First Appearance

The day when this great saint was first sighted in Shegaon, February 23rd, 1878, is popularly known as ‘Prakat Din’. This is not the birth anniversary, but His appearance day and is celebrated worldwide. As per traditional Hindu lunar calendar, He was first seen on Magh Krishna Saptami tithi (the seventh day of the waning phase of moon in the month of Magh), called as ‘Magh vadya saptami’. He was seen by Shri Bankatlal Agrawal and Shri Damodarpant Kulkarni in the superconscious state while eating leftover food from the plates thrown out during a function arranged by a pious Brahmin named Devidas Paturkar for his son. Maharaj’s body was lustrous like the rising sun with the eyes concentrated at the tip of His nose indicative of the yogic strength. His leela to eat leftover particles was to explain ‘‘Annam Brahmeti’’, Food is Brahma, and is not to be wasted. The name Gajanan Maharaj was first suggested in 1905 by Dadasaheb Khaparde of Amravati since He was often heard addressing Himself as “Ganya”.  Till then He was known by many other names such as Avaliya Baba, Ganpat Baba , Gin Gine Buwa , Gin Ginaat Buwa.