Ashtavinayaka Darshan

The Ashtavinayaka yatra or pilgrimage covers the eight ancient holy temples of Ganesh which are situated around Pune. Each of these temples has its own individual legend and history, as distinct from each other as the murtis in each temple. The form of each murti of Ganesh and His trunk are distinct from one another. However, there are other temples of eight Ganesh in various other parts of Maharashtra; the ones around Pune are more well known than the former. They are Mayureshwar, Mahaganpati, Chintamani, Girijatmaj, Vigneshwar, Siddhivinayak, Ballaleshwar and Varadavinayak.

Everybody should visit the Ashtavinayak in Maharashtra at least once in a life time. According to Shastra, first you have to visit Moreshwar of Moregaon. Then visit Siddhatek Siddhivinayak, Pali Ballaleshwar, Mahad Varadvinayak, Theur Chintamani, Girijatmaj, Ozar Vigneshwar, Ranjangaon Maha Ganapati and then again Moregaon will end you Ashtavinayak Yatra. Vinayak is another name for Ganesh, the god loved and worshiped by Hindus all over India. Lord Ganesha is the protector of his devotees. Eight (Astha) naturally-formed sculpted stone statues have been housed in old temples at the places where these statues were first found. The Ashtavinayak temples are within the range of 20 to 110 Km of each other.