ஸ்ரீமந்த் தக்துசேத் அல்வாய் கணபதி கோயில், புனேShrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Temple, Pune

Sthala Mahātmyam

The Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati temple in Budhwar Peth is one of Pune's most beloved and prosperous shrines. It was founded in the late nineteenth century by Dagdusheth Halwai, a wealthy sweet-maker (halwai), and his wife Lakshmibai, after they lost their only son in a plague epidemic; on a sage's counsel they built a Ganesha temple to turn their grief into devotion. The idol was installed and the shrine grew into a landmark of Pune's public life. It is deeply linked to Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who transformed Ganesh Chaturthi into a grand public Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav to unite people under British rule, the Dagdusheth celebration remaining among the most famous in India. The gilded, richly adorned idol, roughly seven and a half feet including its throne, is decorated with kilograms of gold ornaments. The managing trust is renowned for large-scale charitable work. Festivals: the ten-day Ganeshotsav in Bhadrapada is celebrated with enormous fervour, drawing lakhs of devotees, alongside Maghi Ganesh Jayanti and Angarki Chaturthi.