Village keeps up Tilak's tradition of one Ganpati fest for all

In keeping with the tradition set by social reformer Lokmanya Tilak of organising a public Ganpati celebration instead of a individual ones, a village in Navi Mumbai township here has set an example of unity by following 'one village-one Ganpati' festival for over 50 years now.
The concept, conceived by a group of residents of Agroli village, was started in 1961 and is still celebrated in the manner as the villagers are in no mood to shift to individual celebrations which have now become a usual practice.
The villagers of Agroli are proud of setting an example by such a practice. The joint celebration of such festivals not only brings villagers together during these ten days but also helps build a stronger bond among them.

"I have seen terrific enthusiasm among the villagers who come together for the festival and this enables me to provide them the best of civic services," local corporator Saroj Patil said.
She said when the festival was started in the 60s, there were only 20 families in the village. Today there are around 150 families.
The contribution by each family then was Rs 15, but now due to price rise and the expenses involved, the cost has gone up to Rs 1,000 per family which the villagers happily contribute, she said.

The collective celebration has numerous benefits like huge expenses by individual households and the time taken for organising the event can be reduced, the Shiv Sena leader said.

About 10-15 families undertake the task to supervise the arrangements on each of the ten days and ensure that the celebrations are grand.
Patil said other villages in the state should also follow
Agroli.
"One more benefit that we have from such celebrations is that when the villagers come together during the festival, they discuss various issues and decisions are taken collectively which benefit all and our task becomes easy," the corporator said.
She said they also ensure that meritorious students from the village are felicitated during the festival, which prompts youngsters to take a keen interest in the celebration.

"We do not forget the elders who were responsible for taking the initiative of such a festival and also ensure that they are duly honoured," she said.
The corporator's husband, Rohidas Patil, who also supports the public Ganesh Utsav mandal in Agroli, said a few villagers had in the 60s decided to construct a temple in the village.
They built the temple after getting wood from forest and collecting cement, iron and other material required from donors.
The 10-day Ganpati festival is now celebrated by the villagers with traditional gaiety every year in this temple's premises.
In 1893, Tilak had praised the celebration of a 'Sarvajanik Ganesha Utsav' in his newspaper Kesari. The following year, he installed a Ganesh idol in Kesari office.

His efforts transformed the annual domestic festival into a large, well-organised public event to bridge gap among the people in society and to promote unity among them.