Pune- blend of nature, history, culture and education

Dagdusheth Halwai Ganapati Temple:

It is dedicated to the Hindu Lord Ganesh. The temple is very popular and is visited by thousands of pilgrims every year. Faith and affection of the devotees towards this temple can be seen during the ten day festival celebration of Ganeshotsav and Ganesh Chaturthi. It is situated at Swargate Road, Budhwar Chowk, Pune.

Whole temple is decorated very artistically. Special attraction is the main Idol that is adorned with gold and is so wonderful, auspicious and peace giving that one can find it difficult to take his eyes off for long. Daily pooja, abhisheka and the arti of Lord Ganesh are worth attending. Walls of the temple on the side of the road are of transparent mirror. So all the proceedings as well as the main idol can be seen even from the road.The main Ganesh idol is insured for sum of ₹1crore. All the things required for prayer like grass, garlands, sweets, coconuts, etc can be purchased from the shops outside this temple.

Daned Gadusheth (Dagdusheth) Halwai was a sweetmart seller turned wealthy businessman. He founded this temple in the memory of his son in 1893 on the advice of his guru.

With the donations received, later he established a trust called the Halwai Ganapati Trust which even today, is engaged in service to public good. The donations received is one of the richest in Maharashtra. The trust carries out an old age home called Pitashree at Kondhwa in Pune. The home was built at a cost of ₹ 1.5 crore. This is the trust that looks after the maintenance of the temple. Also the daily activities and various cultural activities in the temple are organized by the trust. Other services provided by the trust includes education to children, ambulance service for poor in tribal belts etc.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the freedom fighter, was a close friend of Dagdusheth Halwai. So during the British Raj, it come to his ind to give a public form to the Ganesh festival celebrations as a way of getting around an order that barred public meetings.

Its a must visit.