2 Ganesha Green background
We can find the temples of Lord Vinayaka in every nook and corner of India, and especially in South India. Though the temples may vary in their size, like small or big, but the deity present in all those temples contain good spiritual powers, enough to remove the troubles and turmoil of the devotees. Vinayaka worship was there since ancient times, and the exact period of worship cannot be determined by us, since as per the Holy Vinayaka Purana, Lord Vinayaka was worshipped even before several millions of years ago, and still he is eagerly worshipped by his devotees.
Some deities present in the Vinayaka Temples are believed to be self-emanated ones, where some deities were sculpted through the orders of the ancient kings. Still now, we can find in some apartments and in individual houses and bungalows, a separate shrine for Lord Vinayaka would be there, and a part time priest also would be appointed in those small temples for performing puja and abhishekam to the elephant god Vinayaka on a regular basis.
Idols of Vinayaka placed under the Holy Vanni and the Arasa trees are considered to be very auspicious, since Lord Vinayaka very much likes to sit under these holy trees. There is also a huge statue of Lord Vinayaka in Bangalore, and due to his gigantic size, he has been fondly called by his devotees as Dodda Ganapathi.
Offering of dhotis to Lord Vinayaka in his temples is considered as a sacred deed, and we can adorn it to him especially on the monthly Sankatahara Chaturthi festival day. Ashta Vinayaka temples located in the state of Maharashtra is a must to visit famous temple site. These temples are situated around Pune, and if we make a proper plan, then within a day itself, we can visit all of these eight Ganesha temples delightfully.
Nowadays even foreigners are interested to visit the shrines of Lord Vinayaka, and they are also interested to read our sacred Puranas and Vedas. Lord Vinayaka is liked by everyone, irrespective of their age, due to his strange and marvelous appearance, which is admired by everyone. Just by praying him at least once in a day, we would be able to carry out our tasks easily, happily, efficiently and effectively.
“OM SRI VINAYAKAYA NAMAHA”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR