There are eight forms of Vinayaka,
collectively referred to as Ashtavinayaka ('Ashta' in Sanskrit means
'eight'). The Ashtavinayaka Yatra implies a pilgrimage to the eight
Vinayaka temples, which can be found in the Indian State of Maharashtra,
situated in and around the city of Pune. The Yatra follows a particular
route, in a pre-ascertained sequence.
Each of these ancient Ashtavinayaka temples features a distinct murti
(idol) of Ganesha and has a different legend behind its existence. Not
only that; the appearance of each murti; even the angle of his trunk; are
all distinct from one another.
In this post, we bring you all the details on the Ashtavinayaka temples,
the Yatra vidhi and more.
1.
Moreshwar Temple -
Moregaon, Pune District
2.
Siddhivinayak Temple - Siddhatek, Ahmednagar District
3.
Ballaleshwar Temple - Pali, Raigad District
4.
Varadavinayak Temple - Near Khopoli, Raigad District
5.
Chintamani Temple - Theur, Pune District
6.
Girijatmaj Temple - Lenyadri, Pune District
7.
Vighneshwar Temple - Ozar, Pune District
8.
Mahaganapati Temple - Ranjangaon, Pune District
Traditionally, Moreshwar is the very first temple to be visited among the
eight temples and the Mahaganapati temple is the last one. Further, the
pilgrimage is concluded with a second visit to the Moreshwar temple.
Interestingly, all the eight murtis of the Lord are believed to be
Swayambhu, or self-existent (that which came to be on their own). This
means that they were not sculpted or created by human effort - they were
formed by Mother
Nature
herself.
Let us now learn more about each of these temples and the deities therein:
1. Moreshwar
The Moreshwar or Mayureshwar temple is the most important temple of the
Ashtavinayaka yatra. Built from black stone during the Bahamani reign, it
has 4 gates, which are believed to have been built by one of the knights,
called Mr. Gole, from the court of Bidar's Sultan.
The temple is built right in the center of the Moregaon village and is
covered from all sides by a massive 50-foot wall and features four
impressive minarets. Considering its construction style, it looks more
like a mosque from a distance. That is what makes this edifice
additionally unique. This was purposely done, so as to keep the place safe
from attack during the
Mughal
period.
The other thing that sets this temple apart from the others is that there
is an effigy of
Nandi
(Shiva's bull) sitting right in front of the entrance. This can usually be
seen only in Shiva temples and not in Ganesha temple. According to one
legend, this statue was once being transported from some Shiva temple. The
vehicle carrying the effigy broke down and the Nandi was temporarily
placed here. However, it could not be moved later and so, they let it
remain here.
As the name suggests, Lord Moreshwar portrays Ganesha riding a
peacock
('Mor' or 'Mayur' means peacock). Lord Mayureshwar is believed to have
killed the demon Sindhu at this very spot. The idol has its trunk turned
to the left, with the Nagaraja (King of Cobras) poised over it, protecting
it. This form of Ganesha has his wives
Riddhi
and Siddhi accompanying him. Actually, Riddhi and Siddhi are the
qualities of Capability and Intelligence. They are just referred to as his
wives. That may not actually be the case.
Some aver that this is not the original murti of Moreshwar, which is
believed to have been consecrated twice by
Lord
Brahma himself. He is said to have done so once before and once
after Vinayaka killed Sindhurasura. That original idol was supposedly much
smaller in size and was made of atoms of sand, iron and diamonds. It was
also believed to be enclosed in a copper sheet by the
Pandavas
and placed behind the one that is currently worshipped.
Location
The Mayureshwar temple is located at a distance of 55kms from Pune, next
to the river Karha in the village of Moregaon. In ancient times, this
village was supposed to have a number of peacocks. In fact, it is believed
to have derived its name from the birds and is also set out in the shape
of a peacock.
2. Siddhivinayak
The Siddhivinayak temple; the second of the Ashtavinayaka temples; is a
North-facing edifice, situated upon a small hillock. The main road leading
towards this place of worship was believed to be built by the Peshwa's
General, Haripant Phadake. The inner sanctum, which is 15 feet high and 10
feet wide, was constructed by Punyashloka Ahilyabai Holkar. The main idol
is 3 feet tall and 2.5 feet wide.
The unique thing about this murti is that this is the only one among the
Ashtavinayaks with the trunk turned to the right. This is considered to be
extremely auspicious among devotees. The Lord's stomach is not as wide as
normally seen and Riddhi and Siddhi are seen sitting on one of his thighs.
Ganesha Sitting with Riddhi and Siddhi on
His Lap - Brass Statue
One pradakshina (circumambulation) around the temple implies taking one
entire round trip of the hillock itself. This takes, on an average, about
a half hour at moderate speed.
Legend goes that Haripant Phadake lost his General's post and did 21
pradakshinas around the temple. On the 21stt day, the Peshwa took him back
into the court with royal honor. Phadake had promised the Lord that he
would bring the stones of the castle which he would win from the first war
with him fighting as General. He fulfilled his promise and brought back
stones from the Badami Castle, which he attacked soon after he became
General. The stone pathway to the temple is built from those very stones.
A powerful temple, it is said that the two
saints,
Shri Morya Gosavi and Shri Narayan Maharaj of Kedgaon were enlightened
here.
Location
The Siddhivinayak temple is located off the Pune-Solapur highway and lays
just a little under 50 kms from the town of Srigonda in Ahmednagar
district. The Bhima river flows next to it. This temple is about 18 kms
from the Daund Railway station.
3. Ballaleshwar
The legend of this temple is quite interesting. Lord Ganesha is believed
to have saved his devotee, a little boy named Ballal. Ballal was beaten up
by both his father, Kalyansheth and the local villagers for his great
devotion to Ganpati.
Temple Legend
The Ganesha
Purana
covers the story in detail in its Upasana Khand, Section 22. This incident
is believed to have taken place in Pali, the old name of Pallipur.
Kalyansheth, a merchant in Pallipur, was married to Indumati. For a long
time, the couple was childless. After many years of marriage, they were
blessed with a son, who they named as Ballal. Ballal was always very
devoted to Ganesha and, as he grew, he spent most of his time worshipping
and praying to his Ishtadevata (favorite Lord). He often used to visit the
woods with his friends. There, he would
worship
a stone idol of Ganesha. After completing their worship, he and his
friends would return home late in the evenings.
Irked by this, Ballal's friends' parents complained to his father, saying
that the boy was primarily responsible for this. Boiling with anger,
Kalyansheth went to the forest where the stone idol was kept. He ravaged
the place, destroyed the pooja arrangements organized by the boys and
threw away the idol of
Ganesha.
The children got frightened by this violence. However, Ballal remained
unaffected and was deep in prayer. He did not even know what was happening
around him.
Still fuming, Kalyansheth beat up Ballal badly and then tied him up to a
tree. He left soon after, leaving the boy there. Semiconscious and in
pain, the boy started calling out to his Lord for help. Ganesha heard his
little devotee's cries and quickly appeared before him. Freeing the boy,
he first fed him and then blessed him that he would become a famous
devotee and would have a long, healthy life ahead of him. The Lord hugged
the boy and prepared to leave.
Ballal insisted that the Lord stay on there at Pali. Ganesha agreed and
made his permanent abode at Pali as Ballal Vinayak or Ballaleshwar. He
disappeared into a large stone and promised the boy that he would stay
there forever.
Shri Dhundi Vinayak
In the above-mentioned legend, the stone idol that Ballal's father threw
away is known as Dhundi Vinayak. This idol is one of the rare ones to face
west. The birth celebration of Dhundi Vinayak takes place from Jyeshtha
Pratipada to Panchami. Devotees first take darshan of this murti and only
then proceed to the main temple of Shri Ballaleshwar.
Temple Construction
The original wooden temple was later built into a stone temple by Nana
Phadnavis in 1760. The stones are stuck tightly together using melted
lead. There are two little lakes running by either side of the temple. One
is used exclusively for pooja vidhis (rituals) for the Lord.
The temple faces east and has two sanctums. The inner one is 15 feet tall
and the outer one, 12 feet. The inner sanctum houses the main murti and
Ganesha's vahana, Mushika (the Mouse). The hall is supported by eight
intricately carved pillars. The eight pillars depict the ashtadisha (eight
main directions). The edifice is constructed in such a way that after the
dakshinayana (winter solstice), the
sun's
rays fall directly on the Ganesha murti during sunrise.
The main idol is seated on a throne carved like a cypress tree. The murti
has diamonds embedded in the eyes and navel and has his trunk pointing to
the left. Its shape bears striking resemblance to the
mountain,
which forms the backdrop of the temple itself. This becomes very obvious
when one tries to photograph the murti together with the background.
Usually, Ganesha is offered modaks (a sweet preparation) as prasad. But at
Pali, the prasad offered is the Besan Laadu (laddus made of chickpea
flour), instead of the standard modak. This is yet another special feature
here.
Location
The Ballaleshwar temple is located in the town of Pali, off the
Mumbai-Pune highway, on the Mumbai-Goa highway. Situated about 30 kms to
the southwest of Karjat Railway station, this can be easily accessed by
train as well.
4. Varadavinayak
Once, sage Vachaknavi's wife, Mukunda, started lusting after the handsome
prince Rukmangad. He, however, did not like that she was making advances
towards him. Insulted at the rejection, she cursed him to suffer from
leprosy. She was then approached by
Indra,
the King of the Devas. He cheated her by taking the form of Rukmangad and
later, she bore a child by the name of Grutsamad.
Years later, when Grutsamad came to know the real story of his birth, he
cursed his own mother, Mukunda, that she would become the tree of Bori.
She in turn cursed him that he would sire a demon son called Tripurasura.
Much later, Tripurasura was defeated by Lord Shiva.
After being cursed, Grutsamad went to the forest of Pushpaka and started
worshipping to Lord Ganesha. He went on to become a great sage, famous for
giving us the hymn of GaNaNaN Tva. He also founded the temple of
Varada-Vinayak (the Benevolent Ganesha), which went on to become one of
the Ashtavinayaka temples.
Ganesha resides in this temple as the bestower of bounty and success. His
idol was discovered in the adjoining lake, in an immersed position. Hence,
it looks old and weathered. In 1725 AD, the then Kalyan Subhedar, Ramji
Mahadev Biwalkar, constructed the Varadavinayak temple and the village of
Mahad.
Here, the Ganesha idol faces east and has his trunk to the left. An oil
lamp is always lit for him in the sanctum - this is believed to have
burned continuously from the year 1892 onwards. There are 4 elephant idols
on all 4 sides of the temple. The main hall is 8 feet by 8 feet and the
dome is 25 feet high, with a golden shikhar on top. This dome has designs
of cobras.
Interestingly, this is the only temple where devotees are allowed to
personally offer their obeisance to the Lord. They can enter the sanctum
and stand in the immediate vicinity of the idol to perform their prayers.
Location
The Varadavinayak temple is situated 3 kms off the Mumbai-Pune highway,
near Khopoli. It is thus closer to Mumbai city. It can be accessed by rail
as well. the Karjat Railway Station lies about 6 kms from Khopoli.
5. Chintamani
Ganesha is believed to have retrieved the precious gem, Chintamani, from
the avaricious sage Kapila, at this very spot. After bringing back the
jewel, Kapila hung the same around Vinayaka's neck. Hence, he got the name
Chintamani Vinayak. Since this incident occurred under a Kadamba tree,
Theur (the location) was earlier also known as Kadambanagar. The lake
flowing behind the temple is called Kadambteertha.
The temple entrance faces north. The outer wooden hall was built by the
Peshwas and the main temple is believed to have been built by Dharanidhar
Maharaj Dev, who belonged to the Shri Moraya Gosavi lineage. He is said to
have constructed it about a century or so before Senior Shrimant Madhavrao
Peshwa built the outer hall. Incidentally, the Chintamani Vinayak was
supposed to be the family
deity
of Shrimant Madhavrao I Peshwa.
The Chintamani Vinayak idol faces East and has its trunk turned to the
left.
Location
The temple is situated 22 kms from Pune, off the Pune-Solapur highway.
Hence, this is closest to Pune city. The village of Theur is located at
the confluence of three major regional
rivers,
namely, Mula, Mutha and Bhima.
6. Girijatmaj
It is believed that Parvati, Lord Shiva's consort, performed penance at
this very spot, in order to beget Ganesha as her child. Hence, the name of
the temple came to be Girijatmat (Girija's son). Most interestingly, this
temple is situated amidst a cave complex of 18 caves of Buddhist origin.
This
Buddhist
vihara is alternatively called Ganesh-Leni and Lenyadri. The temple can be
found in the 8th cave and is carved out of a single stone hill, with some
307 steps.
Shiva Parvati and Ganesha - Poster
The Girijatmaj temple has a wide hall with no pillars for support. The
hall is 53 feet long, 51 feet wide and 7 feet high. The idol faces north
with its trunk positioned to the left. Since the temple itself faces
south, devotees have to approach the main deity from the rear end of the
temple.
The Girijatmaj idol is not as well designed or carved as the other
Ashtavinayaka idols. Also, there is no electric bulb here - however, it is
constructed in such a way that during the day, it is always well-lit
naturally, by the Sun's rays. There is no bar on the type of
devotees
who can come here and pray - anyone and everyone can come here to offer
prayers, at any time of the year.
Location
The Girijatmaj temple is situated 12 kms from Narayangaon, which lies
about 94 kms from Pune, on the Pune-Nashik highway. The closest railway
station is at Talegaon. Lenyadri is about 5 kms from Junnar and the famous
Shivaneri castle, where Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was born, lies nearby,
about 5-6 kms away.
7. Vighneshwar
According to legend, Indra once created a demon known as Vighnasur. The
King of the Devas did so because he wanted to destroy the prayer organized
by King Abhinandan. Sadly, the
demon
went one step further and destroyed all
vedic
and religious acts. He caused havoc all around. Everyone then went to
Ganesha seeking protection.
Ganesha immediately manifested to save his devotees and effortlessly
defeated Vighnasur. On being conquered, the demon begged for mercy and
fell at the Lord's feet. Ganesha agreed on the condition that the asura
should not go to any place where his worship was going on. The demon was
saddened, but requested a return favor that his name should be taken
everytime, before Ganesha was worshipped. Thus, the Lord also got the name
Vighnahar or Vighneshwar (Vighna in Sanskrit means obstacle). The Ganesha
residing in this temple is called Shri Vighneshwar Vinayak.
The Vighneshwar temple faces east and is surrounded by a stone wall. It is
so thick in width that one can actually walk on it. The main hall of the
temple is 20 feet in length and the inner hall in 10 feet in length. The
temple top is golden and was probably built by Chimaji Appa after
defeating the Portuguese rulers of Vasai and Sashti. Though there are no
official records, the temple was probably constructed around 1785CE.
The idol too faces east and has its trunk turned towards the left. It also
has rubies embedded in its eyes, a diamond on the forehead and some jewel
in the navel as well. Riddhi and Siddhi are shown seated on either side of
the murti.
Location
The Vighneshwar temple is located just off the Pune-Nashik highway, in the
town of Ozhar, on the banks of river Kukadi. Via
Mumbai-Thane-Kalyan-Bapsai-Saralgaon-Otur, Ozhar is about182 kms in
distance.
8. Mahaganapati
The Mahaganapati temple at Ranjangaon is also famous and considered very
powerful. Shiva is said to have worshipped his own son Ganesha here,
before proceeding to fight the demon Tripurasura. In fact, some believe
that Shiva himself built the temple. The town was then known as Manipur.
It is presently called Ranjangaon.
Ranjangaon Ganpati is one of the Ashtavinayak temples, celebrating eight
legends related to Ganesha. The main idol was donated and inaugurated by
"Khollam" Family; one of the wealthy goldsmith families in the town.
Experts aver that it was built between the 9th and 10th centuries.
Temple Legend
Legend
has it that when a sage sneezed one day, he brought out a child. Growing
up in the ashram, the child learnt many good things and came to love Lord
Ganesha. However, he also held many evil thoughts within and so, as he
grew up, he turned into a demon named Tripurasura.
Tripura wanted to rule the world. He prayed to Lord Shiva and got three
powerful citadels; the Tripuram forts; made respectively of gold, silver
and bronze. He also got the boon of invincibility from Shiva. Shiva told
the demon that he would be forever victorious, till the day someone would
be able to shoot a single arrow that pierced all his three forts.
Bloated with false pride, Tripura went ahead and brought great suffering
to all beings on earth and in heaven. When everyone rushed to Shiva for
help, he realized his folly. Then sage
Narada
approached Shiva and advised him to pray to Ganesha. Shiva did as he was
told.
After praying to Ganesha, Shiva came face to face with the demon and then
shot a single arrow, which pierced all the three forts of Tripuram. This
way, he finally defeated and killed Tripurasura. Now, Shiva as
Tripurantaka (the slayer of Tripura), is enshrined in Bhimashankar nearby.
Another Legend
A variation of the above legend is common in South India. According to
this story, Ganesha is believed to have been the caused Shiva's
chariot's
axle to break. He did this because Shiva had gone off to fight Tripura
without first coming to see him and saluting him. When Shiva realized his
mistake, he immediately came back to Ganesha, prayed to him and then
proceeded to achieve triumph against the terrible demon.
The 15th century saint poet, Arunagirinathar, beautifully explains this
incident in his Tamil verse, 'Muppuram eri seida, Acchivan urai ratham,
acchadu podi seida athi deera'. Here, he talks about how Ganesha, as the
valiant hero, causes the chariot's axle to crumble to dust, as Shiva
prepares to leave to destroy Tripura.
Temple Construction
The Mahaganapati idol faces east and is depicted as seated in a
cross-legged position. He sits on a lotus, flanked by his consorts Riddhi
and Siddhi, seated on either side of him. He has a broad forehead and his
trunk is turned to the left. It is believed that the original idol, hidden
in the basement, has 10 trunks and 20 hands and is called Mahotkat.
However, there are no official records of this and the temple authorities
too have repeatedly denied this claim.
The
temple
is so constructed that the rays of the sun fall directly on the idol,
during Dakshinayana. The structure itself faces the east and bears a
striking resemblance to the architectural style of the 9th and 10th
centuries. It has an imposing main gate, which is guarded on either side
by effigies of the Dwarapalakas, Jaya and Vijaya.
Shrimant Madhavrao Peshwa visited this temple very often and constructed
the stone sanctum around the idol. In 1790 AD, Anyaba Dev was authorized
to start worship of the swayambhu idol.
Location
This temple is situated very close to the center of Ranjangaon. It can be
accessed via the Pune-Nagar highway, via the Pune-Koregaon-Shikrapur
route. The town lies 21 kms before Shirur. It is also quite close to Pune
- just about 50 kms from the city.
Major Festivals
All Ganesha temples all over the world celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi in a big
way. Needless to say, this is especially so in the case of the
Ashtavinayaka temples. This festival is celebrated with great fervor and
splendor in all the eight temples.
Ashtavinayaka Yatra
Undertaking an Ashtavinayaka yatra is considered to be holy and bestow a
great deal of good on the devotee. Almost all tour operators offer
Ashtavinayaka yatra packages at reasonable costs. Those desirous of
visiting these eight abodes of Ganesha can book a travel package to cover
all these temples in their prescribed order; and then end the yatra with a
return trip to the first temple, Moreshwar.
