Ashtavinayaka

[Guest guest]

During this Ganesh festival, Let me also tell you about the many important and

famous places of Lord Ganesha all over the world. Among these , some places are

more powerful & important than the others. There are eight such powerful places,

which are called as Ashtavinayaka. These eight places are in India and are

located in the state of Maharashtra. A lot of importance is given to these

places in India and in Hindu religion. The incarnation stories of these

Ganesha’s are ancient, the places are also ancient. Some of the temples are

built recently. Among these, few were built in Madhavrao Peshwa’s period. The

idols of Ashtavinayaka are self-existent. They are installed in the temples as

they were found. Each idol is an incarnation of Lord Ganesha. There are some

mythological stories giving the importance of each Ganesha (idol). These

stories tell us about why and how these idols of Ganesha got

their names and came into existance. The idols are not beautiful like the man

made ones but the self-existent appearance of then does please the devotees.

The mangalashtaka (poetic lines spoken at the time of marriage or thread

ceremony) of Ashtavinayaka is sang on holy occasions. The sequence of

Ashtavinayaka pilgrimage according to the stotra , mentioned in puran as is as

follows:

Morgaon

Theur

Siddhatek

Ranjangaon

Lenyadri

Ozar

Pali

Mahad

After visiting all places, one could visit Morgaon again to make the Yatra

(pilgrimage) more fruitful.However there are different ways by which one can

make Ashtavinayak Yatra successful.

 

The Ashtavinayaka and their locations

1)Shri Mayureshwar - Morgaon. (Taluka-Purandar, District-Pune)

2)Shri Chintamani - Theur. (Taluka-Haveli, District-Pune)

3)Shri Siddhivinayak - Siddhatek. (Taluka-Karjal, District-Nagar)

4)Shri Mahaganapati - Ranjangaon. (Taluka-Shirur, District-Pune)

5)Shri Vigneshwar - Ozar. (Taluka-Junner, District-Pune)

6)Shir Girijatmaka - Lenyadri. (Taluka-Junner, District-Pune)

7)Shri Ballaleshwar - Pali. (Taluka-Sudhagad, District-Raigad)

8)Shri Varadvinayak - Mahad. (Taluka-Khalapur, District-Raigad)

 

Route starting from Pune

If one wants to start Yatra from Pune and could finish it in two days.

Day one

1)Pune-Hadapsar-Saswad-Jejuri-Morgaon

2)Morgaon-Supa-Chauffula-Patas-Daund -Siddhatek

3)Siddhatake-Daund-Patas-Chuffula-Theur

4)Theur-Hadapsar-Pune-Sikrapur-Ranjangaon. Ranjangaon-Shikrapur-Pune.

Day two

1)Pune-Chakan-Khed-Manchar-Narayangaon—Ozar

2)Ozar-Narayangaon-Junner-Lenyadri

3)Lenyadri-Junner-Narayangaon-Manchar-Khed-Chakan-Talegaon-Khopoli-Mahad.

4)Mahad-Mangaon-Kolad-Vakan- Pali. Pali-Khopoli-Lonavala-Pune

PS::: I will be sending sacred stories related to these great temples of Lord

ganesh in this week.So far by what ever I have been reading and learning, I

hope Lord Ganesh showers his grace upon me so that I am able to visit these

temples in pune during my next trip to India along with the trip to Shirdi..

Om Shree Ganeshaya Namah...Sai bhakt,

Deepa H

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