Shree Chintamani temple-Theur

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Om Shree Ganeshaya Namah..

[Om Sai Ram - To see the pictures of the Ashtvinayak temples click to this link

http://ganapati.club.fr/anglais/asud/adetsud.html#theur ]

Brahma Srushtyadisakta Sthirmatirahittam Pidito Vighnasandhe |Aakranto

Bhutirakta Krutiganrajasa Jeevita Tyaktu Mischina ||Swatmanan Sarvyakta

Ganapatimamal Satyachintamaniyam |Mukta Cha Stapayant Shtirmatisukhadam

Sthavare Dhudhi Midhe ||

Meaning

The one who is in search of happiness, whose mind is wavering like God Brahma,

who is in the middle of all calamities should go to Sthavar means Theur &

worship Shree Chintamani & get rid of all Chintas(worries).

God Brahma meditated here to subdue his wavering mind. Theur is the nearest

place of Ashtavinayak from Pune.

The legend

Long time back, king Abhijeet and his wife queen Gunavati performed penances for

several years on the advice of Sage Vaishampayan. So, they got a son called Gana

who later on became popular as "Ganarâja". Ganarâja was as furious as he was

brave and valorous. Once, after a hunting expedition, he came to Kapila Rishi's

Ashram for taking rest. Sage Kapila fed the entire retinue with tastiest food,

obtained thanks to a jewel called Chintamani. The jewel Chintamani was given to

the Sage by king of Gods Indra. Being impressed by the power of the jewel,

greedy Ganarâja asked Sage Kapila to give it to him. When Kapila refused,

Ganarâja took away the Chintamani by force. Sage Kapila was sorely

disappointed. Goddess Durga adviced Kapila to worship Lord Ganesh. Being happy

with Kapila's worship, Lord Ganesh promised him to return back the jewel.

Ganesh and Ganarâja had a fierced battle near tree Kadamba. Lord Ganesh killed

Ganarâja with his axe. Thus Sage Kapila got his

Jewel and adorned Ganesh with Chintamani. Since then, Lord Ganesh is called

Chintamani and as these incidents took place below a Kadamba tree, the village

around was called Kadamba Thirtha.

Another story:

King of gods Indra was attracted towards Sage Gautam's beautful wife Ahilya.

Once the sage was out for bath, God Indra in disguise of sage Gautam had

pleasure with Ahilya. On returning to hermitage, sage Gautam by his inner power

realised the fact. Seething with rage sage Gautam cursed God Indra. Because of

the curse God Indra had thousands of holes in his body. God Indra pleaded for

mercy. Sage Gautam asked him to worship Lord Ganesha to get rid of the curse.

God Indra performed penance in Kadambnagar & got released from the curse. The

lake in which God Indra had bath, is called as Chintamani sarovar.

The temple

The main archway of the temple faces north. Temple mandapa is made up of wood

and there is a small fountain made up of black stone in it. The large temple

courtyard is paved. A huge bell is a particular local attraction. The temple

was built by Dharanidhar Maharaj Dev in the family of Morya Gosavi. The hall of

the temple was built 100 years later by Madhavrao Peshva.

Idol

Idol facing toward East is self emerged & has a left side trunk. There are

diamonds in the eyes of the idol.

Festivals

Two festivals, one in Bhadrapada from Pratipada to Saptami & another in Magh are

celebrated in Theur on grand scale. In those days Ganesh idols in the nearby

temples are worshipped & offered naivedya. This is called as Dwaryatra. On

Sankashti & Angaraki people give food to poor. They have been provided with the

utensils to prepare food.

Lord Chintamani was a family God of Madhavarao Peshva. His palace was near the

temple & now it is converted into garden. Madhavarao Peshva had stayed in this

palace in his last sickness. He renovated the temple & performed various

religious programs in the temple. By chanting Gajanan he passed away. Ramabai,

wife of Madhavarao Peshva burnt herself with corpse of Madhavarao Peshva on

bank of the Mula Mutha river. Sati's vrindavan was built on that place. It was

Kartik Vadya Ashtami. Rama Madhav death anniversary is celebrated here on

Kartik Vadya Ashtami.

How to reach Theur

Theur is in Haveli district of Pune. The distance from Pune is about 25 km.

Theur is situated on the confluence of Mula, Mutha & Bhima rivers. One can

reach Theur by,

1. Regular Pune Motor Transport buses are available from Poolgate bus stand of Pune.

2. On Pune-Sholapur highway after Loni, a road leads to Theur.

Sai bhakt, Deepa H debu7366

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