The ten-day long Ganesh festival begins tomorrow in Maharashtra. The significance of this festival, celebrated since before the freedom struggle, is unique in many ways.

The form that Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak gave to Ganesh Utsav made Ganesh a symbol of national unity. While giving the form of public festival to Puja, he did not limit it to religious activities only, but made it a medium for the freedom struggle, removal of untouchability, uniting the society and enlightening the common man and gave it the form of a movement. Today, this festival is a medium for brainstorming on many issues of global and national interest, in which people, institutions, Ganesh Mandal and administration also come face to face to keep the objective of this festival on the right track.

In these, environmental protection and noise pollution issues are now given a lot of priority. Along with this, the current social problems and the measures to be taken on them are presented to the people through audio-visual medium in the tableaux by Ganesh Mandals. The involvement of youth in these enhances their leadership qualities and they are made to feel the responsibility of continuing this tradition. Many Ganesh Mandals in the entire state are 100 to 200 years old, which is proof that they are instrumental in handing over this cultural heritage of Maharashtra to the coming generations responsibly.