Some Rare Temples of Ganesha

Here is some information of some of the most interesting abodes/forms  as well as some rare idols of Lord Ganesha.

Lalitasana Shadbhuja Ganesha

Shadbhuja Ganesha temple is located in Baijanath, Kangada.  Gnyaneshwar, describes Lord Ganesha in his book Gnyaneshwari and named the six weapons held by Lord Ganesha. The same weapons are found in the hands of this  idol of Lord Ganesha.

It is a known fact that the number of Ganesha’s arms has always varied from ancient times. His best-known forms have between two and sixteen arms.  Many depictions of Ganesha feature four arms, which is mentioned in Puranic sources and codified as a standard form  His earliest images had two arms while forms with 14 and 20 arms appeared in central India during the 9th and 10th centuries.  The 6 armed Ganesha can also be found in the 32 Forms of Ganesh in Agamic Scriptures.  Kshipraprasaada Ganapati, Red colored image of six armed Ganapati. Trimukha Ganapati, Red colored image of Ganesha with three faces and six arms seated on a golden lotus and Ucchishta Ganapati, Blue colored image of six armed Ganapati with his consort.

Ekadanta Ganesha

Ekadanta is a  name of Lord Ganesh, who is said to have broken one of his tusks to write the Mahabharata. Eka means Single and Danta means tooth.  You can read about the broken tusk story here

Ekdant Ganapati Temple, located in Dhragadhra, Surendranagar.   This idol is about 7 ft and is carved in a single stone and has only one tooth. The broken tusk is missing.  It is extremely rare to find such an idol.  Dhrangadhra is well connected to the state capital of Ahmedabad by road and rail. auto-rickshaws are commonly used for traveling within the town.

Amarnath

Amarnath Gumpha: An ice idol of Bal Ganesha is seen here.  The Amarnath shrine is located approximately 145 km from Srinagar, 4,175 m above sea level. The path leading to the holy cave of Amarnathji is inaccessible in the winters. This is because from September to June, the weather conditions in the area are extremely hostile and the path remains covered with snow. The Amar Nath pilgrimage tour from Kashmir is possible only in monsoons, i.e. from July to August.

The Amarnath yatra holds great significance for the devotees, especially of Lord Shiva. It is believed that an ice Shivalinga forms in the cave of Amarnath in every lunar month. The Shivalinga starts taking shape on the first day of the bright half of the month and forms fully on the full moon day and then begins to dissolve on the no moon day. There are four to five ice figures resembling various deities inside the Amarnath cave. As per the custom, the largest one is believed to be of Amarnath (Lord Shiva), one on its left of Lord Ganesha and ones on the right of Parvati and Bhairava respectively.

Sasivekalu Ganesha

7-8 ft tall Sasivekalu Ganesha idol in the ancient ruins of Hemakut hill, Hampi is a famous idol of Lord Ganesha.In Kannada language, sasuwekalu means linseed. One wonders why such a huge idol is called by such a name!  Apart from this idol is the Vighnantaka Vinayaka.  The uniqueness of this idol is that it is not elephant headed but instead has the head of a man. Vighnantaka Vinayaka killed the demon Gajamukhasura. The Mahadwar, Prakar and Mukh-Mandap of the temple are from the Vijaynagar era. There are 24 pillars about 12 ft high in the Mukh-Mandap. The Navrang is 20 sq. ft. The idol of Subrhamaniyam i.e. Kartikeya is sanctified here.

Another place that hosts the Adi Ganesha or the Naramukha Ganesha is the Ganapatheeshwaram in Tamilnadu.

Dodda Ganesha Temple was constructed in 16th century and is dedicated to a sacred bull – Nandi carved out of a single granite block.  situated on Bull Temple Road in Basavanagudi. The temple is a typical specimen of Dravidian architecture.

It has a huge monolithic statue of Ganapathi which is about 18ft height and 16ft width. Also known as Shakthi Ganapathi and Satya Ganapathi, this idol of Ganesh is believed to be growing on its right side.

The main offering to the deity is butter, and daily more than 110 kgs of butter is used of this purpose. The deity is also occasionally anointed with fruits, vegetables, turmeric and kumkum powder.

It is amazing to know that the butter never melts.   After every four years, the butter deity is broken and distributed amongst the devotees.