Some Ganesh Temples

[Guest guest]

http://perso.club-internet.fr/ganapati/anglais/adetcult.html#cultes

Some Ganesh temples

Prayers adressed to God Ganesh are carried out in the context of specific

rituals (pûjâ), as well as prayers to others great gods, like Shiva or Vishnu.

But, in addition, any invocation to any god, whoever he is, must preceded by an

invocation to god Ganesh. Indeed, the role of god Ganesh, as an intercessor,

appears to be prominant everywhere, and everytime.

Il must be noted first that there is a Ganesh temple in Paris. The address is :

72 Rue de Philippe de Girard, 75018, PARIS Tel 0140342189 Opened everyday from

9.30 am to 8.30 pm. WEB site

Everybody can check in India that temples specifically dedicated to god Ganesh,

as the main deity, are less numerous than expected.

We give the name and location for some of them. They draw on huge crowds, mainly

during religious festivals such the Ganesha-Chaturthi :

The Manakkula Vinâyaka, temple in Pondichery (Tamil Nadu) The Pillaiyarpatti

temple (60 km east Madurai, Tamil Nadu) The Uchhi Pillaiyar temple in

Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu) The small Ganesh temple, where the god form is

known as Naramukha Ganapati, Chidambaram (Tamil Nadu) The Mukkuruni Pillaiyar

temple, inside the main Minakshisundareshvara temple, in Madurai (Tamil Nadu)

The small Sveta Ganapati temple (White Ganesh carved in an monolithic

meerschaum block), inside the Shiva temple, in Tiruvalanjuli, near Swamimalai

(Tamil Nadu) Many rock temples, excavated during the Pandya period, all over

the Tamil Nadu region The Ganesh temple in Ranthambore, near Sawai Madhopur

(Rajasthan) The Ganesh temple in Jaipur (Rajasthan). etc.

The temples (mandir) named Ashta Vinâyaka, which means eight Vinâyaka in the

Mahârâshtra region , are also very famous, since each of them owns a Svayambû

Ganesh. They are located in the following townships, not far from the Pune

(Poona) city :

Morgaon : people here pray Ganesh under his form of Lord Shri Mayureshvar. This

Ganesh form, riding a peacock, fighted and defeated Sindhu. Siddhatekgaon :

here, Ganesh bestowed Vishnu the necessary power to subdue two terrific demons,

Madhu et Kaitabha. Paligaon : Ganesh, under his Ballaleshvar form, came and

helped Ballâla, one of his very faithful worshippers, persecuted by jealous

persons Mahad : Ganesh, under his form of Shri Varad Vinâyaka, gave a favor to

Grusmad, which allowed him to become a Rishi . Theorgaon (ou Theur) : here is

located the Ganesh Chintâmani temple. This form of god Ganesh recovered the

Chintâmani jewel , which had been robbed by the demon Guna to the Sage Kapila.

Lenyâdri : The Ganesh temple located in this village is devoted to Shri

Girijâtmaj, a Ganesh form; this name means "born from the Goddess Girijâ"

(Pârvatî). A local legend reports that Ganesh probably spent here, with his

mother, the first fifteen years of his life. Ojhar : Under his Ganesh

Vighneshvara form, Ganesh fighted here the Vighnâsura (Obstacle) devil, who

disturbed the Vedic rituals. Ranjangaon : Lord Shiva, under his Tripurantaka ,

form, just about to fight (and to overcome)the Tripurâsura demon, who had

conquered the Three Worlds and misused his enormous powers, worshipped Ganesh

before the battle.

Furthermore, all or nearly all Shiva temples, include Ganesh icons in secondary

temples (inside the main temple) or, at least, in particular shrines : for

exemple in Chidambaram, in Vellore, in Gangaikondacholapuram, etc. On the other

hand, Vishnu temples generally do not have any Ganesh shrine.

This chapter will introduce some aspects about the Ganesh cult. In a first part

will be presented the exoteric cult, that is to say the popular and daily

worship. In a second part, some indications about esoteric cults will be

provided.

Ganesh worship

Exoteric worship

Ganesh is always present in the cult to the five main hindu deities

(Pañchâyatanapûja) : Ganesh, Sûrya , Durgâ , Vishnu , Shiva , but the Ganesh

worshippers are mainly devoted to their favorite god. Vishnu is the Master of

Akasha, the ether Sûrya, the Sun, is the Master of Vayu, the air Shakti

(Durgâ), the Goddess commands the energy of fire (Agni) Ganesh represents

water (Apas), the energy of fulfilment; he is the Master of Varuna, god of

waters. This is why, when the Ganesha Chathurti festival ends, clay statues of

god Ganesh must be brought to the sea and immersed to be dissolved. and Shiva

is the Master of the Earth; he is represented by the stone-made Shiva Lingam.

Ganesh is worshipped every day. The five ritual offers are :

the red santal paste flowers encense the light of burning campher food.

These offers represent the Five Elements ether, air, fire, water and earth.

Rituals may vary from one region to another in India; their exact codification

seems to be somewhat complex. The Ganesha Pûjâ, as recommanded by ancient

texts, is described Martin-Dubost (1997). A more detailed description,

including the mantra used during the different phases of the ritual, is given

in Sadguru Sant Keshavadas (1988).

http://perso.club-internet.fr/ganapati/anglais/adetcult.html#cultes

** Note: This Url is hefty and contains a lot of information. To read the

rest, pls visit the site.

Find a job, post your resume on Careers.