Karmandir करमंदिरहिंदीGet the app

Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati

Budhwar Peth, Pune, Maharashtra

ShareTelegramXFacebook
Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati
Photo: Universalashic, CC BY-SA 3.0

About

Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati sits in Budhwar Peth in old Pune and is the city's most loved Bappa. The temple is small and open, so Ganpati can be seen even from the street. The murti is about 2.2 metres tall and 1 metre wide, and is adorned with gold ornaments. The biggest celebration is Ganeshotsav, when the temple glows with lights and lakhs of people come for darshan. With devotees' offerings, the temple trust also runs service work such as an old-age home, education for children and help for the sick.

The story

Dagdusheth Halwai was a sweet-maker who settled in Pune in the 1800s and became one of its leading and respected merchants. In the 1890s plague spread through Pune, and Dagdusheth and his wife Lakshmibai lost their only son. Their guru, Shri Madhavnath Maharaj, comforted the grieving couple and told them to have murtis of Datta and of Ganpati made and to care for them like their own children; these deities would carry their name forward. The couple did so. In those same years Lokmanya Tilak turned Ganeshotsav from a home festival into a public one to bring people together, and Dagdusheth's Ganpati became the best-loved in Pune. After Dagdusheth's death, the people and young men of the neighbourhood kept the festival going. The first murti is still worshipped at a Maruti temple in Pune, and the second is at the trust's home in Kondhwa. In 1968 the sculptor Shankarappa Shilpi made the present murti. By tradition, he performed puja and placed a Ganesh yantra inside it. The murti was consecrated on 27 August 1968, and this is the Ganpati worshipped today.

Visiting

Pune is pleasant from October to February. During Ganeshotsav (August to September) the decorations are a sight to see, but crowds are huge. The temple is in a busy market area, so walk the last stretch. Shaniwar Wada, Tulshibaug and the Laxmi Road market are nearby.

Festivals

  • Ganeshotsav (Bhadrapad Shukla Chaturthi to Anant Chaturdashi), ending with a grand visarjan procession
  • Rishi Panchami: thousands of women recite the Atharvashirsha together
  • Ganesh Jayanti (Magh Shukla Chaturthi)
  • Akshaya Tritiya: the mango festival
  • Music festival from Gudi Padwa to Ram Navami (the temple's foundation festival)

Famous temples

Sources