Ballaleshwar or Ballal’s Lord temple is one of the temples of the Ashtavinayak tour. This is the only incarnation of this lord of obstacles that is known by the name of His devotee. Situated in the Pali village this temple lies at a distance of around 30 km from the region of Karjat in the district of Raigad in the state of Maharashtra in India. Located between the Sarasgad fort and the River Amba, this is a divine destination for all the devotees of Lord Ganesha.

The original structure of the Ballaleshwar temple was made of wood and then in the year 1760, it was renovated and a stone temple was constructed in its place. It was Shri Fadnis who designed it and today we see his constructional marvel. The whole temple is built in the form of a Shri the holy sign of the Hindus. While constructing the temple lead and cement were mixed during the entire construction. The temple faces east and, the sun rays fall on the idol while it is worshipped. There is a bell in the temple which was brought here by Chimaji Appa when the Portuguese were defeated in Sasti and Vasai.

The temple is built around two lakes and has two sanctums – an outer sanctum and an inner sanctum. The inner sanctum is around 15 feet in height and the outer sanctum is around 12 feet height. There is an idol in the outer sanctum which is in the shape of a rat. It is shown holding a modak. The rat is shown facing the Lord. There is a hall in the temple complex which is around 40 feet in length and around 20 feet in width. There are around eight pillars in the temple and it is intriguing to see these pillars resembling Cyprus trees.

The idol of Lord Vinayaka is seen seated on a throne made of stone and faces east. The trunk is turned towards left and has a silver background showing the Riddhi and Siddhi Goddesses. The eyes and the navel of the idol are embedded with diamonds.

Legend has it that there was once a man named Kalyan who lived in the Pali village with his wife Indumati. Ballal was their son and he with his friends used to play a game where they made idols out of mud. Once Ballal insisted that a stone be worshipped as Ganesha. and they got so engrossed in this play worship that they completely got lost in worship.

The parents of Ballal’s friends waited for the children and when they did not come home, they went in search of them, and found the children engrossed in worship and listening to the Ganesha Purana. Kalyan, Ballal’s father got furious and destroyed all their toy temples. The other children panicked and ran away except Ballal who was lost in meditation. It is said that Kalyan beat Ballal black and blue till he bled, and tied him to a tree and destroyed all their worship materials. Then he took the stone which represented Lord Ganesha and broke it into pieces. Ballal cursed that his father became blind, deaf and dumb and hunchbacked. Ballal was rescued by Lord Ganesha who disguised as a sage saved him and promised he would remain where he was.

Today this is where Ballaleshwar temple stands and the stone thrown by Kalyan is called the Dhundi Vinayak. This idol is worshipped before the temple idol is worshipped as it is believed to be a swayambhu idol.

One of the Ashtavinayak temples, The Chintamani Vinayak Temple in the Theur district in Pune in the state of Maharashtra in India, is fifth inline in the tour of the Ashtavinayak temples. this is a temple where it is believed Lord Ganesh brings a lot of calm and peace in your life. Here people believe that the Lord would rid you of all your perplexities.

Legend has it that it is here that Lord Ganesha came and restored the invaluable jewel Chintamani from Prince Guna who was the son of King Abhijeet . This prince was brave and gifted but was aggressive sometimes. Once Ganaraja or Prince Guna was invited by Sage Kapil and the sage gave him good food with the help of the  Chintamani Ratna. Ganaraj desired to have this jewel and took it forcibly from Sage Kapila much to his fury.

The sage took Lord Ganesha’s help under the advice of goddess Durga. Lord Ganesha thus gave it back after procuring it from Prince Guna but by then Sage Kapil had lost interest in the jewel and tied it around the Lords’ neck so the name came to be Chintamani Vinayak.

Another legend talks about how Lord Brahma felt very restless here and prayed that Lord Vinayaka comes to relieve his tension. Ganesha eased away all tensions  or Chinta from Lord Brahma’s psyche here in this land thus the area got the name Chintamani .

Constructed during the time of the Peshwas, it was Dharanidhar Maharaj Dev who built it. With five gigantic metal bells, the main temple entrance faces the northern side leading to a hall made of wood. The metal bells have been brought here by the Peshwas from Europe. Then there is a small black stone fountain in this hall. The idol here is believed to be swayambhu or self originated and has the unique sight of the trunk turned to the left. There are diamonds in the eyes and the idol faces eastwards. There is another smaller temple within the Chintamani Vinayak temple and this temple has Lord Shiva as the presiding deity. There are separate sections for meditation and prayers. The Vinayaka Chaturthi festival has many  pilgrims thronging this place and the month of Magh Shudd also has pilgrims and devotes visiting this temple with great fervour.

Situated around 25 km to the south east of the city of Pune, the Theur village is reached easily by road from Pune and has Pune as the nearest railway station. Situated on the banks of the river Mula and Mutha, the whole areas seems to be blessed with Lord Ganesha’s power. The temple thus has a kind of power which is unbeatable and one has to see it to believe the powers that are exuded here. The temple was built at a cost of Rs. 40,000 and today it would something like 400 million rupees. The temple construction is strong, tough and has the same structure that it had 400 years back.

There is a beautiful garden here which is believed to have been built after Madhav Rao Peshwa’s death and his wife committed Sati.

There is a lake behind the temple called the Kadambtheertha. The waters here are said to be greatly pure and healing. It is said that Shrimant Madhavrao Peshwa was suffering from tuberculosis and died at around 27 years of age in this temple premises.

The Girijatmaj Temple Vinayak is situated in a region of eight caves. These caves, called the Ganesh caves have the temple at a height and one has to climb 307 steps to reach this temple. The temple is famous for having been carved out of a single rock and stands facing south. There is a gigantic hall or Sabhamandap in front of the temple measuring around 53 feet in length and 51 feet in breadth. The unique feature of this Sabhamandap is that there is not a single pillar here in the hall. There are 18 small halls that are used for meditation. The idol of Shree Girijatmaj is located in the middle hall or apartment as it is known as. The Sabhamandap is around 7 feet high and has six stone pillars with carvings of elephant, cow etc. While one stands at the main temple, one can see the River Kukadi flowing and also get a panoramic view of the town of Junnar on the banks of the river.

The idol of Shree Girijatmaj faces eastwards and it is believed that goddess Parvati installed the Ganesh idol in this cave when she performed penances. The idol is not separate and distinct and has been carved out of a single stone wall. The idol was earlier covered with armor and now there is no armour and so one can see the idol with the neck turned to the left side. Devotees can see only one eye of the idol. The temple is special as devotees get to perform puja on their own here.

Legend has it that Goddess Parvati performed penance for more than 12 years as she wanted to have Vinayaka as her son. She penanced in these very caves of Lenyadri. Lord Ganesha pleased with her blessed her with the boon. So Goddess Parvati also asked that on Bhadrapada Shudh Chaturthi, Parvati would scrap the mud on her body accumulated after penance and apply a mixture of ointment and oil in it and form a Ganesha idol. She would then perform pooja and everything was set for the day. On that particular day, however, the idol that she made came alive and became Vinayaka, goddess Parvati’s son. On the eleventh day he was called Gunesh meaning one who keeps the three qualities of Tama, Raja and Satva under his control. Lord Shiva also granted him the boon that whosever starts his work remembering him would be successful in his ventures.

Lord Ganesha thus grew up in Lenyadri and killed the demon king Sindhu here. When Lord Ganesha was six, Vishwakarma gave him the paasa or noose, the parasu or axe, the ankush or the hook, the kamala or the lotus and when he was seven the Upanayana was performed for Ganesha. Parvati has another name called Girija and Atmaj means son. So Girijatmaj temple is in dedication of the son of Goddess Parvati, Vinayaka.

This is a very unique temple in Ashtavinayak tours so all those Ashtavinayak tour pilgrims make it a point not to miss this temple.

The deity has three eyes, and is seated and the specialty is that the trunk is turned towards the left. There are invaluable diamonds in the navel and the eyes of the deity and the whole sight is very enchanting and mesmerizing. There are the idols of Siddhi and Buddhi on either side of the deity. These are made of brass and they are the consorts of Lord Ganesh. There is a peacock and a mouse in front of the deity. The actual idol is much smaller in size but the fact that devotees have put a lot of sindoor on it has made the idol seem bigger than it looks. It is said that the sindoor layers are around 100 or 150 years old.

Legend has it that Lord Brahma predicted that Lord Ganesha would take another incarnation as Vinayak n the Kritayug, as Gajanan in the Dwaparyug , as Mayureshwar in the Treta yug and as Dhumraketu in the Kalyug. These incarnations have a lot of relation to all the legends of Lord Ganesha.

The story of Moreshwar goes down to the ages when there was a King called Chakrapani who ruled over Mithila. After being childless for many years they invoked the blessings of Lord and the queen got pregnant. Unable to bear the brilliance exuded by the Surya blessed embryo, the queen let it out in the sea. The sea gave birth to the child and disguised as a Brahmin went to King Chakrapani and gave it to him. The child was named Sindhu as it was born in the sea. Sindhu received immortality with the blessings of Lord Surya. Sindhu misused this by attacking all the Gods. The Gods thus requested Lord Ganesh to help them. Ganesha took birth as Parvati’s son to kill this demon king Sindhu.

Goddess Parvati recited the Om mantra and pleased the Lord and created a clay statue of Lord Ganesha. This idol took the form of a child which was Lord Ganesh. When he turned 10 years of age, Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva decided to go to Mount Kailash from Mt. Meru. On the way, Lord Ganesha killed a demon Kamalasura. He also attacked Sindhu and killed him and asked him to release the Gods held captive. Lord Ganesha rode a peacock during this fight and got the name Mayureshwar or the one who rides a peacock. Mayureshwar decided to live in Morgaon so that he could be closer to devotees.

There are a lot of festivals that are celebrated in Moreshwar temple. The Dassera celebrations are held with lot of pomp and glory. There is a palanquin or a palkhi on which the deity is brought. The names of all the important families are read out. Then the deity is brought back to the temple.

The Anna Santarpana is celebrated on the day of Magh Shudh Panchami. On this day, food is collected from all houses and offerings are prepared. Then the Prasad is distributed amongst all the devotees.

One can easily reach this place by taxi, buses or by taking a train to the Borivali station. Walk through the zigzag paths inside the Sanjay Gandhi National park and you would reach a flight of stairs that takes you to these intriguing and interesting caves here in this part of India. Amidst the best of surroundings, the aura here is something to be felt to be believed. Very reminiscent of the rock cut caves that exist in India, these caves are believed to have been the seat of the Buddhist monks. In fact, there is proof that Buddhist monks lived here between the 1st and the 9th century. The caves look resplendent in spite of their simple look and partially adorned beauty.

Kanheri comes from the Sanskrit term Krishnagiri which means black in colour. These caves have been carved out of a single basalt rock. The Kanheri caves are a great example of the way the religion of Buddhism has risen and fallen. The caves are actually small cells which have been carved out of a single block of stone and there is a platform made of stone which was maybe used as a bed. Then there is a congregation hall which is seen even today and there are pillars which support it.

Most of the caves are actually monasteries of the past which have been used for meditation, study and also for living. Most of the caves have beautifully carved structures and have lovely memories of past life which has existed here greatly. There are rock cut stupas which were earlier places of worship. The Avalokiteshwara idol here holds everyone’s attention and is a great masterpiece of the past. There are more than a thousand inscriptions found here and these have been written in the Pallavi, Devanagari and Brahmi scripts. There is a defaced Chaitya cave which has some woodwork on its roof. This woodwork is destroyed and defaced today.

The Mauryan and the Kushan dynasties ruled over this region centuries back and Kanheri was the seat of education in those days. There was in fact a university here and it was a flourishing region then. There are many watercourses here that are proof to the existence of a well organized water system. The Kanheri caves is a place where monks used to practice their austerities and they were a source of education, knowledge and awareness. The Elephanta caves has a lot of extravaganza but the Kanheri caves is a living example of a Spartan and bare kind of cultural edifice of the past. There are many vihara like structures that are seen and that are proof to the existence of a congregation of monks here in the past. In fact there is also enough proof by way of inscriptions to show that there were trade relations between Kalyan, Sopara, Ujjain, Paithan, Nasik and Kanheri.

While he was on the ride to success in his campaigns, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, believed a lot in the Hindu Goddess Maa Tulja Bhavani. It is said that Tulja Bhavani gave Shivaji the Bhavani sword. So today, Tuljapur, the holy land of Tulja Bhavani is a much revered spot in the state of Maharashtra in India. Situated in the district of Osmanabad, Tuljapur belongs to the region of Marathwada which is at a height of around 270 metres above the sea level. With the background of the Balaghat hills, the Tuljapur town was earlier called “Chinchpur” which had a wide array of tamarind trees. The town got the name Tuljapur after the Goddess Tulja Bhavani. Innumerable devotees from across the country visit this place and feel blessed by the power of this goddess. Navratra is a very religious occasion here and this place is much sought after during this time along with the other two destinations Akkalkot and Pandharpur.

The temple in itself is a great construction and a magnificent structure. With two main entrances the temple is accessed by both. The entrances known by the names of Raja Shahaji Mahadwar and the Rajmata Jijavu main gate.

There are two libraries on the first floor which are the Shree Sant Dnyaneshwar Dharmik Library and the Shree Tukaram Dharmik Library. Then you also have a guest room here which is known by the name of “Shree Samarth Vishesh”.

The Tulja Bhavani temple is a very sacred place and is regarded in high esteem by all . The temple follows certain rules and regulations which are a must here. For example devotees are not allowed to break coconuts here. Photographs are not allowed inside the temple. NO one should wear footwear in the temple premises.

Then you have the Gomukh Theerth on the right side and the “Kallol Theerth” on the left side. Devotees normally take a bath in these theerths . Then there is the Duth Temple and the Amruth Kund here. The whole temple complex is filled with a serene ambience which is irresistible. The Siddhi Vinayak temple lies to the left of the main gate and the Aadishakti temple to the right. The Aadimata Matangidevi temple lies again to the right of the temple. There is a Goddess Annapurna temple also here. The temple has a yagna kund in the front.

Tulja Bhavani is regarded as the second in the Shaktipeeths . It is said that the Bhosale family of Chattrapati Shivaji worshipped this temple. Skanda puran has a mention of this deity Tulja Bhavani. The story goes that Kardam was a sage in ancient times and his wife was Anubhuti. After the sage died, Anubhuti performed a penance, on the banks of the River Mandakini. She penanced to invoke the blessings of Bhavani Mata and prayed that the goddess would take care of her infant. Kukur a demon tried to disturb her concentration when Mata Bhavani came to Anubhuti’s help, and killed the demon. Goddess Bhavani began to be called Tulja Bhavani. It is believed that the idol here that is worshipped has come up on its own and so is a swayambhu idol. The goddess looks resplendent with her eight hands and is seen seated on a throne.

Tulja Bhavani

The Pandharpur deity is called the Pandurang, or the Pandhari, or Vitthal and is the Supreme god for all the people from Maharashtra .He is an incarnation of two Indian Gods. They are Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. Vitthal comes from the word Vishnu in Kannada. Pandharpur was in ancient times known as Pandarga. From this came the name of Pandharpur.

Once there was a saint called Pundalik and he was closely related to the temple and its activities. So the temple is also called Pundalikpura. Lord Vitthal or Vishnu is worshipped here and this temple has been mentioned in the Puranas and Vedic books. Besides there were many Maharashtrian and Karnataka saints, who belonged to the period between the 13th and the 17th centuries. These include Dnyaneshwar, Purandara Dasa, Eknath, Vijaya Dasa, Jagannatha Dasa, Gopala Dasa, Chokhamela and many others.

There are six gates in the Pandharpur temple. The Namdev gate is the eastern entrance. There is an idol of Vithoba here in the temple. The temple belongs to the 5th century BC. Many inscriptions of the 13th century are found here. The Vithoba temple here has a unique ceremony, called the pad Sparsha darshan wherein the devotees can enter the temple and touch the feet of the Lord. There aren’t many rituals in this temple but the basic daily rituals are surely a routine here. So you have the Morning Aarti called the Kakad, Mahapuja or the mega worship, food offering or the Naivaidya, putting the robe or poshak, then the dhoop, Aarti etc. These pujas are done in the Vitthal temple. Then there is a step here created in memory of Saint Namdeo, The Paschim Dwar is the westward end.

There are around 25 temples here and they include the Garud Mandir, Ganesh Mandir, Satyabhama Mandir, Ekmuckh Dattatraya Mandir, kanhopatra Mandir and the Satyabhama Mandir.

Wednesday is very auspicious at Pandharpur. The Ekadashi is another auspicious day. There are four yatras held in Pandharpur each year. The “AAshadi Yatra, Kartiki Ekadashi, Chaitra Ekadashi, and the Magh Ekadashi are annual celebrations attracting most of the pilgrims to Pandharpur. More than 8 to 10 lakhs of pilgrims come during the Aashadi Yatra and the Kartiki Ekadashi. The Palkhis or the palanquins of all saints come from different places and meet a place called Wakhri. This is around 5 kilometres from the religious land of Pandharpur. Devotees normally come here and then take a dip in the holy river Bhima and then stand in the queue for the wait to see their beloved Lord.

Festivals like Ram navami, Gudhi padwa, Deepavali and Dasehara are also celebrated in Pandharpur with great pomp. Saint Namdev had a close association with this temple in the 13th century. There are evidences like the Rashtrakuta era copper plates which say that this shrine has been existing since the 6th century BC.

Pandharpur also has a special shrine for Pundalik. Thus Pandharpur with all this religious connotation and the effective celebrations is a popular pilgrim spot in this part of India.

This temple has been subjected to innumerable attacks and conquests. The Muslims and then the Portuguese have conquered this temple many times and is still standing tall amidst all this violence. The lingam in the temple is akin to that in Kedarnath and is considered as one of the most sacred Indian relics. In fact, this temple is referred to as the Konkan Kashi thus making it one of the most popular Indian temples. The lingam had to be buried in the fields to avoid it getting destroyed. Later it was taken out and consecrated in the place which is the present day Saptakoteshwar temple.

In fact it is believed that two great Indian kings Madhav Mantri and Shivaji Maharaj have contributed to this shrine getting rebuilt. Besides, the Skanda Purana and the Saura Purana has references to this temple and it is mentioned there how the Sapta Rishis performed a penance for more than 7 crore years and invoked the blessings of Lord Shiva. The sages requested that Lord Shiva convert the Dipavati or the Diwadi Island as his permanent place of stay. Thus it is said that Saptakoteshwar is the place that Lord Shiva agreed to live in permanently after the request of the sages was granted.

This is one of the Indian temples which is a Shaivite shrine and is considered as not only the abode of Lord Shiva stays but also of Lord Vishnu, Brahma and Bhairava. It is believed that both Hari and Hara live in the linga. This temple is thus visited by all the devotees who come here and take the blessings of their Lord. The festival of Krishna Janmashtami is celebrated here on a grand scale. Hindus believed that it is a great achievement to have bath in the river near the temple. There is also a strange belief that the river turns into the Panch Ganga on the day of Janmashtami. IN fact, there is proof that the 16th century has seen devotees coming here and bathing in the sacred river.

The Saptakoteshwar temple is also the family deity of many others like the Brahmins of the Goud Saraswat and the Karhade community.

The history of the temple has that in the year 1378 Goa was part of the empire of the Vijaynagar rulers. Madhav Mantri defeated the Muslim ruler here and became the king and brought the temple back by getting it reconstructed. Then again after the Portuguese destroyed it, Shivaji Maharaj got it reconstructed.

With such immense history behind it, the Saptakoteshwar temple is no ordinary Indian temple and is a must visit in a tour of Indian temples in Western India.

Trimbakeshwar temple is also one such centre which is incidentally one jyotirlinga site. The jyotirlingas here have the three faced structure signifying the presence of Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. Though today the linga is facing problems of erosion, due to constant pouring of water yet the faith and the belief on this structure is only on the rise. The erosion here is believed to be very symbolical. It is said that this also indicates the erosion of society in general and humans in particular. The lingas in this region in Maharashtra in India have a covering of jewels and the crowned wonder is the main attraction of many pilgrims who come to this holy land in search of divine powers. The jeweled crown is found crowning the golden colored mask of the Tridev Murti of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. It is said that this crown has been there since the time of the Pandavas, the heroes of the Indian epic Mahabharata. The crown has jewels, emeralds, diamonds and innumerable precious stones. This crown is shown to the public on Mondays between 4 to 5 in the evenings. So if you wish to see this one jeweled wonder then do be at Trimbakeshwar on the said day at the said time. The other Jyotirlingas have Lord Shiva as the presiding deity. The whole black stone temple is popularly visited for the religious effect and also for the exquisite architecture that is predominant here. The sculpture here is of great significance and is extremely well crafted. The Brahmagiri Mountain is the main landscape and the temple is at the foothills of this majestic landform. The River Godavari in fact originates here and the river is seen originating from three places in this mountain.

Around five centuries back there was a city here which is the present day Trimbakeshwar. The Peshwas ruled over this place and it was the ruler Nana Saheb Peshwa, who got this temple constructed and developed and made this place what it is today. The city of Trimbakeshwar looks beautiful in the background of the Brahmagiri Mountains and is the most popular pilgrim spot in western India.

It is said that once Lord Brahma had come to earth and had committed the unpardonable sin of killing a cow by mistake. The others advised him to pray to Lord Shiva and release the Ganges from his matted lock and then have bath in this water thus absolving himself of all sins. The River Ganga refused to budge from Shiva’s locks and forced Lord Shiva to do the Tandav Nrutya. She then had to flow out of the locks and in anger darted here and there and flowed down. This is the reason why Trimbakeshwar is considered to be the origin of the Ganges and why there are supposed to be more than three sources of the river here.

Devotees also like to come here as they are given the right to perform the pooja of their choice and this Abhishek or pooja gives the devotee a sense of belonging to the Lord. There are other rituals too which they perform themselves.

There is another intriguing part of the temple area. This is a place where no one closes the door. The houses here have no door at all. There are no locks either or door frames. They are not worried about safety and they believe that due to the power of the Shani devta they have nothing to worry and don’t need to close doors etc.

You can also see the Dattratraya temple which is near the Shani Shingnapur temple. There is also the tomb of the Sant Shri Udasi Baba which is also a major attraction. You can reach this lovely place by air, train or road. The Aurangabad or the Ahmednagar Railway station are connected to Shani Shingnapur very well.

Legend has it that Suryadev was the son of Brahma and he was married to Sandna the daughter of Daksha Prajapati. They had two sons Shri Shaneshwar and Dakshinadhipati. Tapti, Kalindi, Savitri and Bhadra were their daughters. Sandna could not bear Surya’s harsh heat and so created her duplicate form Sanvarna and asked her to live as Sandna with Suryadev. Sanvarna started doing all the duties of a wife and lived with Suryadev. She told Sanvarna she would reveal this to Suryadev when time comes.

Sandna went to her father Daksha’s place and Daksha did not accept her. Sandna started penancing in dejection. She turned herself into a mare.

In the meantime, Sanvarna lived her life and had children of her own. One day Lord Shanidev was hungry and asked her to give something. Shanidev went on nagging her and kicked his mother in the frustration. Sanvarna cursed that his leg should break. When Shanidev complained about this to Lord Surya, he realized that a mother couldn’t talk this way. Soon he found out what Sandna had done and mellowed the curse on Shanidev and promised that he would be worshipped by people. Thus Shanidev has a lame leg due to the curse getting milder and the temple is at Shani Shingnapur.