Some Ganesh Temples

11-04-2001, 12:47 AM

http://perso.club-internet.fr/ganapa...lt.html#cultes
Some Ganesh temples
Prayers adressed to God Ganesh are carried out in the context of specific
rituals (pûjâ), as well as prayers to others great gods, like Shiva or Vishnu.
But, in addition, any invocation to any god, whoever he is, must preceded by an
invocation to god Ganesh. Indeed, the role of god Ganesh, as an intercessor,
appears to be prominant everywhere, and everytime.
Il must be noted first that there is a Ganesh temple in Paris. The address is :
72 Rue de Philippe de Girard, 75018, PARIS Tel 0140342189 Opened everyday from
9.30 am to 8.30 pm. WEB site
Everybody can check in India that temples specifically dedicated to god Ganesh,
as the main deity, are less numerous than expected.
We give the name and location for some of them. They draw on huge crowds, mainly
during religious festivals such the Ganesha-Chaturthi :
The Manakkula Vinâyaka, temple in Pondichery (Tamil Nadu) The Pillaiyarpatti
temple (60 km east Madurai, Tamil Nadu) The Uchhi Pillaiyar temple in
Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu) The small Ganesh temple, where the god form is
known as Naramukha Ganapati, Chidambaram (Tamil Nadu) The Mukkuruni Pillaiyar
temple, inside the main Minakshisundareshvara temple, in Madurai (Tamil Nadu)
The small Sveta Ganapati temple (White Ganesh carved in an monolithic
meerschaum block), inside the Shiva temple, in Tiruvalanjuli, near Swamimalai
(Tamil Nadu) Many rock temples, excavated during the Pandya period, all over
the Tamil Nadu region The Ganesh temple in Ranthambore, near Sawai Madhopur
(Rajasthan) The Ganesh temple in Jaipur (Rajasthan). etc.
The temples (mandir) named Ashta Vinâyaka, which means eight Vinâyaka in the
Mahârâshtra region , are also very famous, since each of them owns a Svayambû
Ganesh. They are located in the following townships, not far from the Pune
(Poona) city :
Morgaon : people here pray Ganesh under his form of Lord Shri Mayureshvar. This
Ganesh form, riding a peacock, fighted and defeated Sindhu. Siddhatekgaon :
here, Ganesh bestowed Vishnu the necessary power to subdue two terrific demons,
Madhu et Kaitabha. Paligaon : Ganesh, under his Ballaleshvar form, came and
helped Ballâla, one of his very faithful worshippers, persecuted by jealous
persons Mahad : Ganesh, under his form of Shri Varad Vinâyaka, gave a favor to
Grusmad, which allowed him to become a Rishi . Theorgaon (ou Theur) : here is
located the Ganesh Chintâmani temple. This form of god Ganesh recovered the
Chintâmani jewel , which had been robbed by the demon Guna to the Sage Kapila.
Lenyâdri : The Ganesh temple located in this village is devoted to Shri
Girijâtmaj, a Ganesh form; this name means "born from the Goddess Girijâ"
(Pârvatî). A local legend reports that Ganesh probably spent here, with his
mother, the first fifteen years of his life. Ojhar : Under his Ganesh
Vighneshvara form, Ganesh fighted here the Vighnâsura (Obstacle) devil, who
disturbed the Vedic rituals. Ranjangaon : Lord Shiva, under his Tripurantaka ,
form, just about to fight (and to overcome)the Tripurâsura demon, who had
conquered the Three Worlds and misused his enormous powers, worshipped Ganesh
before the battle.
Furthermore, all or nearly all Shiva temples, include Ganesh icons in secondary
temples (inside the main temple) or, at least, in particular shrines : for
exemple in Chidambaram, in Vellore, in Gangaikondacholapuram, etc. On the other
hand, Vishnu temples generally do not have any Ganesh shrine.
This chapter will introduce some aspects about the Ganesh cult. In a first part
will be presented the exoteric cult, that is to say the popular and daily
worship. In a second part, some indications about esoteric cults will be
provided.
Ganesh worship
Exoteric worship
Ganesh is always present in the cult to the five main hindu deities
(Pañchâyatanapûja) : Ganesh, Sûrya , Durgâ , Vishnu , Shiva , but the Ganesh
worshippers are mainly devoted to their favorite god. Vishnu is the Master of
Akasha, the ether Sûrya, the Sun, is the Master of Vayu, the air Shakti
(Durgâ), the Goddess commands the energy of fire (Agni) Ganesh represents
water (Apas), the energy of fulfilment; he is the Master of Varuna, god of
waters. This is why, when the Ganesha Chathurti festival ends, clay statues of
god Ganesh must be brought to the sea and immersed to be dissolved. and Shiva
is the Master of the Earth; he is represented by the stone-made Shiva Lingam.
Ganesh is worshipped every day. The five ritual offers are :
the red santal paste flowers encense the light of burning campher food.
These offers represent the Five Elements ether, air, fire, water and earth.
Rituals may vary from one region to another in India; their exact codification
seems to be somewhat complex. The Ganesha Pûjâ, as recommanded by ancient
texts, is described Martin-Dubost (1997). A more detailed description,
including the mantra used during the different phases of the ritual, is given
in Sadguru Sant Keshavadas (1988).
From: http://perso.club-internet.fr/ganapa...lt.html#cultes
** Note: This Url is hefty and contains a lot of information. To read the
rest, pls visit the site.Do You Yahoo!?
Find a job, post your resume on Yahoo! Careers.