Gajanan Maharaj from Shegaon (Buldhana District), Maharashtra, India is regarded by Hindus as a saint. A temple in his name is built on his Samadhi at Shegaon. "Sant Gajanan Maharaj Sansthan" is the largest temple trust in the Vidarbha region.
The early life history of Gajanan Maharaj is obscure, his birthdate being unknown. Biruduraju Ramaraju has tried to establish in his collection of books called "Andhra Yogulu" that he was a Telugu Brahmin. Some speculate that he might have in fact hailed from Sajjanghad, (which was the place where Sant Samartha Ramdas had lived). Das Ganu Maharaj has written a 21 chapter biography, "Shri Gajanan Vijay," of Gajanan Maharaj in Marathi. Contemporaries of Gajanan Maharaj identified him by several names like Gin Gine Buwa, Ganpat Buwa, and Awaliya Baba.
According to a legend, a money lender named Bankat Lal Agarwal first saw Gajanan Maharaj in a "superconscious state" on February 23, 1878 on a street. Sensing him to be a saint, Bankat took him home and asked him to stay with him. Legends say that in his lifetime, he performed many miracles such as giving a fresh lease on life to one Janrao Deshmukh, lighting the clay-pipe without fire, filling a dry well with water, drawing sugar cane juice by twisting canes with his hands, and curing leprosy of a woman. He took samadhi on 8 September, 1910.
Gajanan Maharaj looked upon all religions with equality. He propounded "Advaita Tattva" through his conduct and teachings.
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