Tag: BalGangadharTilak


  • Public Bonfire: It was Savarkar, Not Gandhi!

    In the history of India’s Swadeshi movement, it was Vinayak Damodar (Veer) Savarkar, not ‘Mahatma’ Gandhi, who first organized a public bonfire of foreign goods. A fact which gets often sidelined or ignored by ‘biased INC’ historians. In 1905, when he was in his early twenties, Vinayak Damodar (Veer) Savarkar became a passionate student leader…

  • Savarkar & Nepal’s Crisis-A Speculative Take

    Nepal has once again entered a moment of historic upheaval. What began as protests against a social media ban has exploded into a nationwide movement against corruption and political decay. The resignation of Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli and other members of his administration, the burning of government buildings, and the military’s presence on…

  • Savarkar and Anant Chaturdashi

    Religious Tradition and Political Struggle Traditional Roots of the Festival Anant Chaturdashi, observed on the 14th day of the bright fortnight of Bhadrapada (August–September), is one of India’s important Hindu festivals. Traditionally dedicated to Lord Vishnu as the infinite (Anant) sustainer of the universe, it revolves around the tying of the sacred Anant Sutra –…

  • Savarkar’s Pan-Hindu Ganesh Utsav

    When we think of Ganesh Chaturthi (Ganeshotsava), the name of Bal Gangadhar (Lokmanya) Tilak often comes first. In the 1890s, Tilak had transformed a private household ritual into a public celebration — a powerful tool for awakening nationalist spirit and resisting colonial rule. But three decades later, in 1925, another revolutionary, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (Veer…

  • Savarkar: Faith, Reason, and Nation

    When we think of the modern Ganesh Chaturthi festival (Ganeshotsava), one name inevitably comes to mind: Bal Gangadhar (Lokmanya) Tilak, who in the 1890s transformed it from a private household ritual into a public celebration of unity and resistance against colonial rule. But what about Vinayak Damodar (Veer) Savarkar? Despite organizing a Pan-Hindu Ganesh Utsav…

  • Young Savarkar & the Bhagur Mosque Incident

    In the late 19th century, India was a country simmering with tensions—political, religious, and cultural. The British colonial regime‘s policy of divide and rule had deepened communal divisions. Against this backdrop, a teenage Vinayak Damodar (Veer) Savarkar, growing up in the village of Bhagur near Nashik, encountered one of the first defining moments of his…

  • Rashtrabhakta Samuha: Savarkar’s First Step to Revolution

    In 1899, deep within the narrow lanes of Tilbhandeshwar, a sixteen-year-old schoolboy named Vinayak Damodar (Veer) Savarkar was quietly rewriting the script of India’s freedom struggle. While the Indian National Congress (INC) still pursued petitions and reform, Savarkar envisioned something far more daring — a secret society devoted to armed revolution. That vision took shape…

  • Savarkar’s Plea for a Right to Resistance

    Political Dimension of Hindutva, Part 6 The Concept of “Responsive Resistance” Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was deeply influenced by the idea of “Responsive Resistance,” a term coined by Bal Gangadhar Tilak. This concept proposed that Indian cooperation with British colonial rule should be directly proportional to the level of political reforms granted by the British. More…