Ashtavinayaka Tour - Ballaleshwara Temple Story

The third Ashtavinayaka is called Shri Ballaleshwar. The temple is located at the location called Pali, a town off the Mumbai-Pune highway.

Shri Balleshwar’s structure resembles that of the mountain just behind the temple. The idol is studded with jewels in the eyes and the navel. The temple hall consists of 8 carved pillars which represent 8 directions. It is said that the temple is constructed in such a way that the after the winter solstice, the sunrays falls on the Ganesha idol after sunrise.

                              

                                            Mountain that resembles Lord Ballaleshwara

Another unique thing about this temple is that the offerings made to the Lord is not the usual Modaka but Besan Laddu.

Legends narrate the story of Ballaleshwar as follows :

Kalyanseth, a merchant and his wife were childless for a long time. After some years, they had a son, who was named Ballal. Ballal was a huge devotee of Lord Ganesha and used to worship with utmost devotion. He used to go to forests and along with his friends worship Ganesha idols.

Sometimes, as they were late in coming home from forests, his friends parents complaint to Ballal’s father. His father was anyways angry on his son for not concentrating on his studies. In a fit of rage, he went to the forest and threw Ganesha idol into the river. He destroyed the Puja materials too. Seeing this, Ballal’s friends ran away but Ballal was so engrossed in his puja that he did not even notice what is happening around.

His father beat him profusely and tied him to a tree and asked him to call Lord Ganesha and ask him to free him, if he is so powerful and then went home.

It is said that in the utmost pain, Ballal called Lord Ganesha for help. The Lord immediately appeared before him and hugged his devotee. And blessed him with superior life and lifespan.

It is said that the idol which Ballal’s father had thrown into the river is presently called Dhundi Vinayaka. This temple is just behind the Ballaleshwar temple. And from ancient times, devotees first visit the Dhundi Vinayaka before going to Ballaleshwara temple.

Ashtavinayaka Tour - Siddhivinayaka Temple Story

Siddhivinayaka Temple

Siddhivinayaka Temple is the second in line to be visited for the Ashtavinayaka darshanam and is placed on a small hill facing north. The temple is located off Pune Solapur highway baout 48 Km from Srigonda, Ahmadnagar district.

The unique thing about this idol is that out of all the 8 ganesha’s idols, this is the only one whose trunk is positioned towards the right. Rest all the idols would have their trunk positioned towards left.

The idol is 3 feet tall and 2.5 feet wide and Ridhi and Sidhi murthys are also present on one thigh. In order to make one round of the temple, or as we call it pradakshina, one has to go round the hill, which takes around 30 minutes on a moderate speed.

It is said that there was one Peshwa’s general, named Haripant Phadake. He lost his position and out of dismay, he came to the temple and did 21 pradakshinas around the hill. After completion of the rounds, his army men came and took him back to the royal abode as the general.

Also, it is said that Lord Vishnu was able to vanquish 2 demons, Madhu and Kaitabh, only after making Siddhivinayaka happy in this pious place.

Ashtavinayaka Tour - Moreshwara Temple Story

Last year I had gone to a long-awaited and long-dreamt Ashtavinayaka tour in Maharashtra. As the name suggests, it signified visiting of 8 ancient Ganesha temples, which houses 8 ganapatis, in their own magnaminous avatars and grandiose poise.

I would be narrating the significance and the story behind each of the Ganesha's avatars. The 8 ganapatis in their religious significance are :

Temple	Location	District
Moreshwar	Morgaon	Pune
Siddhivinayak	Siddhatek	Ahamadnagar
Ballaleshwar	Pali	Raigad
Varadavinayaka	Mahad	Raigad
Chintamani	Theur	Pune
Girijatmaja	Lenyadri	Pune
Vighnahar	Ozar	Pune
Mahaganapati	Ranjangaon	Pune

According to Shastras, we have to visit the temples in the order as mentioned above to finish the Ashtavinayaka yatra. It is said that some of these idols are swayambhus or self-existent effigies.

Mayureshwara (or Moreshwara) Temple

This is the the most important temple of the tour because it marks the beginning and the end of the tour. The temple is surrounded by 4 minarets which makes it resemble as if it is a mosque from a distance.

There is a Nandi (Shivas bull mount) in front of the temple premises, which is quite surprising as usually we would find Nandi's in front of Shiva's temples. It is said the Ganesh idol along with the Nandi was being transported to a Shiva temple and the carriage broke in between. And then afterwards, it was not possible to remove the idols from the current place.

The Mayureshwar name came because Ganesha, riding a peacock, killed a demon named Sindhu at this spot. The idol's trunk is turned towards left and has a cobra poised over it to protect it. The idol also has 2 other murtis beside i.e. Siddhi (which means capability) and Riddhi (which means intelligence)

It is said that Moregaon used to have lots of peacock and hence the name, Mayureshwar came into being.