Ganesh chaturthi was further promoted by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who brought to the cause of independence a fire of religious revivalism. Tilak (1856-1920) was a Maharashtrian Brahmin from Poona, who believed that self government could not be achieved by co-operating with the British. His slogan, Swaraj (Home Rule) is My Birthright, was echoed for miles on every side, and when he wrote articles in the Kesari, applauding the action of terrorist and the death of 2 British women in a bomb blast in Bengal, he was promptly brought to trial and sentenced to 6 years imprisonment, resulting in a 6 day long riot in Bombay. He was the first Indian freedom fighter to be given the kind of hero-worship, later acquired by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru , Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Sardar Patel, by millions of people. After his release, he rose to become an all-India leader, working with the likes of Anne Besant for home rule, and was always respected as an intellectual.

One of Tilak's strongest movements to evoke nationalism through religious passions was the organisation of festivals like Ganesh chaturthi in Maharasthra, which not only inspired feelings of Hindu unity in Maharashtra, but gave freedom fighters an opportunity to meet when the British government illegalised any gatherings, writings and slogans that could incite violence.

Thanks to Tilak, Ganesh Chaturthi became a major festival of Maharashtra, where thousands of gigantic idols of lord Ganesh are immersed by huge processions of worshipers shouting, Ganpati Bapa Morya, in the Arabian sea and rivers of the state. The festival has now gained popularity all over India, with celebrations in south India and Gujarat being no less spectacular than those of Maharashtra.