01The lord of the peacock
The Ganesha Purana tells of Sindhu, an asura who had swallowed a bowl of amrita given him by Surya, and so could not be killed while it lay in his belly. In the Treta Yuga Shri Ganesh was born to Mata Parvati as Gunesha, rode out on a peacock, cut down Sindhu’s general Kamalasura and then split Sindhu open, spilling the amrita. From the peacock, mayura in Sanskrit and mor in Marathi, come both his name here and the village’s. The same Purana counts Mayurapuri among the three highest seats of Ganesha and the only one on earth; the Mudgala Purana gives it twenty-two chapters.
02A temple walled like a fort
The temple stands inside a high stone wall with towers at its corners, so that from the road it looks more like a small fort than a shrine. Four gates face the four directions. Before the sanctum sits a Nandi, which pilgrims notice at once, for a Nandi usually faces Shiva. The murti of Mayureshwar is seated, with the trunk turned to the left, eyes and navel set with gems, and a cobra hood above. The Ganapatya saint Moraya Gosavi walked here from Chinchwad for every Vinayaki Chaturthi; his descendants and the Peshwas cared for the shrine, and the Chinchwad Devasthan Trust administers it today.
Morgaon is about 65 km south-east of Pune by Jejuri. Begin the Ashtavinayaka yatra here and return here to close it; Ganesh Chaturthi and Magha Shuddha Chaturthi draw the largest crowds.
