Gajanan Maharaj was an Indian Hindu guru, saint and mystic. His origins remain uncertain. He first appeared at Shegaon, a village in Buldhana district, Maharashtra as a young man at age of 30 probably during 23 February 1878. He attained Sanjeevana Samadhi on September 8, 1910; which is thought to be a process of voluntary withdrawal from one's physical body. This date of his Samadhi is commemorated every year as part of the Shree Punyatithi Utsav. The date of his first appearance is considered an auspicious day and is celebrated as Prakat Din Sohla. Background and biographical versions The early life details of Gajanan Maharaj remain obscure and his date of birth also is unknown. He is believed to have made his first appearance during February 1878 at Shegaon. One of his biographies known as Shree Gajanan Maharaj Charitra-Kosh was authored by Dasbhargav or Bhargavram Yeodekar, a native of Shegaon. The biography mentions various versions of Gajanan Maharaj's origins. While at Nashik, Dasbhargav is thought to have met a contemporary saint known as Swami Shivanand Saraswati who was speculated to be of 129 years of age at the time. According to Shivanand he was a Brahmin who had previously met Gajanan Maharaj during 1887 at Nashik. He informed Dasbhargav about the period when Gajanan Maharaj appeared in Shegaon where he lived for the remainder of his life. He claimed to have made around 25 to 30 number of visits to Gajanan Maharaj during this period. Shivanand Swami also declared that he would often visit Dadasaheb Khaparde, a resident at Amravati and stay with his family at their residence during these visits. It is claimed that Shivanand Swami later travelled to the Himalayas and was never seen again (according to pages 362–365 of the aforementioned biography that details the conversation between Dasbhargav and Shivanand Swami). It is also believed that Shivanand Swami may have been a former resident at Sajjangad, Maharashtra, also where the prominent 17th-century saint and philosopher Samarth Ramdas lived for many years. Gajanan Maharaj was an ardent user of marijuana and hashish which is exemplified in almost all available images in the public domain from the time of his attaining samadhi.Even the temple premises where he attained samadhi had a smoking choola as a symbolic representation. Another biography of Gajanan Maharaj known as Shree Gajanan Vijay was composed by Das Ganu who was born at Akolner. Das Ganu