Bhau Rangari Ganapati looks for place under sun

Pune: There is no fanfare, no demand for donations and no glittering decorations. Yet the Bhau Rangari Ganapati trust celebrating 125th year of Ganapati festival celebration, has a special place in the hearts of Puneites.
Ganeshotsav was started by Bhausaheb Laxman Javale, known as Bhau Rangari, in 1892. The trustees said he started the festival two years before Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak and hence should be given credit.
"The state government has announced Lokmanya Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Abhiyan and Lokmanya Utsav this year but we feel it should be named after Bhau Rangari. In fact, in his will Rangari donated all his estate for celebrating public Ganeshotsav and named Lokmanya Tilak as the first trustee. He also played an important role in the freedom struggle so his contributions should be acknowledged," a statement issued by the trust said.
The freshly water-colour painted idol made of paper and pulp, stands tall in all its glory at the wada in Budhwar Peth, near the historic Shaniwarwada. It was made by Javale and first installed in the presence of Annasaheb Patwardhan, Nanasaheb Khasgiwale, Dagdusheth Halwai, Khandoba Tarawade and Mama Hasbnis.
"Bhausaheb Javale started the Ganapati festival two years before Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Javale's name got little mention because Tilak was a political leader while he was a revolutionary who mobilised the masses to fight against the British rule," Anant Madhav Kusarkar, trustee of the wada, told TOI.
He said Bhausaheb Rangari also installed two other Ganapatis in 1892, one at Ganapatrao Ghotavdekar's home and another at Nanasaheb Khasgiwale's property. "All the three Ganapati idols were taken out in a procession for immersion on Anant Chaturdashi day," he said, adding that Tilak himself lauded Bhau Rangari's efforts in the issue of daily Kesari of September 23, 1893 and started the public Ganeshotsav in 1894 by installing an idol at Vinchurkarwada where he used to reside.
The mandal does not collect donations from the public; the trustees and voluntary contributions pool in money for the celebrations. "We do not use loudspeakers and the idol is eco-friendly. We shy away from using gulal or any form of colours and have preserved the chariot that was used in 1892," Kusarkar added.