Ashtavinayak Yatra: Part Three

Day Two: 14.08.2022

I got up at 6AM, got ready for the day and went down for breakfast at 06:30AM. Breakfast was yet to start so I wandered outside in the garden. The lush garden had a ganpati idol at the center. The hotel ambience was great, and it was decorated in tiranga to celebrate 15th August. Then we gathered at the same hall where we had dinner last night. While the kitchen staff was doing the arrangements, we had a quick introduction session of all the travellers. The breakfast included upma, vada, bread butter jam and tea-coffee. Done with the breakfast, we boarded the bus and drove to the next ganpati in the Ashtavinayak series.

Shri Chintamani Ganpati, Theur

Theur is located in the Haveli Taluka of Pune district, at the banks of river Mula-Mutha. The courtyard of the temple is quite spacious. The temple hall itself is made of wood. The idol's eyes are studded with diamonds. 

The courtyard is also home to temples of Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu and Lord Hanuman.

We reached the venue at 9:45AM and bought the flowers and garlands. We entered the courtyard and queued up for the darshan. After passing through the queue of 12 lines and chanting ganpati bappa morya, we finally had the ganpati darshan  at 10:45AM. We sat for a while in front of the idol. Then worshipped the temples of Lord Shiva, Vishnu and Hanuman. There was also a Vithal Rakhumai mandir on the way back to the bus. 

Then we drove ahead to the next ganpati in the Ashtavinayak series.

Shri Siddhivinayak Ganpati, Siddhatek

It is the only ganpati, which has a right-sided trunk. It is believed that the idol with the right sided trunk is stricter than the ones with the left sided trunk. One needs to worship the Siddhivinayak with utmost dedication, discipline and purity. The temple is located on the northern bank of the river Bhima in Siddhatek village in the Karjat Taluka of Ahmednagar district. The temple stands on a hillock, surrounded by thick foliage of Babul trees and is located approximately 1 km from the core Siddhatek village. The current temple was built by Rajmata Ahilyabai Holkar in the 18th century.

We reached the venue at 1PM. The bus was parked, and we walked our way to the main entrance. As usual we passed through many shops selling flowers, coconut, modaks, pedha, garlands, durvas, etc. There were also shops selling souvenirs. We walked up the entrance stairs and were given direct entry to the ganpati bappa darshan. Post that we also got a chance to perform the aarati. Done with the darshan, we bought a few souvenirs like the mantra sheets, ashtavinayak door plate, etc. Then we had sugarcane juice break outside the temple.

We headed for lunch. Though the lunch was tasty, the lunch venue spoilt the mood. There were many broken chairs, we had to check the chair before sitting. the area was dim-lit. It was past 2PM now and we still had to complete one more ganpati bappa darshan along with Jejuri and Prati Balaji.

Read next: Ashtavinayak Yatra: Part Four