Lord Ganesha Archives — NIMBLE FOUNDATION BLOG

INCREDIBLE INDIA !! [BLOG#26]

TRISHUND GANAPATI TEMPLE

Trishundya Ganpati is a temple located in Somwar Peth , Pune . Among all the Ganesha temples in Pune, this is the best sculptured temple. This temple belongs to Giri Gosavi panta. Below the idol in the temple of these three trunks Ganesha is the tomb of the founder of the temple, Mahant Sri Dattaguru Goswami Maharaj. After anointing the idol, it pours water on the samadhi in the basement. Since this temple belongs to the Tantramargiyas of Girigosavi sect, common devotees did not visit here. Although the current main idol in the temple is of Trishund Gajanana, the original idea of building a Shiva temple must have been there.

This temple was built and completed by Bhimgirji Gosavi Mahantani on 26 August 1754. His descendants lived in the village of Ghampur in Indore. In the government records Till 1917 the temple had no owner. A branch of a tree in front of the temple fell on a nearby Nerlekar’s house, so he complained to the municipality; Then the municipality inquired. The owner of the temple was found to be a gentleman named Gosavi of Indore. He was called from Indore. They uprooted the tree. Later, the front part of the temple was turned on with wood; A coal warehouse was built in the assembly hall of the temple. Later he left this vakhar to a friend named Kulkarni and left for Indore. In 1945 Kailasgir Gosavi was named as the occupant. But, due to not being able to provide documentary evidence, their right to the temple was lost. In the year 1985, a trust was established for the maintenance of the temple.

While arranging the temple, it was planned that there should be a temple above and a basement below, a mausoleum and a school for the stubborn. All routine facilities were in the basement. There was an underground footpath to go near Nagzhari for the ritual. There was a large room in the wall of the well at the water level. There was a marble bathing square for the principal Guruvaras of the Tantrasadhas. The basement rooms have doors and niches in the walls of the rooms. The ceiling of the room has two notches in the stone and from those grooves the ceiling was hung upside down with the help of a rope and the smoke of certain plants was smoked on the burning coals. The temple has three parts namely sanctum sanctorum, darshan mandap and assembly mandap. The temple is on a square three and a half feet above the ground. The meeting hall and the original sanctum sanctorum are deep inside.

Behind the statue of Gajanana in the sanctum sanctorum is the niche. There is a three and a half feet tall recumbent idol of Sheshshayi Bhagavan, but it is not visible due to the darkness of the sanctum sanctorum and the Ganesha idol. The statue of Lord Ganesha has a square sitting position and the trishund Lord Ganesha is seated on a peacock. Out of the three trunks, the right trunk is touching the modakpatra in the lower hand. The middle trunk is rolling on the stomach and the left trunk is touching the chin of Shakti sitting on the left thigh.

The facade of the temple looks like a carved cave. Also every door inside is a unique piece of sculpture.Outside the main entrance there is a sculpture of British soldiers with guns chained to a rhinoceros. The symbol of Bengal and Assam – the rhinoceros – may have been shown in jail as a metaphor for the imperialist British beginning to swallow up Bengal. The temple has no peak. At the top is a turtle. Perhaps the original idea of installing a Shivlinga above was half-baked. The temple has shivlingas one on top of the other instead of a peak.

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INCREDIBLE INDIA !! [Blog #3]

KARPAKA VINAYAKA TEMPLE

Karpaka Vinayaka Temple or Pillaiyarpatti Pillaiyar Temple is a 7th-century CE rock-cut cave shrine, significantly expanded over the later centuries. It is located in Pillayarpatti village in Tiruppathur Taluk, Sivaganga district in Tamil Nadu, India.
The temple is dedicated to Karpaka Vinayakar (Ganesha). In the cave temple, there are rock cut images of Ganesha, Siva linga and another carving that has been variously identified as Ardhanarishwara or Harihara or the early king between them who built this temple. All these are notable for their unusual iconography. In late 19th-century, during restorative excavation and repair work, panchaloga statues were discovered. These are dated to the 11th-century.

The temple has several inscriptions within the rock-cut shrines, as well as on the walls and mandapam outside. One of them mentions “Desi vinayakar” and also helps date the core layer of this temple to the 7th-century Ganesha. Another notable inscription in the sanctum is more archaic, sharing paleographic features of Tamil Brahmi and early Vatteluttu. This has led to proposals that portions of this Ganesha temple are likely older by a few centuries. The temple walls and mandapams have additional stone inscriptions from the 11th to 13th-century.

The temple is one of the nine ancestral Hindu temples of the Chettiars, its importance established in their tradition in Kali year 3815 (714 CE). The temple has a large colorful gopuram, with large mandapams elaborately decorated with frescoes, many shrines inside, salas originally added for dance and hymns singing, temple kitchen, an architecture that follows the Agamic texts and Shilpa Sastras, and a large temple tank to its north. Most of these were added in later centuries to the core rock-cut cave shrine. The temple is active and attracts numerous pilgrims, particularly women, on the annual festivals and chariot processions such as on Vinayaka Chaturthi and the Brahmothsavam in the Tamil month of Vaikasi.

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Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with festivities lasting ten to twelve days every year. The occasion for the celebration of the birth of Lord Ganesh, son of Lord Shiva and Parvati.

Ganesh symbolizes intelligence and application of mind. There are many incidents in Lord Ganesha’s life which symbolize his sharp wit and presence of mind. Among them the most famous of them is his competition with his elder brother Karthikeya.

As the story goes Lord Shiva called both his sons and told them that whomsoever circles the world three times will be given the prize of a magical Mango which was presented to him by Sage Narad. Ganesha realized that his vehicle the mouse, would be of no match against the swift flying peacock of his elder brother. He thought for a moment, smiled and took three circles of his parents. When they asked him why they were circling him, he replied that they were his world, and taking three circles of them was equivalent to circling the world three times. Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati were very pleased and they gave the fruit to Ganesha.

The festival falls in the fourth day of the waxing moon in the Hindu lunar calendar month of Bhadrapad which mostly falls in September according to the English Calendar. While the festival is celebrated all over the country, it is in the Indian State of Maharashtra that the celebrations are specially famous.

In medieval history, the celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi can be traced back to the times of the great Maratha King Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. However following the decline of the Maratha empire, the festival lost its state patronage. It was the famous freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak who revived this festival as a community celebration and to gather people in his fight against British Rule.

Indeed he has left behind a lasting legacy. Every year the festival gets bigger and more and more people revel in the worship of the Lord and seek his blessings.