In 1894, Lokmanya Tilak himself placed an idol of Lord Ganesh in Vinchurkar Wada, Maharashtra, India and began this practice.

Lokmanya Tilak's aims behind starting the public celebration of the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi

    Prior to starting this public celebration, the social scenario of the Hindus was not stable. The Hindus were not very keen on practicing their religion. They were disunited. The Indians were cowed down by the supremacy of the Westerners. The natural prowess of the Indians was suppressed by this state of affairs

    Observing all of this, Lokmanya Tilak took the initiative of starting a public celebration of the festival keeping in mind the below aims.

1. To create awareness about religion through the programs organised during the public celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi among the Hindus
2. To make Hindus aware of their latent prowess
3. To nullify the feelings of animosity in society
4. To make people aware about their rights and duties
5. To rejuvenate good religious customs
6. To commence crusades essential in those times
7. To activate the energies present naturally in the society and those generated traditionally.