By the end of his jail term in Mandalay in June 1914, Lokamanya Tilak’s health started showing signs of weariness and exhaustion due to diabetes. Also, the death of his wife, during his term at Mandalay, made him vulnerable. Despite the hard times, being the man he was, he gathered a mass following under the Home Rule League, incorporated in 1916, in collaboration with Dr. Annie Besant. Tilak was thoroughly disappointed by the brutal incident of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919, which further weakened him.

Long imprisonment, personal losses, and his deteriorating health did not let him get his share of freedom that he always dreamt of. In mid-July 1920, his condition worsened and finally on August 1, he left for his heavenly abode. With the outbreak of the sad news of his demise, a veritable ocean of people surged to his residence in Bombay, to have the last glimpse of their beloved leader.