Ganpati Murti Styles: The 1892 Pune Story Behind Them

In the Shalukar Bol area of Pune there is a Ganesha murti made of wood and bran, the outer husk of grain. According to its temple's history, it was set up for the public in 1892 and has not been changed since. The story of how it came to stand where anyone could see it is also the story of why Ganpati murti styles multiplied.

The short answer: Ganpati murti styles are the different ways artists shape and dress Bappa: the Maratha turban, the royal throne, the giant pandal figure, the stone-carved Pillaiyar of Tamil Nadu, the mirror-work of Gujarat. Old texts described many forms of Ganesha long ago, but the public festival, from 1892 on, gave whole neighborhoods their own Bappa and gave artists a reason to try something new.

Pune, 1892: Bappa steps outside the home

For a long time, Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharashtra was mostly kept at home. Then, as the festival's history records, a Pune man named Krishnajipant Khasgiwale visited Gwalior, saw Ganesha celebrated in public there, and came home with an idea. He shared it with two friends, Balasaheb Natu and Bhausaheb Rangari, a royal physician remembered as a freedom fighter.

Rangari acted on it. By his trust's account, in 1892 he installed a public Ganesha in his wada, the traditional courtyard mansion of old Pune, and opened the celebration to everyone. The murti is still there, the same one of wood and bran, more than 130 years on.

1893: a newspaper takes up the idea

The next year, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, one of the best-known leaders of India's freedom movement, praised the public festival in his newspaper, Kesari. Tilak saw what a shared celebration could do: bring together ordinary people whom a political meeting might never reach. He encouraged communities to organize their own. Public mandals, the neighborhood committees that still run the festival, were formed. There were lectures and cultural programs, and the idea spread to other towns across Maharashtra and, over time, to other parts of India.

Tilak is also credited with being the first to install large public images of Ganesha in pavilions, the ancestors of today's pandals. More than a century later, Pune still debates how the credit for the festival should be shared between Rangari and Tilak. Both belong in the story.

The turning point: every street wanted its own Bappa

This is where the murtis start to change. A murti for a home shrine can be small enough to sit in a child's palm. A murti for a crowd has to be seen from the back of it. Today, murtis for the festival range from about 20 millimeters for homes to more than 20 meters for the biggest public pandals.

Size was only the start. Each mandal commissioned its own murti, and each could decide how Bappa would look: what he would wear, what he would hold, where he would sit and what would stand behind him. Some honored local history. Some chose the look of another beloved god. Some borrowed the crafts their region was already known for. The town of Pen in Raigad district became famous for this work: many of the murtis in Mumbai come from Pen, where whole lanes are given over to murti makers.

The lesson: a murti looks like the people who carry it

The old texts had already described Ganesha in many forms. What the public festival added was many hands and many places, and each place put a little of itself into Bappa. There is no single festival aesthetic for Ganesha. There is the one your family, your street or your town chose, and the reason behind it.

Ganpati murti styles across India today

There is no official catalogue of every way a festival murti can look, so the groups below need one important distinction.

Some names, such as Vakratunda, Heramba, Nritya Ganapati and Maha Ganapati, belong to established iconographic traditions. Others describe regional materials or visual influences, such as Cuttack silver filigree or Gujarati mirror work. A third group consists of modern pandal themes and descriptive names used in this guide and our coloring book — for example a fort-inspired Bappa or a space-themed Bappa. Those are useful labels for what you see, not ancient or nationally recognized categories.

Seen that way, the variety becomes more interesting, not less: some forms come from scripture, some from craft traditions, and some from the imagination of the artists and communities welcoming Bappa this year.

Every style named below is a page in our Ganesha coloring book for ages 8 to 12, with its name printed under the picture.

Maharashtra's heritage looks

• Pagdi Ganpati wears the warrior's turban, in honor of the Marathas. The pagdi is worn by those who protect others.
• Singhasan Ganpati sits on a great throne, like the kings of Raigad. A throne is a duty, not a prize.
• Mukut Ganpati wears a tall jeweled crown. The head must hold good thoughts.
• Bappa on the Fort Throne sits before a hill fort, the kind that once protected a whole people.

The great pandal looks

• The grand Mumbai pandal look: tall, maroon and gold, right hand raised in blessing. The raised hand says: do not fear.
• Pune's golden Ganpati: big ears, a gentle face and golden jewels. Listen more, speak less.
• Hyderabad's five-faced giant: five faces, ten hands, a mountain of clay. See a problem from every side before you act.

Forms from the old texts

Many older forms come from Ganesha's own scriptures. The Mudgala Purana tells of his incarnations, among them Vakratunda, who rides a lion, and Vikata, who rides a peacock. It is also the first text to list the thirty-two forms of Ganesha, which the 19th-century Kannada Sritattvanidhi describes in detail.

• Vakratunda on the Lion, who tamed jealousy. Be glad for what others have.
• Vikata on the Peacock, who tamed desire and craving. Enough is a feast.
• Nritya Ganapati, dancing under the wish-fulfilling tree. Gratitude is the dance of a full heart.
• Heramba, with five heads and ten arms, riding a lion to protect the weak. Strength is for protecting, not for showing.
• Maha Ganapati, with ten arms, a third eye and a crescent moon. Look for the truth behind the surface.

Bappa in the looks of other gods

• The Balaji look, with a tall conical crown, conch and discus; Bappa as Shri Ram, with bow and arrow; Bappa as Krishna, with peacock feather and flute.
• Bappa resting on Sheshnag, the great serpent, as Vishnu does on the ocean; Bappa with Hanuman, wisdom and devotion together; Bappa with Lakshmi and Saraswati, wealth and learning on either side.

Regional crafts

• Pillaiyar of Tamil Nadu, carved like temple stone with a tall ornamental headpiece. Pillaiyar, a well-loved Tamil name for Ganesha, sits at the entrance of many temples in the south.
• Gujarat's mirror-work Bappa, dressed in bright cloth, beads and little round mirrors. Reflect the light you receive.
• Odisha's silver filigree Bappa, in the lace-like silver work of Cuttack. Patience makes beautiful things.

New traditions

• The eco warrior Bappa, made of paper, seeds and coconut husk, so that at visarjan he melts gently back into nature. Goa has banned plaster of Paris murtis, and many families now choose clay.
• Bappa and the Moon rocket, cheering India's journey to the Moon.
• The balancing Bappa, standing on one toe on a lotus bud. Balance takes daily practice.

Looking at murti styles with a child

• Spot the symbols first. Big ears, small eyes, the broken tusk, the modak, the raised hand, Mushak the mouse. Once a child knows them, they can find them in any murti. The stories behind them are in our Ganesh Chaturthi story for kids.
• Ask "where is this one from?" Then ask why people there might dress Bappa that way.
• Invent one. After a few styles, ask what Bappa would wear in your town. It is the same question every mandal has been answering since 1892.

Thirty-two styles to color, one at a time

Coloring is a good way to slow down and notice every bead and fold. Our Ganesha Coloring Book for ages 8 to 12 has 48 detailed designs, including 32 named murti styles from across India and every style in the list above. Each page gives the style's name, a line about what makes it special and a short lesson. It opens with the story of Ganesh Chaturthi in twelve pictures and ends with two art pages: a copy-the-murti grid and a step-by-step drawing of Ganesha. Fine tips suit the detail, and our notes on markers that don't bleed through may help. For younger children, the ages 4 to 8 edition tells the same story with big, bold pictures.

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