a way of assembling people that the colonial assembly rules could not touch. |
| Kesari and Maratha1881 | Pune | Tilak’s newspapers, through which the campaign ran. |
| Girgaon1890s | south Mumbai | The Marathi heart of the old city, where the Mumbai festival began and where several of the oldest mandals still are. |
| The melas1890s | Girgaon and Lalbaug | Troupes performing songs and satire during the festival; the political content was the point. |
| Sarvajanik mandals1893 onward | across the city | The committee form that runs a public Ganpati; several thousand now registered in Mumbai. |
| Anant Chaturdashi | city-wide | The eleventh day, when the largest idols go for immersion. |
Worth knowing
- The festival was public before it was political, but the scale is Tilak’s doing.
- Keshavji Naik Chawl at Girgaon is the oldest in Mumbai and has run unbroken since 1893.
- The open-to-all-castes principle was deliberate and was contested at the time.
- Most of the very old mandals are in Girgaon, Lalbaug and Parel — the mill and Marathi districts.
- What began as lectures and melas is now largely spectacle, which is itself part of the history.
More on Ganeshotsav
Read the city another way
A note on this page. Festival dates move with the lunar calendar and arrangements change every year. Everything here is a snapshot of Mumbai as of 2026, offered as a starting point rather than a live listing. Check timings, routes and darshan rules before you travel.
Mandal, temple, shop and company names belong to their respective owners. Inclusion is for independent discovery only, not endorsement, ranking or affiliation.
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