FAMOUS INDIAN HINDU TEMPLES-accepted worldwide

INDIAN HINDU TEMPLE - MODHERA PHOTO

The SUN TEMPLE OF MODHERA is a temple dedicated to HINDU god surya ( SUN ). SUN is called “SURYA” in Hindi. The Mandir was built in 1026 A.D by king BHIMDEV of SOLANKI dynasty.

There are some other SUN temples are in INDIA, they are as followed:

Top 9 Surya Mandir (Temple) In Inida

1. At KONARK in ORISSA

2. In JAMMU AND KASHMIR near ALMORA

3. In UTTRAKHAND at GAYA

4. And in BIHAR, the DAKSHINAARKA TEMPLE.

5. THE BHRAMANYA DEV TEMPLE at UNAO in MADHYA PRADESH

6. SUN TEMPLE at SURYA PAHAR in ASSAM

7. SURYANAR TEMPLE at KUMBHAKONAM in TAMILNADU

8. SURYANARAYANA-SWAMI TEMPLE at ARASAVLI in ANDHRA PRADESH

9. THE SUN TEMPLE OF MODHERA at GUJARAT

The Sun Temple was built by RUSHABH BHIMDEV of SOLANKI Dynasty in AD 1026. This was the time when SOMNATH and the adjoining area was plundered by MAHHUMAD GHAZANI and reeled under the effects of his invasion. The SOLANKI’S, however, regained much of their lost power. ANHILWAD PATAN, the SOLANKI capital, was restored to glory. Royalty and traders jointly contributed to build grand temples.

SOLANKIS were considered to be SURYAVANSHIES, or descendants of Sun god. The temple was so designed that the first rays of the sun fell on the image of Surya, the Sun God, at the time equinoxes. The temple is partially in ruins after it was also finally destroyed by ALLAUDDIN KHILJI. However, enough has remained of the temple to convey its grandeur.

About The Temple - Modhera

The Sun Temple at MODHERA dates back to early 11th century CE and was built by King BHIMDEV-1 in 1026 CE. It was during the same period that the Jain temples at MOUNT ABU were constructed by VIMAL SHAH. The RUDRA MAHAL TEMPLE at SIDDHPUR also dates back to this period.  Also re-constructed at the same time was the SOMNATH temple at SOMNATH PATAN. Interestingly, the grand BRIHADESHWAR TEMPLE at THANJAVUR in South India was constructed during the same time

SUN TEMPLES AND THE GOLDEN ARCHITECTURAL PERIOD OF GUJARAT

The golden period of  architecture in   Gujarat  came  during the  rule  of  the SOLANKI  dynasty, with  some splendid  architectural  wonders  coming  up  during  the  9th-12th  century. Forts  at  DABHOI  and JHINJWADA, the Hindu  temples  of MODHERA, SOMNATH(earlier  incarnation), GHUMLI, GOPE, BILESHWAR, KERA  and SHAMLAJI, the Jain temples  of  GIRNAR ,KUMBHARIYAJI ,Mt Abu  and Taranga,  and  attractive  places  for  harvesting  water-BRAHMMA KUND at  SIHORE, SAHASTRALINGS TALAO  at  PATAN, MUNSAR  tank  at  VIRAMGAM,  the  STEPWALLS  of PATAN  and GHUMLI-came up  during  this  golden era.   The most  importantly  of  this period  is  MODHERA,  the Sun temple   built in 1026 AD by BHIMDEVA of the SOLANKI RAJPUT clan which ruled the whole of what is now known as Gujarat and nearer parts of RAJPUTANA and MALWA from the 8th to the 13th century, before losing to their relatives.

INDIAN HINDU TEMPLE - BAIJNATH JYOTIRLING PHOTO 

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INDIAN HINDU TEMPLE - DWARKA PHOTO

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INDIAN HINDU TEMPLE - GRISHNESHWAR JYOTIRLING PHOTO

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INDIAN HINDU TEMPLE - JWALADEVI PHOTO

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INDIAN HINDU TEMPLE - KEDARNATH JYOTIRLING PHOTO

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INDIAN HINDU TEMPLE - MAHAKALESHWAR JYOTIRLING PHOTO

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INDIAN HINDU TEMPLE - GANGOTRI PHOTO ( River of Ganga )

Hindu Pilgrimages Gangotri Legend 

Temples Of India - Gangotri Pohto Gallery

Gangotri  is a Hindu pilgrim town located in north at  Kashi  district of  uttrakhand state of India. It is in grater Himalayan range, at a height of 3,415 m. Gangotri is the origin of Indian holy river “ganga” and in the one of the site of chardham pilgrim circit of hindus in india.The river is called “Bhagirathi”, but onwards devprayag where it meets alaknanda it is called “ganga”. The origin of river is “gaumukh” which is 19 km away from gangotri in Himalayan glacier. There is a single day travel to reach gangotri from near by popular locations like rishikesh, haridwar, yamunotri and dehradun. Compare to the yamunotri, gangotri  has a good accessibility of bus, car and other transporting facilities. Gangotri is centerd by the temple of gange built by the nepali general “amarsingh thapa” in the early 18th century. As a popular pilgrim place of India Gangotri serves the starting place for “gangotri-gaumukh” and “gangotri-kedartal”  travelling routes.

The temple is under supervision of “semval” family of pujaries and the aarti time ceremony of the temple is quite impressive.

INDIAN HINDU TEMPLE - TIRUPATI BALAJI PHOTO

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               INDIAN HINDU TEMPLE - AKSHARDHAM ( GANDHINAGAR ) PHOTO

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INDIAN HINDU TEMPLE - AMARNATH PHOTO

amarnath a famous hindu temple of india

AMARNATH is one of the major and most popular pilgrim places of HINDUS. It is a tallest and most adventures place covered by the green lust and snow. There is a temple of HINDU lord named SHIVA. And the attracting point of the temple is that the “SHIVA LING” is made itself and produced by snow naturally. It is located in the JAMMU AND KASHMIR state of INDIA. The place is also known as AMARNATH CAVES which is said to be 5000 years old.



The SHIVA LING lies into the main cave of AMARNATH which waxes during May to August and wanes thereafter. According to some said, this lingam of ice grow and shrink with the phases of the moon when it reaches the maximum height during the summer festival. According to HINDU mythology AMARNATH is the cave where lord SHIVE explained the secret of life and eternity to his divine consort PARVATI. Two other formations or lingam around the SHIVA LINGAM represents PARVATI and GANESH whom are wife and son of lord SHIVA.


There was a chronicle named RAJAVALIPTAKA which was started by PRAJAVBHATTA and completed by SUKHA, there is a cleared and detailed reference to the pilgrimage to the scared site (v.841, vv. 847-849). According to the references, in a reply to AKBAR’s query about KASHMIR YUSUF KHAN whom was the MUGHAL GOVERNOR of Kashmir at that time, described the AMARNATH YATRA in full detail. SANTBETRA AWAMI RAMANANDJI MAHARAJ was a great devotee of lord SHIVA used to go AMARNATH YATRA wearing the shorts (called “CHADDI” in INDIA). It is also said that he used to travel on the tigers too (SHER KI SAWARI).His native place was BEHTRA in POK named SANTBETRA ASHOKA.



TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES IN AMARNATH:

The famous HINDU pilgrim place AMARNATH is at greater heights on HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN REINGE. Because of the heighted location, the road transportation facilities are “NOT-BAD”, and daily bus transport facilities are also available for tourists.

There is a helicopter transport facilities too. The helicopter facilities are providing the journey from SRI-NAGAR airport to BALTAL. There is the AMARNATH SHRINE BOARD which provides the huts to live for the tourists. Dinner and Prasad meets at YAATRA LANGARS. The helipad is just in the walking distance from the huts.

Baba AMARNATH is one of the toughest pilgrims in INDIA. But beside that the number of devotees increases in LAKHS and LAKHS to this holy place of AMARNATH. Adding more there are three routes that take the tourists to this holy place of AMARNATH out of which two are from roadways and other one is by airways, by helicopter.


1. JAMMU-PAHALGAM-AMARNATH CAVE:

JAMMU to PAHALGAM is about 315 km that can be travelled by the conveyance of Taxi and Buses. The government has provided the facilities of running Taxies and Buses from RAGHUNATH bazaar early in the morning but the tourists can also travel to JAMMU by air and then go for PAHALGAM. Whole this journey starts with the first route of PAHALGAM located at a distance of 96 km from SRINAGAR on the banks of LIDDER RIVER surrounded by natural beauty of LANDSCAPES.



2. JAMMU-BALTAL-AMARNATH:

This another one route trek to AMARNATH from JAMMU with a total distance of 440 km. This route can be experienced as the heaven of JAMMU-KASHMIR, paradise on earth while passing through the stepped mountains and beautiful valleys which makes the journey memorable. The places covered in journey are, UDHAMPUR-KUD-PATNI TOP-RAMBAN-BANIHAL-KAZI GUND-ANANTNAG-SRINAGAR-SONAMARG-BALTAL. The road width and driving comfort is not as good as compare to PHALGAM route.


AMARNATH CAVE:

RIGVEDA evokes his presence in its Hymns, the most scared and the most ancient book of INDIA. The VEDIC MYTHS, RITUALS, and even ASTRONOMY testify the existence of this cave. LORD SHIVA, the destroyer and mendicant is hard to define. The legend behind the cave is that the lord SHIVA once explained the secret of creation to DEVI PARVATI and unknown to them the pair of mating doves eavesdropped on this conversation and learned the secret. This pair of doves reborn again and again and have made their eternal adobe.

According to ancient tale, there was a MUSLIM shepherd named BUTTA, a sack of coal by SADHU. He discovered that the sack contains the gold. BUTTA MALIK overjoyed and rushed back to SADHU to thank him. But on the spot where they mate was discovered by him as a cave and the place became the TIRTH of worship for believers of pilgrim.  

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“Ashtavinayak Ganpati-Maharashtra”

Ashtavinayak: Pilgrim tour to the eight Ganapati Temples in Maharashtra

Everybody should visit the Ashtavinayak in Maharashtra at least once in a life time. Ashta Vinayak Temples are within the range of only 20 to 110 km

Ballaleshvara at Pali	Varad Vinayak at Mahad	Maha Ganpati Ranjangaon	Chintamani at Theur
Siddhivinayak at Siddhtek	Moreshwar at Morgaon	Vigneshwara at Ozar	Girijatmaj at Lenyadri

Ganesh Chaturti is celebrated with an extra measure of grandeur in the state of Maharashtra. The Siddhi Vinayak temple in Mumbai is visited by hundreds of thousands of devotees throughout the year.

Also in Maharashtra are eight temples dedicated to Ganesha, related to various episodes from the puranas and other legends - and these deities are collectively known as Ashta Vinayak.
Moregaon enshrines Ganapati as Mayureshwar (Moresh) or the peacock rider, who slew the demon Sindhu in response to pleas from the Gods.
Mahaganapati at Ranjangaon is believed to have come to the aid of Shiva in destroying the citadels of the demon Tripurasura.
Mahad enrhsines Varadvinayak (the bestower of boons), in commemoration of a legend related to Rukmangada.
Chintamani Vinayak relates to the legend of Kapila Muni and the Chintamani gem that he had obtained from Shiva.
Girijaatmaja Vinayaka is enshrined on Lenyadri Parvat, and is believed to be a manifestation of Ganapati as an infant.
Vigneshwara at Ozar is regarded as the slayer of the demon Vignaasura.
Ballal Vinayak at Pali, is associated with a legend where Ganapati is said to have come to the aid of a young lad, who was a fervent devotee of Ganapati.
Siddhi Vinayak at Siddhatek is said to have come to the aid of Mahavishnu as he was engaged in a long battle with the demons Madhu and Kaitabha.



Ashtavinayaka literally means "eight Ganeshas" in Sanskrit. Ganesha is the Hindu deity of obstacles, unity, prosperity and learning. The term refers to eight Ganeshas. Ashtavinayaka yatra refers to a pilgrimage to the eight Hindu temples in Maharashtra state of India that house eight distinct idols of Ganesha, in a pre-ascertained sequence.
The Ashtavinayaka yatra or pilgrimage covers the eight ancient holy temples of Ganesha which are situated around Pune. Each of these temples has its own individual legend and history, as distinct from each other as the murtis in each temple. The form of each murti of Ganesha and His trunk are distinct from one another. However, there are other temples of eight Ganesha in various other parts of Maharashtra; the ones around Pune are more well known than the former.

Mayureshwar

This is the most important temple on this tour. The temple, built from black-stone during the Bahamani reign, has four gates (It is supposed to have been built by one of the knights named Mr. Gole, from the court of Bidar's Sultan). The temple is situated in the centre of the village. The temple is covered from all sides by four Minarets and gives feeling of a mosque if seen from a distance. This was done to prevent attacks on the temple during Mughal periods. The temple has 50 feet tall wall around it.

Shri Mayureshwar, Morgaon

There is a Nandi (Shiva's bull mount) sitting in front of this temple entrance, which is unique, as Nandi is normally in front of only Shiva temples. However, the story says that this statue was being carried to some Shivamandir during which the vehicle carrying it broke down and the Nandi statue could not be removed from its current place.
The murti of Lord Ganesha, riding a peacock, in the form of Mayureshwara is believed to have slain the demon Sindhu at this spot. The idol, with its trunk turned to the left, has a cobra (Nagaraja) poised over it protecting it. This form of Ganesha also has two other murtis of Siddhi (Capability) and Riddhi (Intelligence).
However, this is not the original murti -which is said to have been consecrated twice by Brahma, once before and once after being destroyed by the asura Sindhurasur. The original murti, smaller in size and made of atoms of sand, iron, and diamonds, was supposedly enclosed in a copper sheet by the Pandavas and placed behind the one that is currently worshiped.
The temple is situated at a distance of 55 km from Pune, next to the river Karha in the village of^{[citation needed]} Moregaon. The village derives its name from the Marathi name of the bird Peacock - also the national bird of India; there used to be a lot of peacocks in this village in the ancient time, and the village is also set out in the shape of a peacock.

Siddhivinayak

Main article: Siddhivinayak Temple, Siddhatek

God Vishnu is supposed to have vanquished the asuras Madhu and Kaitabh after propitiating Ganesha here.
This is the only murti of these eight with the trunk positioned to the right.

Shri Siddhi Vinayak, Siddhatek

It is believed that the two saints Shri Morya Gosavi and Shri Narayan Maharaj of Kedgaon received their enlightenment here.
The temple is North-facing and is on a small hillock. The main road towards the temple was believed to be built by Peshwa's general Haripant Phadake. The inner sanctum, 15 feet high and 10 feet wide is built by Punyashloka Ahilyabai Holkar. The idol is 3feet tall and 2.5feet wide. The idol faces North-direction. The stomach of the murti is not wide, but Riddhi and Siddhi murtis are sitting on one thigh. This murti's trunk is turning to the right. The right-sided-trunk Ganesha is supposed to be very strict for the devotees. To make one round (pradakshina) around the temple one has to make the round trip of the hillock. This takes about 30 minutes with moderate speed.
Peshwa general Haripant Phadake lost his General's position and did 21 Pradakshina around the temple. On the 21st day Peshwa's court-man came and took him to the court with royal honor. Haripant promised the God that he will bring the stones of the castle which he will win from the first war he will fight as the general. The stone pathway is built from the Badami-Castle which was attacked by Haripant soon after he became the general.
This temple is situated off the Pune-Solapur highway about 48 km from the town of Srigonda in Ahmadnagar district.^{[citation needed]} The temple is situated next to Bhima river. On Pune-Solapur railway, Daund Railway station is 18 km from here.
Ballaleshwar

Main article: Ballaleshwar Pali

Ganesha is believed to have saved this boy-devotee, Ballala, who was beaten by local villagers and his father (Kalyani-seth) for his single-minded devotion to him.

Shri Ballaleshwar, Pali

The original wooden temple was reconstructed in to a stone temple by Nana Phadanavis in 1760. There are two small lakes constructed on two sides of the temple. One of them is reserved for the puja (worship) of the Deity.
This Temple faces the east and has two sanctums. The inner one houses the murti and has a Mushika (Ganesha's mouse vahana) with modaka in his forepaws in front of it. The hall, supported by eight exquisitely carved pillars demands as much attention as the idol, sitting on throne carved like a Cyprus tree. The eight pillars depict the eight directions. Inner sanctum is 15 feet tall and outer one is 12 feet tall. The temple is constructed in such a way that after the winter (dakshinayan : southward movement of the sun) solstice, the sun rays fall on the Ganesha murti at sunrise. The temple is built with stones which are stuck together very tight using melted lead.
Like a few other murtis, this one has diamonds embedded in the eyes and navel, and with His trunk pointing to the left.
One speciality of this temple is that the prasad offered to this Ganapati at Pali is Besan Laadu instead of Modak that is normally offered to other Ganapatis.
The shape of the idol itself bears a striking semblance with the mountain which forms the backdrop of this temple. This is more prominently felt if one views the photograph of the mountain and then sees the idol.
The temple is located in the town of^{[citation needed]} Pali, off the Mumbai-Pune highway, about 11 km before Nagothane^{[citation needed]} on the Mumbai-Goa highway. This is located 30 km to the South-West of^{[citation needed]} Karjat Railway Station. Mumbai-Panvel-Khopoli-Pali is 124 km. Pune-Lonavla-Khopoli-Pali is 111 km.
Behind this temple is the temple of Shri Dhundi-Vinayak^{[citation needed]} which is West facing. This is a very rare idol which is facing the West. The story says that this idol was the same one which was thrown by Ballala's father (Kalyani-seth) while Ballala was worshipping it.
History of Temple
Ganesh Purana gives an elaborate picture of LEELAS of Lord Ganesha. The legendary story of Shri Ballaleshwar is covered in Upasana Khand Section -22 occurred in Pali – the old name Pallipur.
Kalyansheth was a merchant in Pallipur and was married to Indumati. The couple was childless for quite some time but later was blessed with a son known as Ballal. As Ballal grew, he spent much of his time in worshiping and praying. He was devotee of Lord Ganesha and used to worship stone idol of Shri Ganesha in the forest along with his friends and companions. As it used to take time, the friends would reach home late. Regular delay in returning house used to irritate the parents of the friends of Ballal who complained to his father saying that Ballal was responsible for spoiling the kids. Already unhappy with Ballal for not concentrating on his studies, Kalyansheth was boiling with anger when he heard the complaint. Immediately he reached the place of worship in the forest and devastated Pooja arrangements organized by Ballal and his friends. He threw away the Stone Idol of Shri Ganesh and broke the pandal. All the kids got frightened but Ballal who was engrossed in Pooja and japa, did not even know what was happening around. Kalayan beat Ballal mercilessly and tied him to the tree saying to get fed and freed by Shri Ganesha. He left for home thereafter.
Ballal semiconscious and tied to the tree in the forest was lying as that with severe pain all over, started calling his beloved God, Shri Ganesha.
“O Lord, Shri Ganesha, I was busy in praying you, I was right and humble but my cruel father has spoiled my act of devotion and hence I am unable to perform Pooja.”
Shri Ganesha was pleased and responded quickly. Ballal was freed. He blessed Ballal to be superior devotee with larger lifespan. Shri Ganesha hugged Ballal and said that his father would suffer for his wrongdoings.
Ballal insisted that Lord Ganesha should continue to stay there at Pali. Nodding His head Shri Ganesha made his permanent stay at Pali as Ballal Vinayak and disappeared in a large stone. This is famous as Shri Ballaleshwar.
Shri Dhundi Vinayak
In the above mentioned story the stone idol which Ballal used to worship and which was thrown away by Kalyan Sheth is known as Dhundi Vinayak. The idol is facing west. The birth celebration of Dhundi Vinayak takes place from Jeshtha Pratipada to Panchami. From ancient time, it is a practice to take darshan of Dhundi Vinayak before proceeding to main idol Shree Ballaleshwar.

Varadavinayak

Shri Varada Vinayak, Mahad

Website : varadvinayak.com (Non Official website) Here you can get all information about lord Varadvinayak.
The handsome Prince Rukmangad refused sage Vachaknavi's wife Mukunda's illicit call, and was cursed to suffer from leprosy. Mukunda was satisfied by Indra who deceived her as Rukmangad and she bore a child by name Grutsamad. When Grutsamad came to know about the real story he cursed his mother Mukunda to become the tree of Bori and she in turn cursed him to bore a demon son named Tripurasur, the one who was defeated by Shiva after praying the Ranjangaon Ganesha. Grutsamad after getting cursed went to the forest of Pushpak and worshipped Ganesha. Sage Grutsamad is famous for the mantra GaNanaN Tva. He founded the temple and called this Ganesha: Varada-Vinayak.
Ganesha is said to reside here in the form of Varada Vinayaka, the giver of bounty and success. The idol was found in the adjoining lake (to Mr. Dhondu Paudkar in 1690AD), in an immersed position and hence its weathered look. In 1725AD the then Kalyan subhedar, Mr. Ramji Mahadev Biwalkar built the Varadavinayak temple^{[citation needed]} and the village of Mahad.
The idol faces the east, has its trunk to the left and has been in the constant company of an oil lamp - said to be burning continuously since 1892. There are 4 elephant idols on 4 sides of the temple. the hall is 8feet by 8feet. The dome is 25feet high and is golden at the top. The dome has designs of cobra.
This is the only temple where devotees are allowed to personally pay their homage and respects to the idol. They are allowed in the immediate vicinity of this idol to perform their prayers.
The temple is located three kilometers off the Pune-Mumbai highway near Khopoli (80 km from Pune), and is thus closest to Mumbai city. Karjat Railway Station, Karjat on Mumbai-Pune railway is 24 km from this place and 6 km from Khopoli.

 

Shri Chintamani, Theur

Ganesha is believed to have got back the precious Chinatamani jewel from the greedy Guna for sage Kapila at this spot. However, after bringing back the jewel, sage Kapila put it in Vinayaka's (Ganesha's) neck. Thus the name Chintamani Vinayak. This happened under the Kadamb tree, therefore Theur is known as Kadambanagar in old times.
The lake behind the temple is called Kadambteertha. The temple entrance is North facing. The outer wooden hall was built by Peshwas. The main temple is supposed to have been built by Dharanidhar Maharaj Dev from the family-lineage of Shri Moraya Gosavi. He must have built this around 100 years before Senior Shrimant Madhavrao Peshwa built the outer wooden hall.
This idol also has a left trunk, with carbuncle and diamonds as its eyes. The idol faces the East side.
Theur's Chintamani was the family deity of Shrimant Madhavrao I Peshwa^{[citation needed]}. He suffered from tuberculosis and died at a very young age (~27years). He is supposed to have died in this temple. His wife, Ramabai committed Sati with him on 18 November 1772.
The temple is located 22 km from Pune, off the Pune-Solapur highway, and is hence the nearest from Pune. The village of Theur sits at the confluence of three major regional rivers—Mula, Mutha & Bhima.

Girijatmaj

Main article: Lenyadri

Shri Girijatmaj, Lenyadri

It is believed that Parvati (Shiva's wife) performed penance to beget Ganesha at this point. Girija's (Parvati's) Atmaj (son) is Girijatmaj. This temple stands amidst a cave complex of 18 caves of Buddhist origin. This temple is the 8th cave. These are called Ganesh-leni as well. The temple is carved out of a single stone hill, which has 307 steps. The temple features a wide hall with no supporting pillars. The temple hall is 53feet long, 51feet wide and 7feet in height.
The idol faces north with its trunk to the left, and has to be worshipped from the rear of the temple. The temple faces south. This idol seems to be little different from the rest of the Ashtavinayak idols in a sense that it appears to be not very well designed or carved like the other idols. This idol can be worshipped by anyone. There is no electric bulb in the temple. The temple is constructed such that during the day it is always lighted up by the sun-rays!
The temple is situated 12 km from Narayangaon, which is about 94 km from Pune on the Pune-Nashik highway. Nearest railway station is Talegaon. From Junnar, Lenyadri is about 5 km. Shivaneri castle is close by (5 to 6 km) where Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was born.

Vighnahar

Main article: Vigneshwara Temple, Ozar

Shri Vighneshwar Vinayak, Ozhar

The history encompassing this idol states that Vighnasur, a demon was created by the King of Gods, Indra to destroy the prayer organized by King Abhinandan. However, the demon went a step further and destroyed all vedic, religious acts and to answer the people's prayers for protection, Ganesh defeated him. The story goes on to say that on being conquered, the demon begged and pleaded with Ganesha to show a mercy. Ganesha then granted in his plea, but on the condition that demon should not go to the place where Ganesha worshipping is going on. In return the demon asked a favour that his name should be taken before Ganesha's name, thus the name of Ganesha became Vighnahar or Vighneshwar (Vighna in Sanskrit means a sudden interruption in the ongoing work due to some unforeseen, unwarranted event or cause). The Ganesha here is called Shri Vighneshwar Vinayak.
The temple faces east and is surrounded by a thick stone wall. One can walk on the wall. The main hall of the temple is 20feet long and the inner hall is 10feet long. This idol, facing the east, has its trunk towards the left and rubies in its eyes. There is a diamond on the forehead and some jewel in the navel. Idols of Riddhi and Siddhi are placed on the two sides of the Ganesha idol. The temple top is Golden and is possibly built by Chimaji Appa after defeating the Portuguese rulers of Vasai and Sashti. The temple is probably built around 1785AD.
This temple is located just off the Pune-Nashik Highway^{[citation needed]}, in the town of Ozhar. It is enclosed on all sides by high stone walls, and its pinnacle is made of gold. The temple is situated on the banks of river Kukadi. Via Mumbai-Thane-Kalyan-Bapsai-Saralgaon-Otur, Ozhar is 182 km.

 Mahaganapati

Main article: Ranjangaon Ganpati

Shri Mahaganapti, Ranjangaon

Shiva is believed to have worshipped Ganesha before fighting the demon Tripurasura here. The temple was built by Shiva where he worshipped Ganesha, and the town he set up was called Manipur which is now known as Ranjangaon.
The idol faces the east, is seated in a cross-legged position with a broad forehead, with its trunk pointing to the left. It is said that the original idol is hidden in the basement, having 10 trunks and 20 hands and is called Mahotkat, however, the temple authorities deny existence of any such idol.
Constructed so that the rays of the sun fall directly on the idol (during the Southward movement of the sun), the temple bears a distinct resemblance to the architecture reminiscent of the 9th and 10th Centuries and faces the east. Shrimant Madhavrao Peshwa used to visit this temple very often and built the stone sanctum around the idol and in 1790AD Mr. Anyaba Dev was authorised to worship the idol.
Ranjangaoncha Mahaganapati is considered to be one of the Ashta Vinayak shrines of Maharashtra, celebrating eight instances of legends related to Ganesha.
Legend has it that a demon by name Tripurasura built three powerful citadels (the evil Tripuram forts); with a boon of invincibility granted to him by Shiva he caused suffering to all beings in the heavens and on earth. Upon hearing the fervent appeals of the Gods, Shiva intervened, and realized that he could not defeat the demon. It was upon hearing Narada Muni's advice that Shiva saluted Ganesha and then shot a single arrow that pierced through the citadels, bringing an end to the demon.
Shiva, the slayer of the Tripura citadels is enshrined at Bhimashankaram nearby.
A variation of this legend is commonly known in South India. Ganesha is said to have caused the axle in Shiva's chariot to break, as the latter headed to battle the demon without saluting Ganesha before he set out. Upon realizing his act of omission, Shiva saluted his son Ganesha, and then proceeded victoriously to a short battle against the powerful demon. (See Acharapakkam - an ancient temple in Tamil Nadu glorified by the 1st millennium Tamil hymns enshrining Shiva associated with this legend, as well as Tiruvirkolam and Tiruvatikai - both over 1200 years old, associated with the legend of Tripurasamhaaram).
(The Tamil lines of 15th century saint poet Arunagirinathar: 'Muppuram eri seida, Acchivan urai ratham, acchadu podi seida athi deera' where he describes Ganesha as the valiant hero, who caused the axle of Shiva's chariot to crumble to dust, as Shiva headed out to destroy Tripurasura, narrate this legend.)
The Temple: Mahaganapati is portrayed, seated on a lotus, flanked by his consorts Siddhi and Ridhi. The temple dates back to the period of Peshwa Madhav Rao.
The temple of Maha Ganpati is very close to the centre of the town Ranjangaon. The temple was erected during the rule of the Peshwas. Peshwa Madhavrao had constructed the Garbhagriha, the sanctum to house the swayambhoo statue.
The temple faces east. It has an imposing main gate which is guarded by two statues of Jay and Vijay. The temple is designed in such away that during Dakshinayan[ the apparent movement of the son to the south] the rays of the sun fall directly on the deity.
The deity is seated and flanked on both sides by Riddhi and Siddhi. The trunk of the deity turns to the left. There is a local belief that the real statue of Mahaganpati is hidden in some vault and this statue has ten trunks and twenty arms. But there is nothing to substantiate this belief.