The Ganesh Temple at Ganapatipule in Ratanagiri district of konkan which is located at a distance of 350 kms from Mumbai is very ancient, right from the time of Peshwas. In ancient literature like Mudgal - puran etc. this ' Siddhivinayaka's (Ganesh) temple is being referred as “Paschim Dwar- Devata “(Western Sentinal God) various myths are prevalent about the temples and deity in Konkan.
Ganpatipule is one of the" Ashta Dwar Devatas" (Eight Welcoming Dieties) of the subcontinent and is known as Western’s Sentinel God. During the reign of Moguls (about 1600 years before), there was a' kevda' (Flower tree) Jungle at the foot of the hill where the temple of the 'Swayambhu' Ganapati is presently situated. Here lived Balbhatji Bhide, a brahmin, who was a renter of the village, during the moghul period. Bhide encountered a major personal problem. Bhide being a determined person, that he was, made up his mind to give up food and water till being relieved of the personal calamity. He stayed in the Kevda - Jungal for penance and to worship his tutelary direty' mangalmurti' (Lord Ganesh) during this period, Bhide had a vision about Lord Ganesh who said, “I have come to Aagargule (Ganesh Gule) to fulfill the wishes of my devotees. You worship and propitiate here, and will be relieved of all your difficulties”
During the same period, one of the cows of Bhide was not giving milk, for which reason, the cowherd kept a close watch on her. He was astonished to see that the milk was flowing from the cow's udder on the place where the idol of the God is placed at present. The cowherd narrated the incident to Bhide. After cleaning up the entire area Bhide found the idol of Lord Ganesh which he had seen in his vision He built a shrine here and started performing the rituals.
Ganapatipule derived its name from “Ganapati" or the Lord of "Ganas"(army) and Pule' which means sand dune.
No comments:
Post a Comment