[1] Deshpande was born on 31 March 1871 into a Kannada-speaking Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmin family in Hudli, Belgaum, Karnataka.
[1] Freedom fighters Govindrao Yalgi and Gangadhar Rao Deshpande first planned to host Ganesha festival as a public event in 1905 for the cause of uniting the people of all faiths to fight against the British.
A park called "Vijaynagar Veera Soudha Udyana" has been built at the same venue (the area is now named "Tilakwadi"), with a statue of Gandhi, and several photographs of 1924 session.
Pampa Sarovar, later called Congress Well, which was constructed with cost of ₹ 4,370 and 3 annas, as a water source to the 1924 convention, still exists in Vijaynagar Veerasoudha Udyana.
Others leaders present in the conference were Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Sarojini Naidu, Rajendra Prasad, Abdul Gaffar Khan, Mahadev Desai, Kasturba, along with 10,000 delegates.
Gangadhar Rao Deshpande, Pundalik Katagade, Ramachandra Wadavi, Annu Guruji and others helped to build huts for the function.
[1][14] The Department of Kannada and Culture, Smart City, Rani Chennamma University and other organizations will be building Gangadharrao Deshpande Memorial and Museum at Ramathertha City Park in Belgaum, for which The Belgaum Urban Development Authority has sanctioned 1,500 square meters (15 guntas) of land.