The order was never arbitrary
The five Manache Ganpati mandals of Pune hold a rank, first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and that rank determines who leads the immersion procession on the final day of the Ganesh festival. Kasba Ganpati goes first. It has gone first since Jijabai, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's mother, installed it as the presiding deity of the city. The other four follow in sequence: Tambdi Jogeshwari, Guruji Talim, Tambat Ali, Kesariwada. The hierarchy was formalized somewhere in the late nineteenth century, and Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak's decision to turn the domestic festival into a public, community gathering in 1893 gave the mandals their civic permanence. When you walk the route today, you are walking something that has been walked, in this direction, for over a hundred years.
