हिंदीOn this day
Standing

Mahaganapati Temple, Ranjangaon

The Ashtavinayaka where Bhagwan Shiva worshipped Ganesha before he destroyed the three cities of Tripurasura. Ganesha here is Mahaganapati, the most powerful of the eight forms.

Built: Old shrine; the present form largely of the Peshwa period, with a vault made by Peshwa Madhavrao I and later work by Sardar Kibe of IndoreWhere: Maharashtra (Pune district, Shirur taluka)Deity: Shri Ganesh as Mahaganapati, worshipped by Mahadev before the battle with Tripurasura18.75° N, 74.24° E
Photo: Booradleyp1 · CC BY-SA 4.0

01Before Tripura fell

The Ganesha Purana tells that the asura Tripura won from Ganesha the boon of three cities of gold, silver and iron that only one arrow could destroy, and with them he drove the devas from heaven. Mahadev went to war and could not break him. Then he remembered that he had not first worshipped Ganesha. He did so at this place, with the Sahasranama, and Ganesha gave him the strength to loose the single arrow that burned the three cities together. Shiva founded the town, called Manipur in the Purana, and installed Ganesha as Mahaganapati. The day of Tripura’s fall is kept as Tripuri Purnima in Kartik.

02The murti in the vault

The temple faces east, with a nagarkhana over the gateway. The murti in the sanctum sits cross-legged, with Riddhi and Siddhi on either side. Peshwa Madhavrao I had a chamber made below the sanctum, and temple tradition says the true murti, called Mahotkat, with ten trunks and twenty arms, is kept there out of sight. Sardar Kibe of Indore later renovated the temple. Pilgrims on the Ashtavinayaka yatra usually come here last before returning to Morgaon.

Visiting

Ranjangaon is on the Pune–Ahilyanagar highway, about 50 km from Pune and 21 km before Shirur. Bhadrapada Chaturthi and Kartik Purnima are the great days.

Nearby

Tulapur and Vadhu Budruk, Sambhaji’s SamadhiStanding
The Mughal era and the resistance

Tulapur and Vadhu Budruk, Sambhaji’s Samadhi

The confluence of the Bhima, Indrayani and Bhama near Pune, where Chhatrapati Sambhaji was put to death on Aurangzeb’s order in March 1689 after refusing to submit. His samadhi is at Vadhu Budruk across the river.

Theur and the Chintamani TempleStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Theur and the Chintamani Temple

One of the eight Ashtavinayak shrines of Shri Ganesh, near the meeting of the Mula-Mutha and Bhima. Peshwa Madhavrao I loved it above all places and died here on 18 November 1772.

Bhuleshwar Temple, YavatStanding
Shungas, Satavahanas, Kharavela and the Sangam Kingdoms

Bhuleshwar Temple, Yavat

From outside, the Bhuleshwar temple on its hill near Pune looks like a fort with domes; inside are some of the finest sculptures of the Deccan, among them a rare form of Ganesha as a goddess.

Alandi, Sant Jnaneshwar’s SamadhiStanding
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Alandi, Sant Jnaneshwar’s Samadhi

The town on the Indrayani where Sant Jnaneshwar entered sanjivan samadhi in 1296, at the age of twenty-one. Every Ashadh the Warkari palkhi to Pandharpur sets out from here.