In Photos: People Flock to Phule Wada on Mahatma Phule's 196th Birth Anniversary

Jotirao and Savitribai opened schools for girls & Dalits and went on to engage in various social reform activities.

With his wife Savitribai Phule, Jotirao opened schools for girls, Dalits and others and went on to engage in various social reform activities.

(Photo: Tejas Harad/ The Quint)

Yogiraj Nanavare (12) dressed as Jotirao Phule and Pradnya Gavali (30) dressed as Savitribai Phule on the occasion of Jotirao Phule's 196th birth anniversary on Tuesday, 11 April at Mahatma Phule Wada, Pune. 

(Photo: Tejas Harad/ The Quint)

Children engaged in a sketch-making competition at Mahatma Phule Wada.

(Photo: Tejas Harad/ The Quint)

A man stirring a giant pot of misal at Mahatma Phule Wada on Tuesday. Misal pav, a popular Maharashtrian dish, was being served free of cost by a charitable organisation to hundreds of visitors flocking to the Mahatma Phule Wada to pay their respects to Jotirao Phule. 

(Photo: Tejas Harad/ The Quint)

AN Chavan (left) setting up his book stall at the Mahatma Phule Wada while his assistant Dattatrey Ragade (right) waits for the customers. Chavan is in the books business since the last 5-7 years. 

(Photo: Tejas Harad/ The Quint)

A portrait of Jotirao Phule in one of the rooms of the Mahatma Phule Wada. The residence of the Phule couple was declared as a state heritage site in 1992 and it has been preserved and renovated by the archaeological department. 

(Photo: Tejas Harad/ The Quint)

A mural of Savitribai Phule and Jotirao Phule on a street wall near the Mahatma Phule Wada.

(Photo: Tejas Harad/ The Quint)

A sculpture at the Dnyanjyoti Savitribai Phule Smarak depicting Savitribai Phule engaged in teaching girl students. The Dnyanjyoti Savitribai Phule Smarak is at a walking distance from the Mahatma Phule Wada in Pune's Ganj Peth area. 

(Photo: Tejas Harad/ The Quint)

People from across Maharashtra, on Tuesday, 11 April, flocked to the Mahatma Phule Wada in Pune's Ganj Peth area to celebrate the 196th birth anniversary of 19th-century social reformer and educationist Jotirao Phule. Phule was born on 11 April 1827 in a Mali family.

With his wife Savitribai Phule, he opened schools for girls, Dalits and others and went on to engage in various social reform activities. In 1873, he founded Satyashodhak Samaj, a radical anti-caste organisation to challenge Brahmin supremacy, caste system and religious dogma. In the same year, he also wrote the treatise Gulamgiri (Slavery), which continues to be read widely even now. In his written submission to the Hunter Commission in 1882, he had advocated for free and universal education. He died on 28 November 1890 at the age of 63.

Phule has a large following among the progressive Bahujan masses. On Tuesday, hundreds of people visited the Mahatma Phule Wada, which was the residence of the Phule couple, to pay their respects. The structure was in a dilapidated state until it was declared a heritage site in 1992 by the government after a long struggle by Satyashodhak activists and organisations.