Gajanan Maharaj was an Indian Hindu guru, saint and mystic. His origins remain uncertain. He first appeared at Shegaon, a village in Buldhana district, Maharashtra, as a young man aged 30, probably on 23 February 1878. He attained Sanjeevana Samadhi on September 8, 1910, which is thought to be a process of voluntary withdrawal from one's physical body. This date of his Samadhi is commemorated every year as part of the Shree Punyatithi Utsav. The date of his first appearance is considered an auspicious day and is celebrated as Prakat Din Sohla.
Background and biographical versions
Gajanan Maharaj's birth data and details of his early life are unknown. He is believed to have first appeared in February 1878 at Shegaon.
One of his biographies, known as Shree Gajanan Maharaj Charitra-Kosh, was written by Dasbhargav or Bhargavram Yeodekar, a native of Shegaon. The biography mentions various versions of Gajanan Maharaj's origins. While at Nashik, Dasbhargav is thought to have met a contemporary saint known as Swami Shivanand Saraswati, who was speculated to be 129 years old at the time. According to Shivanand, he was a Brahmin who had previously met Gajanan Maharaj in 1887 at Nashik. He informed Dasbhargav about the period when Gajanan Maharaj appeared in Shegaon, where he lived for the remainder of his life. He said he had made around 25 to 30 visits to Gajanan Maharaj during this period. Shivanand Swami also said that he would often visit Dadasaheb Khaparde, a resident at Amravati, and stay with his family during these visits. It is noted that Shivanand Swami later traveled to the Himalayas and was never seen again (according to pages 362–365 of the biography mentioned above that details the conversation between Dasbhargav and Shivanand Swami). It is also believed that Shivanand Swami may have been a former resident at Sajjangad, Maharashtra, where the prominent 17th-century saint and philosopher Samarth Ramdas lived for many years. Gajanan Maharaj was an ardent user of marijuana and hashish, exemplified in almost all available images in the public domain from the time of his attaining samadhi. Even the temple premises where he attained samadhi had a smoking choola as a symbolic representation.
Another biography of Gajanan Maharaj, known as Shree Gajanan Vijay, was composed by Das Ganu, born at Akolner. Das Ganu, who was initially named Narayan by his maternal relatives, had at some point moved to Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, where his father had been a caretaker of a property. He was later renamed Ganesh, and his grandfather often called him Ganu, a shorter version of his name. When he arrived at Pandharpur, Das Ganu was contacted by a resident at Shegaon, Ramchandra Krishnaji Patil, also a devotee of Gajanan Maharaj. He advised Das Ganu to write a biography on Gajanan Maharaj.
He was believed to have once visited Nashik, Maharashtra, and the surrounding pilgrimage sites, including Kapiltirtha. He lived at Kapiltirtha for around 12 years. Contemporaries of Gajanan Maharaj identified him by several names, including Gin Gine Buwa, Ganpat Buwa, and Awaliya Baba.
Parallels with other prominent saints and spiritual masters
According to his biography, Shree Gajanan Vijay, Gajanan Maharaj used to consider a few other spiritual personalities such as Narasingji, Vasudevanand Saraswati (Tembhe Swami Maharaj) and Sai Baba of Shirdi as brothers. Gajanan Maharaj appeared as the Hindu deity Vitthala in Pandharapur for his one devotee, Bapuna Kale. He also appeared as Samarth Ramdas for another devotee.
There are some similarities between Gajanan Maharaj and Swami Samarth of Akkalkot, another Hindu guru and mystic. They both were Paramahans and AjanBahu. They represent different forms taken from the same source.
He is regarded as an enlightened being. He received a significant following in Maharashtra; thousands visit the Shegaon temple annually. According to the Shree Gajanan Vijay, he was an exponent of three streams of Yoga, i.e. Karma, Bhakti, and Gyan Yoga.