About Ganesh | Hindu God Ganesha | Who is Ganesha

Shree Mayureshwar Temple, Moregaon

This 14th century temple, about 60 km from Pune, takes its name from the legend attached to it.

Ganesha was once approached for help by the gods, who were being terrorized by Sindhu, a power drunk demon prince. The sun god had granted a boon to Sindhu in the form of nectar which would give him immortality as long as it remained near his navel. Mounted on a mayur or peacock, Ganesha waged war on Sindhu, removed the nectar and decapitated him. His head fell upon the village now known as Moregaon.

The black stone temple is situated in the heart of the village, which too, fans out into a peacock shape! From a distance, the temple’s four minarets give the impression of a mosque, perhaps a ploy to keep away Mughal attacks. The vermilion-coated idol is flanked by those of Ganesha’s consorts Siddhi (Capability) and Buddhi(Intellect). A cobra head is poised gracefully over Ganesha.
 

Above the temple entrance  is inscribed a Sanskrit verse, describing this shrine as Bhuswanand, a place of limitless bliss, equivalent to the abode of the gods.

The Ashtavinayak Pilgrimage

For the ardent devotee of Ganesha, there can be no greater means of attaining spiritual bliss than undertaking the Ashtavinayak pilgrimage. Ashta in Sanskrit means “eight”; the term Ashtavinayak refers to the eight Ganesha temples around Pune, in India’s western state of Maharashtra. What’s special about these eight shrines? None of the idols worshipped in them are man-made. Rather, they are monolithic chunks of stone, naturally bearing Ganesha’s distinctive, elephantine features and hence termed as swayambh or “self-created”.

Let’s begin our pilgrimage here, visiting one Ashtavinayak temple every week in their prescribed sequence.

Famous Ganesh Temples in India

•  The Rockfort Temple, Tiruchirapalli, and Sweta Vinayaka Temple, Kumbakonam, in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu are over 1000 years old.
• The Bull Temple in Bangalore is dedicated to Nandi, mount of Lord Shiva, (Ganesha’s father in Hindu mythology). But get this – the temple also houses a huge Ganesha idol made of 110 kg of butter. Every four years, the idol is broken up and pieces of it are distributed to worshipers.
• The western state of Maharashtra, where Ganesha worship is supreme, boasts of 8 temples, collectively known as ‘Ashta Vinayak’ or the eight Ganeshas. Of these, the Siddhi Vinayak Temple, built in 1801 in India’s financial capital, Mumbai, is one of the oldest and wealthiest Ganesha temples in India.
• Some of the oldest Ganesha statues are to be found in the Indian Museum of Calcutta – two large idols from Indonesia dating back to the 8th or 9th century; an 11th century sculpture from the eastern state of Bihar; and a figure from a stone slab going back to the twelfth century, excavated in Halebid, an ancient temple site in Karnataka, south India.