Chintamani Vinayak Temple

One of the most interesting tours in Indian pilgrimages is the Ashtavinayak tour. Amongst the more fascinating experiences the Ashtavinayak with the most enchanting sights of Lord Ganesha provides great pilgrim pleasures.

One of the Ashtavinayak temples, The Chintamani Vinayak Temple in the Theur district in Pune in the state of Maharashtra in India, is fifth inline in the tour of the Ashtavinayak temples. this is a temple where it is believed Lord Ganesh brings a lot of calm and peace in your life. Here people believe that the Lord would rid you of all your perplexities.

Legend has it that it is here that Lord Ganesha came and restored the invaluable jewel Chintamani from Prince Guna who was the son of King Abhijeet . This prince was brave and gifted but was aggressive sometimes. Once Ganaraja or Prince Guna was invited by Sage Kapil and the sage gave him good food with the help of the  Chintamani Ratna. Ganaraj desired to have this jewel and took it forcibly from Sage Kapila much to his fury.

The sage took Lord Ganesha’s help under the advice of goddess Durga. Lord Ganesha thus gave it back after procuring it from Prince Guna but by then Sage Kapil had lost interest in the jewel and tied it around the Lords’ neck so the name came to be Chintamani Vinayak.

Another legend talks about how Lord Brahma felt very restless here and prayed that Lord Vinayaka comes to relieve his tension. Ganesha eased away all tensions  or Chinta from Lord Brahma’s psyche here in this land thus the area got the name Chintamani .

Constructed during the time of the Peshwas, it was Dharanidhar Maharaj Dev who built it. With five gigantic metal bells, the main temple entrance faces the northern side leading to a hall made of wood. The metal bells have been brought here by the Peshwas from Europe. Then there is a small black stone fountain in this hall. The idol here is believed to be swayambhu or self originated and has the unique sight of the trunk turned to the left. There are diamonds in the eyes and the idol faces eastwards. There is another smaller temple within the Chintamani Vinayak temple and this temple has Lord Shiva as the presiding deity. There are separate sections for meditation and prayers. The Vinayaka Chaturthi festival has many  pilgrims thronging this place and the month of Magh Shudd also has pilgrims and devotes visiting this temple with great fervour.

Situated around 25 km to the south east of the city of Pune, the Theur village is reached easily by road from Pune and has Pune as the nearest railway station. Situated on the banks of the river Mula and Mutha, the whole areas seems to be blessed with Lord Ganesha’s power. The temple thus has a kind of power which is unbeatable and one has to see it to believe the powers that are exuded here. The temple was built at a cost of Rs. 40,000 and today it would something like 400 million rupees. The temple construction is strong, tough and has the same structure that it had 400 years back.

There is a beautiful garden here which is believed to have been built after Madhav Rao Peshwa’s death and his wife committed Sati.

There is a lake behind the temple called the Kadambtheertha. The waters here are said to be greatly pure and healing. It is said that Shrimant Madhavrao Peshwa was suffering from tuberculosis and died at around 27 years of age in this temple premises.