SHRI ASHTAVINAYAK DARSHAN

Vakrathundamahakaya suryakoti samaprabha

Nirvignam kurumedeva sarvakaryeshu sarvadha

Any Hindu religious function is commenced with an invocation of lord Ganesha.  He is also called Ganapathi, vignahartha and so many names like these.  ‘Gana’ means people, ‘pathi’ means leader. So Ganapathi means leader of people. Vignahartha is as the name suggests “a remover of obstacles”.

Significance of this appearance--The huge body and capacious belly of lord Ganesha is said to represent the cosmos or universe and the trunk of his elephant head which is normally shown turn towards the left symbolize “OM” which is the sign of Brahmam or the universal soul. His elephant denotes superior intelligence and snake around his waist represents cosmic energy. The noose is to remind that all worldly attachments are a noose and hook often seen in his hand is to lead us to the path of righteousness. The broken tusk of the lord is the symbol of knowledge and with this tusk he wrote down the great epic MAHABHARATHA as dictated by Sage Vyasa who stipulated Ganesha that he should never pen down the slokas without understanding the meaning. The modak or the sweet in his hand denotes the sweetness in one’s inner self. The awkward and corpulent physical form of lord Ganesha teaches us that beauty of the outward form has no connection with inner beauty or spiritual perfection. The mouse symbolizes the equal importance of the biggest and the smallest creatures in the eyes of the supreme God. His fan-like ears convey that he is all ears to our petition.

What is bhakthi? It starts as fear, followed by obedience. When we obey we feel the grace of god which in turn surprises us and then this happiness becomes bhakthi. This bhakthi is necessary because everyone prays to keep themselves safe, healthy, wealthy so that he can prosper in life. This is the start of bhakthi. God’s best creation is man who is the most nearest to attain the state of salvation compared to other creations of God. Man who has all the comforts in this world needs to do bhakthi to attain moksha or salvation because this birth of human we have achieved after taking so many births as other creatures. This is the ultimate birth. In this birth if we fail to reach the ultimate HIM who is very near to us, this whole birth of ours becomes a waste.

Though we worship and do puja everyday, in our Hindu mythology, there are specific kshetrams for specific deities. Like we have ASHTAVINAYAK for Lord Ganesha, 12 JYOTHIRLINGAS for Lord Shiva, 108 DIVYA DESAMS for Lord Vishnu and 52 SHAKTHI PEETAMS for Devi.

We are now going to have a darshan of ASHTAVINAYAK.

Why this eight temples? Among the numerous abodes of lord Ganesha, eight places in Maharashtra, India are considered to be more holy and effective in fulfilling the desires of his devotees because these eight abodes of Ganesha are very ancient and Swayambhu i.e. self-emanated.  This is to say, that no human created these murtis, they were found completely formed by nature. In these eight shrines, the form of each murti of Ganesha and his trunk are distinct from one another. Pilgrimages to these 8 important Ganapathi shrines ensure everlasting bliss.

MORESHWAR: The first to visit among these temples is Moreshwar. This temple is situated at a distance of 55km from Pune, next to the river Karha in the village Moregaon. 

The murti of Lord Ganesh riding a peacock, in the form of Mayureshwara is believed to have slain the demon Sindhu at his place. The idol, with its trunk turned to the left, has a cobra poised over it protecting it. In this place Ganesha has two wives in the form of Siddhi and Buddhi.

There is a Nandi sitting in front of this temple entrance, which is unique because Nandi is normally in front of only Shiva temples.

In the eight corners of this temple there are eight statutes of Ganapathi called ekadanta, Mahodara, Gajanana, Lambodar, Vikata, Vignaraja, Dhumravarna, Vakrathunda.

In the temple complex there are tarati trees called “kalpaka vruksha”. Devotees are seen meditating under these trees to attain their desired goals.

Temple remains open for darshan from 5am to 10 pm.

SIDDATEK: From Moreshwar we proceed to Siddatek. This place is located off Pune-Sholapur highway, about 48 km from the town of Srigonda in Ahmadnagar district. Situated on the banks of the river Bhima, on the Pune-Solapur railway, 18 km from Daund railway station.

The idol is swayambhu, three feet tall, facing north with his trunk turned right. The belly of the idol is not big, but Riddhi and Siddhi are sitting on one lap of the lord. Pradakshina of the lord is said to be very fruitful. One has to walk 5km to complete one pradakshina as the idol is attached to the hill itself.

The temple was consecrated by lord Vishnu himself when he got his siddhi here.

BALLALESWAR:  This temple is situated 125 km from Mumbai in the village of Pali on the banks of river Amba.

The lord is found sitting on the stone throne, facing east and his trunk turning to left. The shining diamonds are embedded in the eyes and navel. Among Ashtavinayaks, Pali’s Ballaleshwar is the only Vinayak who is known by his devotee’s name Ballal and who is dressed up as Brahmin.

The shape of the temple is in the form of the letter “Shri” (Sanskrit) and faces east. The temple’s inner sanctum is 15 feet tall and outer one is 12 feet tall. The temple is constructed in such a way that during Dakshinayan at sunrise, the sun rays falls exactly on the Vinayaka.

It is the experience of many devotees that Ballaleshwara fulfills all their desires and demands.

VARADAVINAYAK: The temple is located three km off the Pune-Mumbai highway near Khopoli.

The handsome prince Rukmangad refused sage Vachaknavi’s wife illicit call and was cursed to suffer from leprosy. Mukunda was satisfied by Indra who deceived her as Rukmangad and she bore a child named Grutsamad. When Grutsamad came to know the real story of her mother, he cursed her to become the tree of Bori, and she in turn cursed him to bore a demon son Tripurasur. Grutsamad after getting cursed went to the forest of Pushpak and worshipped Ganesha. He founded the temple and called this Ganesha Varada Vinayak. Grutsamad is famous for the mantra Ganananan Tva.

Two stone idols of Riddi and Siddi is seen in the sanctum. Two Ganesh idols are situated in the two corners. Idol in the left corner is smeared in vermillion and the idol in the right is made of white marble. The idol facing east is in the sitting position with the trunk turned left.

During Maghi-Chaturthi, if a coconut is received as prasadam and eaten, the couple will be blessed with child. Hence there is a heavy rush during Maghi Chaturthi.

CHINTAMANI: The temple is located off Pune-Solapur highway in the village of Theur.

The one who is in search of happiness, whose mind is wavering and who is in the midst of all calamities should go Theur and worship Shree Chintamani and get rid of all worries and calamities. Ganesha is believed to have got back the precious Chintamani jewel from Guna for sage Kapila. However, after bringing it back sage put it in the Vinayak’s neck. Thus, the name Chintamani Vinayak.

The idol is facing east with the trunk turned towards left. There are carbuncle and diamonds in the eyes of Vinayak. The lake behind the temple is called Kadambatheertha also called Chintamani Sarovar.

GIRIJATMAJ (LEYNATRI): This is the only place among Ashtavinayak which is situated on mountain in the vicinity of Buddhist caves. It is situated 12 km from Narayangaon, about 94 km from Pune on the Pune-Nashik highway.

There are 307 steps leading to main temple dedicated to Girijatmaj Ganapathi. There are also arrangements for Dholi, for those cannot climb. As monkeys are roaming about, one has to be very careful with handbags and spectacles.

Out of 18 Buddhist caves on mountain, Girijatmaj temple is the 8^th cave. The entire temple is carved out of a single stone and is facing south.

Bhadrapada and Magh Chaturthi are celebrated on a grand scale.

Though the caves on Leynadri are under the control of Archeological Dept of India, administration of Ganesh temple is looked after by temple trust.

VIGNAHAR: The temple is situated on the banks of river Kukadi, in the village of Ozhar 182 km from Mumbai via Thane, Bapsai, Saralgaon.

He gives happiness to devotees who abodes at Ozhar. This is the only temple with golden dome and pinnacle among the Ashtavinayak kshetras.

At the entrance there are two deepmalas i.e. stone pillar for oil lamps and two huge Dwarapalakas.  The idol of Vigneshwar faces east and trunk turned towards left. The idol is smeared in vermillion mixed with oil and two emeralds studded eyes and a diamond in his forehead and in the navel. On the two sides are brass idols of Riddhi and Siddhi.

In addition to the Bhadrapad and Magh Chaturthis, there is another festival of 5 days from Karthik Purnima to Charturthi.

MAHAGANAPATHI: The temple is situated 50km from Pune on the Pune-Ahamadnagar highway in the village of Ranjangaon.

Mahaganapathi means powerful Ganapathi. He has eight, ten or twelve hands.  Lord Shiva got victory over Tripurasur on worshipping Mahaganapathi.

The idol is facing east, seated in a cross-legged position with a broad forehead, with its trunk pointing to the left. The temple is facing east has huge and beautiful entrance gates; idols of two door keepers namely Jaya and Vijaya are present near the gate.

It is constructed in such a way that the rays of the sun fall directly on the idol during the southward movement of the sun.

It is said that, the original idol of Mahaganapathi is hidden in a basement. It is also said that it has 10 trunks, 20 hands. This Ganesha is called Mahotkata.

As we have ended the tour of Ashtavinayak, I feel I should add one more Vinayak consecrated by Chinmaya Seva Trust, Maharashtra. This Chinmaya Ganesh is 84 ft tall and is situated on the Toap-Sambhapur, Kolhapur and is worth visiting.

If Mahaganapathi is worshipped regularly, marriages of desired people can be fixed easily;. If Mahaganapathi is propiated properly, conflicts between husband and wife comes to end, those desirous to have children will be blessed. The one who desires to have knowledge will get knowledge, the one who wishes to have wealth will acquire wealth and one who wishes to attain Moksha will definitely attain Moksha.

SHREE GANESHAYA NAMAHA!!!