How are the British connected to Ganesh Chaturthi?
Ganesh Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chaturthi is an Indian festival celebrated by the Hindus to mark the birth anniversary of Lord Ganesh, the deity with the head of an elephant. Lord Ganesh is considered as the god of wisdom (Siddhidhata), prosperity and remover of obstacles (Vighnaharta). Every year Indians, in or outside the country, commemorate it with a lot of pomp and show. It is usually held some day between August and September, and celebrated for 10 days. In 2021, Ganesh Chaturthi started on 10th September.
Origin of the festival
Ganesh Chaturthi started being celebrated in the sixteenth century. However, it was converted into the big festival that it is today, when the then Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji reintroduced it among his subjects to encourage sentiments of unity and brotherhood around 1630 to 1680. This was the time when Marathas were engaged in a battle with the Mughals. Soon the battle was over and the Marathas had secured a historic win. This victory increased the enthusiasm surrounding Ganesh Chaturthi that continued over the next two centuries. Fast forward to 1818, the Peshwas lost and surrendered to the British, resulting in the gradual decline of the religious practice, out of mistrust, anger and grief.
Ganesh Chaturthi and the British: What’s the link?
Forty years later, the entire nation suffered a horrible defeat in the hands of the British during the Sipoy Mutiny, 1857 and the British East India Company officially took over India in all capacity. This is when the British cunningly ensured that the Hindus and the Muslims don’t unite against them in the future through stringent laws and regulation. Even the establishment of the Indian National Congress (INC) in 1885, as a united council against the invaders, couldn’t stop the British from provoking communal riots across the country.
In 1890, these riots worsened around the Deccan region when the British tactfully prohibited any social and religious gatherings of more than 20 people and put a complete ban on political rallies. Around such a chaotic time, a renowned scholar named Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (later called Bal Gangadhar Tilak) founded the Deccan Education Society in 1892, with the intention of shifting from academics to politics and preparing a gradual rebellion against the British. He followed in the footsteps of the great Maratha leader Shivaji and revived the Ganesh festival in 1893 to unite all religions and castes. He took the help of his periodical Kesari to spread the word far and wide and largely wrote about the Sarvajanik Ganesh Utsav or the Public Ganesh Festival.
This mass festival was for one and all, irrespective of their castes or religions. Later, Ganesh Chaturthi went on to become a forefront for the freedom struggle with people coming together from all parts of the country. This is how the negative actions of the British led to the positive consequences. The British thereafter did not try to oppose the festival in the fear of mass protests against them. Since then, Ganesh Chaturthi has been celebrated every year.