The temple of Shri Girijatmaja, the sixth temple of the Ashtavinayaka's - at Lenyadri, is situated 94
km from Pune near a village named Narayangaon. It is present in one of the caves (Cave 7) of
the series of 30 rock cut Buddhist caves called Lenyadri. The temple stands
atop a mountain for which one has to take around 307 steps. The temple features
a wide hall with no supporting pillars, which is 53 feet long, 51 feet wide and
7 feet in height.
There is no electricity inside the hall but the temple is so
constructed that during the day it is always lit by the Sun rays. Ganesha idol
faces north with its trunk to the left but compared to other Ashtavinayaka
idols, it is not well carved off.
The name Girijatmaja literally means
"Mountain-born" or "Atmaja (Son) of Girija". The story
about Shri Girijatmaj Ganesha goes like this :
Once Parvati asked Shiva as to whom he was meditating on to
which Shiva said that he is meditating on "the supporter of the entire
universe - Ganesha". Parvati desired to have a son like Ganesha and she
meditated on Ganesha for 12 years at Lenyadri.
Ganesha blessed Parvati that he would be born as her son and
the clay image which Parvati worshipped came alive. Thus Ganesha was born to
Parvati Devi at Lenyadri. Ganesha's escapades with childhood years, spanning
around 15 years, were spent at Lenyadri during which he showed so many of his
powers and innocence.
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