• Colonial Divide-and-Rule Policy: In May 1894, Governor George Robert Canning Harris directed that Hindus should stop playing music near mosques during processions.
  • No such restriction was applied to Muslims, creating resentment among Hindus and leading to communal tensions.
• The Palkhi Incident of 1894: In July 1894, Tukaram’s palkhi procession in Poona faced stone-pelting near a dargah.
  • A communal clash broke out, with Hindus perceiving it as a Muslim attack on their faith.
  • Tilak’s Marathi-language newspaper Kesari, the most widely read local-language newspaper in the Bombay Presidency, reported that some 50 Muslims had attacked the Tukaram palanquin.
• Hindu Withdrawal from Moharram:
  • For many years past, it was customary for Hindus to participate in the processions that were taken out during Moharram called tabut (a word that literally means “coffin”).
  • However, after the palkhi episode, popular regional-language newspapers in the Bombay Presidency like Kalpataru, Mumbai Vaibhav, Indu Prakash, Deenbandhu, and Subodh Patrika, advised their readers, mostly Hindus, not to make tabuts or take part in the Moharram festival that year.
  • Handbills were pasted on temple walls containing this message. 
  • Poona Vaibhav even suggested that Hindus should organise their own processions for their deities on suitable occasions.
• Rise of Ganesh Chaturthi as a Public Festival:
  • By July 1894, preparations began to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi on a grand scale in Poona.
  • Newspapers reported that idols were being displayed with public singing and celebrations.
  • On Sept 13, 1894, Ganesh idols were immersed in processions similar to Moharram.
• Myths surrounding the Festival’s Founding: It started to spread anti-colonial messages. This was probably not true. However, what was remarkable about Ganesh Chaturthi is that it united all classes of Hindus under a common banner.

Tilak’s Role and Nationalist Vision

• Bal Gangadhar Tilak saw Ganesh Chaturthi as a tool for “national regeneration”.
• Kesari (1895) argued that a nation needed three things: common religion, common laws, and common language.
• The British had given laws and English, but Indians had to supply religious unity.
• Thus, Ganesh Chaturthi became a symbol of emerging mass-based politics.

Broader Historical Resonance

• The Ganesh Chaturthi movement contrasted with the elitist politics of the early Congress (founded in 1885).
• Leaders like Tilak mobilised the masses by blending religion with politics.
• Ironically, Governor Harris, who tried to divide communities, indirectly triggered the rise of Ganesh Chaturthi in its modern form.
  

Conclusion

Ganesh Chaturthi, once a private ritual, became a mass public festival in 1894 as symbolising unity, cultural assertion, and eventually serving as a foundation for nationalist politics in colonial India.

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