Travel: Hit the Ashtavinayaka trail this Ganesh Chaturthi

Shree Mayureshwar Moreshwar MorgaonThe temple is located in a small village named Morgaon It is believed that Lord Ganesha took birth here as Mayureshwar with a motive to kill Sindhu who was inhuman with the people of the place and was a cause of destruction The name Mayureshwar refers to riding a peacock Mayureshwar then killed Sindhu and legends say that his head fell in Morgaon The temple was build in 14th century by Morya Gosavi The Ashtavinayaka yatra begins with a trip to this templeDistance from Pune64kmAn artist works on a 12feet tall Ganesh Idol in Thane ahead of the 10day Ganesh festival that begins on September 17 PicRane AshishShree Siddhivinayak SiddhatekAccording to legends while Lord Bramha was busy creating the world Lord Vishnu was sleeping and two demons escaped out from Vishnursquos ears to destroy the world created by Brahma The demons were Madhu and Kaitaba Vishnu then fought for 5000 years in order to get hold of Madhu and Kaitaba but couldnrsquot Lord Shiva then told Vishnu to worship Ganpati Vishnu invoked Ganpati on Siddhatek hill destroyed the demons successfully and consecrated the spotDistance from Pune95kmShree Ballaleshwar PaliThe temple is named after a devotee Ballal It is said that Ganesha revealed about himself to Ballal at this place and since then it has become a sacred spot The construction of the wooden temple is such that on the two equinoxes the sun rays fall directly on the Ganpatirsquos idolDistance from Pune 110kmVarad Vinayak MahadThe name means the bestower of blessings A legend involving Gritsamada of Kaudinya is linked to the temple Gritsamada who wanted to do penance retreated to the Pushpak forest present Bhadraka in search of peace He prayed repeatedly to Ganesha to grant him inner peace Pleased with his penance Ganesha blessed him saying he would bear a son who would only be defeated by Shiva Gritsamada urged Lord Ganesha to bless the forest and stay back there permanently Gritsamada constructed a temple and installed the idol of Lord GaneshaDistance from Pune 81km ChintamaniTheurGanesha is believed to have got back the precious Chintamani jewel from the greedy Guna for sage Kapila at this spot However after bringing back the jewel sage Kapila put it in Vinayakarsquos Ganesharsquos neckDistance from Pune 25kmGirijatmajLenyadriGirijatmaj Vinayak refers to Ganesha as the son of Parvati The temple is set in a Buddhist cave temple One has to climb several notsoeasy stairs to reach the temple Legends say that Parvati wife of lord Shiva wanted a son so she worshipped Ganpati for 12 years and was finally blessed with Ganpati himself as her son It is believed that Ganapatirsquos thread ceremony took place here Distance from Pune 96kmVigneshwarOzarThe temple was built in 1833 The main attractions of the temple are deepmalas and the golden dome Legends say that King Abhinandana wanted to become Indra and performed many sacrifices to become one When Indra heard this he was furious and sent Kaal time in the form of Vighnasura to kill Abhinandana All the gods prayed to Ganesha to help them get rid of it Ganpati defeated Vighnasura Vighnasura then requested Ganpati to stay at Ozar and use his name as a prefix Ganpati agreed to stay at Ozar and since then the temple is named as Shree Vigneshwar GanpatiDistance from Pune102kmMahaganpati RanjangoanHere Shiva is believed to have worshipped Ganesha before fighting the demon Tripurasura The idol of the temple was huge and thus got its name as Mahaganpati The original huge idol is hidden in order to prevent it from destruction and thus is replaced by a smaller one Distance from Pune 54kmInformation courtesy Sarita Nair founder wwwspiritualyatracoin It is a spiritual holiday portal that also offers the Ashtavinayaka Yatra