study of ashtavinayaka temples in maharashtra

7/23/2019 Study of Ashtavinayaka Temples in Maharashtra

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Ashta Vinayak Darshan


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Ashta Vinayak DarshanInfo sht vin y k () literally means "eight Ganeshas" in Sanskrit. Ganesh is

the Hinduism/ Hindu deity of unity, prosperity & learning and removes obstacles.

Ashtavinayak yatra trip refers to a pilgrimage to the eight Hindu templein Maharashtra State of India that house eight distinct idols of Ganesha, in a pre-ascertained sequence.

According to Shastra, first you have to visit Moreshwar of Moregaon. Then visit

Siddhatek, Pali, Mahad, Thevur, Lenyandri, Ozar, Ranjangaon, and then againMoregaon will end your Ashtavinayak Yatra.

All these murtisare called Swayambhu effigies, or the self-existent. This is to indicate

that no human created these idols, they were found completely formed by nature.


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Ashta Vinayak DarshanInfo


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Ashta Vinayak DarshanLocation Map


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Ashta Vinayak Darshan Morgaon cha Shri Mayureshwar

This is the most important temple on this tour. The temple, built from black-stone during the Bahamani reign, has four gates (It is supposed to have beenbuilt by one of the knights named Mr. Gole, from the court of Bidar's Sultan).

The temple is covered from all sides by four minarets and gives feeling of amosque if seen from a distance. This was done to prevent attacks on the templeduring Mughal periods. The temple has 50 feet tall wall around it.

There is a Nandi (Shiva's bull mount) sitting in front of this temple entrance,which is unique, as Nandi is normally in front of only Shiva temples. However,the story says that this statue was being carried to some Shivamandir duringwhich the vehicle carrying it broke down and the Nandi statue could not be

removed from its current place. The murti of Lord Ganesha, riding a peacock, in the form of Mayureshwara is

believed to have slain the demon Sindhu at this spot. The idol, with its trunkturned to the left, has a cobra (Nagaraja) poised over it protecting it. This formof Ganesha also has two other murtis of Siddhi (Capability) and Riddhi(Intelligence).

However, this is not the original murti -which is said to have been consecrated

twice by Brahma, once before and once after being destroyed by the asuraSindhurasur. The original murti, smaller in size and made of atoms of sand,iron, and diamonds, was supposedly enclosed in a copper sheet by thePandavas and placed behind the one that is currently worshiped.

The temple is situated at a distance of 55 km from Pune, next to the riverKarha in the village of Moregaon. The village derives its name from theMarathi name of the bird Peacock - there used to be a lot of peacocks in this

village in the ancient time, and the village is also set out in the shape of apeacock.


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Ashta Vinayak Darshan Siddhatek cha Shri Siddhivinayak

God Vishnu is supposed to have vanquished the asuras Madhu and Kaitabhafter propitiating Ganesha here.

This is the only murti of these eight with the trunk positioned to the right.

It is believed that the two saints Shri Morya Gosavi and Shri Narayan Maharajof Kedgaon received their enlightenment here.

The temple is North-facing and is on a small hillock. The main road towardsthe temple was believed to be built by Peshwa's general Haripant Phadake. Theinner sanctum, 15 feet high and 10 feet wide is built by Punyashloka AhilyabaiHolkar.

The right-sided-trunk Ganesha is supposed to be very strict for the devotees.

To make one round (pradakshina) around the temple one has to make theround trip of the hillock.

This temple is situated off the Pune-Solapur highway about 48 km from thetown of Srigonda in Ahmadnagar district.[citation needed] The temple issituated next to Bhima river. On Pune-Solapur railway, Daund Railway stationis 18 km from here.


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Ashta Vinayak DarshanPali cha Shri Ballaleshwar Ganesha is believed to have saved this boy-devotee, Ballal, who was

beaten by local villagers and his father (Kalyani-seth) for his single-minded devotion to him.

The original wooden temple was reconstructed in to a stone templeby Nana Phadanavis in 1760. There are two small lakes constructedon two sides of the temple. One of them is reserved for the puja(worship) of the Deity.

The temple is constructed in such a way that after the winter(dakshinayan : southward movement of the sun) solstice, the sun raysfall on the Ganesha murti at sunrise. The temple is built with stones

which are stuck together very tight using melted lead. One speciality of this temple is that the prasad offered to thisGanapati at Pali is Besan Laadu instead of Modak that is normallyoffered to other Ganapati.

The shape of the idol itself bears a striking semblance with themountain which forms the backdrop of this temple. This is moreprominently felt if one views the photograph of the mountain and

then sees the idol. The temple is located in the town of Pali, off the Mumbai-Punehighway, about 11 km before Nagothane on the Mumbai-Goahighway. This is located 30 km to the South-West of Karjat RailwayStation. Mumbai-Panvel-Khopoli-Pali is 124 km. Pune-Lonavla-Khopoli-Pali is 111 km.

Behind this temple is the temple of Shri Dhundi-Vinayak which is

West facing. This is a very rare idol which is facing the West. Thestory says that this idol was the same one which was thrown byBallal's father while Ballal was worshi in it.


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Ashta Vinayak Darshan Mahad cha Shri Varadvinayak The handsome Prince Rukmangad refused sage Vachaknavi's wife

Mukunda's illicit call, and was cursed to suffer from leprosy. Mukundawas satisfied by Indra who deceived her as Rukmangad and she bore a

child by name Grutsamad. When Grutsamad came to know about the realstory he cursed his mother Mukunda to become the tree of Bori and shein turn cursed him to bore a demon son named Tripurasur, the one whowas defeated by Shiva after praying the Ranjangaon Ganesha. Grutsamadafter getting cursed went to the forest of Pushpak and worshippedGanesha. Sage Grutsamad is famous for the mantra GaNanaN Tva. Hefounded the temple and called this Ganesha: Varada-Vinayak.

Ganesha is said to reside here in the form of Varada Vinayaka, the giverof bounty and success. The idol was found in the adjoining lake (to Mr.Dhondu Paudkar in 1690AD), in an immersed position and hence itsweathered look. In 1725AD the then Kalyan subhedar, Mr. RamjiMahadev Biwalkar built the Varadavinayak temple and the village ofMahad.

The idol faces the east, has its trunk to the left and has been in the

constant company of an oil lamp - said to be burning continuously since1892. The temple is located three kilometers off the Pune-Mumbai highway

near Khopoli (80 km from Pune), and is thus closest to Mumbai city.Karjat Railway Station, Karjat on Mumbai-Pune railway is 24 km fromthis place and 6 km from Khopoli.


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Ashta Vinayak DarshanTheur cha Shri Chintamani Ganesha is believed to have got back the precious Chinatamani jewel

from the greedy Guna for sage Kapila at this spot. However, after bringingback the jewel, sage Kapila put it in Vinayaka's (Ganesha's) neck. Thus the

name Chintamani Vinayak. This happened under the Kadamb tree,therefore Theur is known as Kadambanagar in old times. The lake behind the temple is called Kadambteertha. The temple entrance

is North facing. The outer wooden hall was built by Peshwas. The maintemple is supposed to have been built by Dharanidhar Maharaj Dev fromthe family-lineage of Shri Moraya Gosavi. He must have built this around100 years before Senior Shrimant Madhavrao Peshwa built the outer

wooden hall. This idol also has a left trunk, with carbuncle and diamonds as its eyes.The idol faces the East side.

Theur's Chintamani was the family deity of Shrimant Madhavrao IPeshwa.. He suffered from tuberculosis and died at a very young age(~27years). He is supposed to have died in this temple.

The temple is located 22 km from Pune, off the Pune-Solapur highway,

and is hence the nearest from Pune. The village of Theur sits at theconfluence of three major regional riversMula, Mutha & Bhima.


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Ashta Vinayak Darshan Lenyadri cha Shri Girijatmaj It is believed that Parvati (Shiva's wife) performed penance to beget

Ganesha at this point. Girija's (Parvati's) Atmaj (son) is Girijatmaj. Thistemple stands amidst a cave complex of 18 caves of Buddhist origin. This

temple is the 8th cave. These are called Ganesh-leni as well. The temple iscarved out of a single stone hill, which has 307 steps. The temple featuresa wide hall with no supporting pillars.

The idol faces north with its trunk to the left, and has to be worshippedfrom the rear of the temple. The temple faces south. This idol seems to belittle different from the rest of the Ashtavinayak idols in a sense that itappears to be not very well designed or carved like the other idols. This

idol can be worshipped by anyone. There is no electric bulb in the temple.The temple is constructed such that during the day it is always lighted upby the sun-rays!

The temple is situated 12 km from Narayangaon, which is about 94 kmfrom Pune on the Pune-Nashik highway. Nearest railway station isTalegaon. From Junnar, Lenyadri is about 5 km.


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Ashta Vinayak Darshan Ozar cha Shri Vighneshwar The history encompassing this idol states that Vighnasur, a demon was

created by the King of Gods, Indra to destroy the prayer organized byKing Abhinandan. However, the demon went a step further and destroyed

all vedic, religious acts and to answer the people's prayers for protection,Ganesh defeated him. The story goes on to say that on being conquered, the demon begged and

pleaded Ganesha to show a mercy. Ganesha then granted in his plea, buton the condition that demon should not go to the place where Ganeshaworshipping is going on. In return the demon asked a favor that his nameshould be taken before Ganesha's name, thus the name of Ganesha

became Vighnahar or Vighneshwar (Vighna in Sanskrit means a suddeninterruption in the ongoing work due to some unforeseen, unwarrantedevent or cause).

This idol, facing the east, has its trunk towards the left and rubies in itseyes. There is a diamond on the forehead and some jewel in the navel. Thetemple top is Golden and is possibly built by Chimaji Appa after defeatingthe Portuguese rulers of Vasai and Sashti. The temple is probably built

around 1785AD. This temple is located just off the Pune-Nashik Highway, in the town ofOzar. It is enclosed on all sides by high stone walls, and its pinnacle ismade of gold. The temple is situated on the banks of river Kukadi.


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Ashta Vinayak DarshanRanjangaon cha Shri Mahaganapati Shiva is believed to have worshipped Ganesha before fighting the demon

Tripurasura here. The temple was built by Shiva where he worshippedGanesha, and the town he set up was called Manipur which is now

known as Ranjangaon. According to the history the temple was built in between 9th and 10thcentury.

While going from the Pune - Nagar highway the route is Pune -Koregaon - then via Shikrapur; Rajangaon is 21 km before Shirur. FromPune it is 50 km.

The idol faces the east, is seated in a cross-legged position with a broad

forehead, with its trunk pointing to the left. It is said that the original idolis hidden in the basement, having 10 trunks and 20 hands and is calledMahotkat, however, the temple authorities deny existence of any suchidol.

Constructed so that the rays of the sun fall directly on the idol (during theSouthward movement of the sun).

Shrimant Madhavrao Peshwa used to visit this temple very often and built

the stone sanctum around the idol and in 1790 AD Mr. Anyaba Dev wasauthorised to worship the idol. The Temple: Mahaganapati is portrayed, seated on a lotus, flanked by his

consorts Siddhi and Ridhi. The temple dates back to the period of Peshwa The temple was erected during the rule of the Peshwas. Peshwa

Madhavrao had constructed the inner sanctum, to house the swayambhoo(naturally found) idol.


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Ashta Vinayak Darshan

study of ashtavinayaka temples in maharashtra

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