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Ashtavinayakas in Maharashtra : Theur, Mahad, Pali, Morgaon, Ozhar, Lenyadri, Ranjangaon, Siddhatek
Lord Ganesha is the god of knowledge and so in India you will find a huge number of people worshiping Lord Ganesha. He is the god, who has the face of elephant and the body like a person. It is one of the best loved god in the Mumbai city of Maharashtra in India. It is beleived that the pilgrimage of the eight principal Ganesh idols is a neccessary for a devotee to complete the full prayings of Lord Ganesha.
Each of these idols of Lord Ganesha at all the eight places are Swaymbhu, means self appeared and every one of them is with a typical characteristic and a story behind their arriving on that place. The leading shrine of all eight is Mayureshwar, located at the Morgaon and at a distance of about 64 kilometers from Pune city of Maharashtara. Morya Gosavi who set up Mayureshwar at Chinchwad built in the 14th century.
Very much near to this place; Morgaon, there is one more Ganesha named Chintamani Ganapati and it is located at Theur, in Maharashtra, and it is beleived that at this place the Gosavi is supposed to have attained 'siddhi' means knowledge. On this occassion his son 'Chintamani Dev' constructed this temple and celebrated it.
The Ganapati at Ranjangaon, known with a name 'Mahaganapati', the god is called with such name which means huge Ganehsa, because of the dimension of the idol. the idol here is with ten trunks and twenty arms and looks enormous. It is also believed that Mahaganapati became out of sight in order to avoid the destruction of idol from nonbelievers of Ganesha. Thousands of devotees each year visit Ranjangaon in the the Bhadrapad festival.
Sri Siddhi Vinayak ganapati loacated at Siddhatek, Ahmednagar district is also supposed to be a destination where Morya Gosavi did penance. But Ahilyabai Holkar, was a Queen of Malwa and a great ruler built the main temple. In the year 1833, the Ganesha temple of Ozhar is well-known for its deepmala, means garland of lights.
Chimaji Appa, who was Bajirao Peshwa's younger brother, gifted a golden dome to this temple and the Ganesha is worshipped in his incarnation as Vigneshwara, means the remover of all difficulties in life. Situated at Lenyadri on a hill, on the banks of the Kukdi river and the temple has 283 steps, which represent the devotion that units the devotee with the god and known with a name Shri Girijatmajvinayak.
As per the myths, it was the same place where Parvati spent time in prayer and penance and gave birth to Ganapati. It is named as Ballal at Pali and the Ganapati here is well known as Ballaleshwar. It is also beleived that the idol is came and beacame visible at this spot on its own.
The wooden temple was so constructed that the rays of the sun fall directly on the idol from the two equinoxes of the temple. Nana Phadnis built this temple in the year 1770. The Mahad Ganesh is at a distance of 20 kilometers from Khandala is recognized as Sri Varad Vinayak, means the god of the bestower of blessings.
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