Shree Ganesh Temples (other than Ashtavinayaka)

It is largely assumed that Lord Ganesha's existence is mainly in Maharashtra state in India. However along with the Ashtavinayaka temples at Morgaon, Siddhatek, Pali, Mahad, Theur, Lenyadri, Ozar, and Ranjangaon places in Maharashtra, there are other 13 other famous holy places of Lord Ganesha across India. These 13 Shree Ganesha places are as follows:

1. Omkar Ganesh Temple in Prayag, Uttar Pradesh
2. Dhundiraj Ganesh Temple in Kashi - It is said that Lord Shiva himself installed the Shree Ganesha Idol here.
3. Bottom of Himalaya near Kashyap Sarovar (Lake) - Kashyap Rishi (Sage) who was the founder of Kashmir installed Shree Ganesh Idol here
4. Kalamb, Dist. Yavatmal, Maharashtra State, India - King of God Lord Indra installed Shree Ganesha Idol here to get free from curses of Gautami
5. "Shami Vighnesh" temple near Nagpur in state of Maharashtra - This is also known as Adhasa
6. On the bank of Narmada river  near ancient Avanti Nagar - Planet Mars installed this Ganesha idol here. But there is no further reference available about this temple
7. Bhalachandra Ganesh Temple, Parbhani, Maharashtra- Moon once ridiculed Ganesh and got curse from Ganesh. To get rid of this curse, Moon had to pray Ganesha. For this purpose Moon installed Ganesha Idol at this place near Parbhani in Maharashtra state. This place is also called as "Mansal Kshetra"
8. Vidnyan Ganesh - Lord Dattatreya also did Ganesh poojan. For this he had installed this Ganesha idol which is known as Vidnyan Ganesh. This place is on the bank of Godavari river near Jalana in Maharashtra state
9. Jaleshpur Ganesh Mandir - This temple in at Jaleshpur in West Bengal. In the course of time, the significance of this holy place is lost.
10. Ganesh Temple at Vijaypur - Like Jaleshpur, even this temple at Vijaypur in Andhra Pradesh has lost it significance.
11. Padmalaya Ganapati Mandir - This temple is at Erandol, Jalgaon District in Maharashtra. This half Shree Ganesh Peeth. There are two and half Shree Ganesha Peeths in India. Here Krantivirya and Shankha had installed this Gan.esha Idol.
12. Ashapurak Ganesh Mandir - This Ganesh Mandir in on Jalana-Beed road at Tapalgaon. Bhrushundi Rishi (sage) had installed this Ganesha idol. There are few references which say this idol was installed by Yamaraj. Near Jalana only there is another Ganesh temple known as "Ganapatiche Rajur"
13. Shvet Vighneshwar Temple - Even after very hard efforts during Samudra Manthan, when Amrit could not be retrieved, Lord Shankar and Lord Indra installed the Shree Ganesha idol at Kumbhakonam. With Shree Ganesha's blessings, finally the Amrit could be retrieved. 

Apart from these 21 Ganesha temples (13 above plus 8 from Ashtavinayakas), there are 8 more incarnations of Lord Ganesha. All these 8 incarnations are on seashores of India. In Hindu dharma, they are also called as Dwardevata. Mostly Shree Ganesha had longer stay nearby Narmada river.

Hope this article helps in knowing more about Shree Ganesha and its different holy places and temples.

Pancha Mahabhutatmak Shiva Temples (Lord Shiva's Places full of Five Great Elements)

There are five Lord Shiva's Places (Temples) across India which offer the similar benefits of pilgrimages of twelve Jyotirlingas. These Shiva's places possess and illustrate each of five great elements called Panch Mahabhutas and hence they are called Panch Mahabhutatmak Shiva Places. Out of five, four are in Tamilnadu and one in Andhra Pradesh near Tirupati. It is said that human body is comprised of these panch mahabhutas i.e. great elements. These five panch mahabhutas are Earth (Prithvi), Water (Jala), Fire (Agni), Wind (Vayu) and Sky (Akash). Not just human body, but the entire universe is made up of these five elements. It is also said that if we do pilgrimage of these 5 Panch Mahabhutaairtmak places, one by one all these elements in our body gets purified and our soul reaches the state of Enlightenment. This was the thought process of our ancestors and thats why they had mentioned about these pilgrimages which give the same fortune as that of doing pilgrimage of 12 Jyotirlings.


These five Shiva Places are as given below:

1. Shri Jambukeshwar (JalaLing): Godess Parvati has installed this Shivlinga beneath Jamun tree at the bank of Kaveri River. Hence this Shivlinga is famous as Jambukeshwar and also a JalaLing. Mata Parvati had established this Linga to worship Lord Shiva, as a token of this Temple Priests wears Saree, Mukut while performing day's first Puja (prayer) to pay respect and tribute the Mata Parvati. Kaveri river is also given the same importance as that of Ganga river. Festivals are performed and celebrated throughout the year. The Shivling is considered to be 2000 years old, yet you will find the temple and its surroundings as if they are developed in recent times. Temple is still in the good condition.
2. Chidambaram (AkashLing): Chidambaram temple is one of the most ancient temples in the Southern India. Here the Lord Shiva is in the form of Nataraj. The temple is spread in 39 acres of area. There are gopuras (monumental towers) in four directions. The gopur on the west is very special as there 108 mudras of dancing decorated on it. Temple is divided into five different parts. They are called Sabha. In the main mandir (temple) i.e. in Chitsabha part one can get Akashroop (Sky form) of Lord Shiva. In the main temple (Gabhara), one gets the darshan of Akashling. In gabhara you can view only Shivling and nothing else which is the characteristic of Sky (Akash). Again as Adi Shankaracharya had said "Chidanandroop Shivohm Shivohm, this saying is proved here at Chidambaram.
3. Shri Arunachalam (Agni Ling): Entire Arunchalam mountain is form of Lord Shiva. However there is a temple of Lord Shiva there. This is very ancient place. First mandap (Big Hall) has thousand pillars. In the main part (gabhara) there is AgniLing. Though it is called Agniling, it is actually made up of stone and not fire. To this few Tamil scholars maintain that probably there must be a volcano because of which it might have been named AgniLing. There is a good arrangement for stay at Tiruvannamalai. One can even stay at ShriRamanAshram as well. Just that you have inform and send letter to its manager. One can send their letter to "Shreeramanmaharshi Ashram, Tiruvannamalai, Tamilnadu".
4. Shree Ekameshwar (Prithvi Ling): Kanchipuram is the only mokshadayini (liberation from rebirth giving) city in southern part of India. There are two main parts of this city called Shiva Kanchi and Vishnu Kanchi. They are also called as Big Kanchi and Small Kanchi. This temple is in Shiva Kanchi. Ekambarnath or Ekamranath Shiva's temple is spread across big area. The main gopur (monumental tower, stambha) is 188 ft tall. This Shiva ling is not made up of stone instead it is made up from sand. Mata Parvati has made this Shiva Ling. It is big in size. Since it is made from Sand, it is considered to be of Prithvi tatva i.e. having earth element. Panchamrit or Jala abhisheks are not done to this Shivling. At the max, scents can be applied. Touch of water or liquid elements are strictly avoided here. This temple has three floors. Each floor has different types (sitting, slipping, standing) of idols of Lord Vishnu. 
5. SriKalahasti (Vayu Ling): This holy place is some 65 Kms from Tirupati. Due to road condition it takes about 3 hrs by road to reach this place. This temple is on the bank of river and it has four gopuras (monumental towers). This makes this temple very attractive.This temple is very big. This is very ancient temple at least 1000 years old. There are more than thousands small sized Shivlingas by wall side inside the temple area. In these lingas, there is one Shivling which is 1 ft tall and made up of Sphatik (quartz zone). Main Shiv Ling is very old and ancient. It is very tall in nature. On it, Shiva Sahastranaam is written in Telugu. This temple is also very famous for performing Rahu and Ketu grahas shanti pujas. This puja is also called as Kalsarpayog shanti puja.

Rohtang Pass - Such an Altitude to transform your Attitude

Rohtang Pass is a very high mountain pass on Leh to Manali Road. The highest point is at an elevation of some 3,979 meters. I happened to visit the Rohtang Pass during my Simla, Kullu Manali tour. Tour manager and the driver of our bus were very reluctant to take us to the highest point by giving various excuses such as its been closed by Army due to snow meltdown etc. Our group was splitted in 2 sub-groups and was travelling in 2 different buses. Due to our determination, we could compelled our tour manager and driver to take us on top of Rohtang Pass. Our other sub-group got into their respective driver's trap and henve could not do the same. They could managed to go only the halfway.

Rohtang Pass

We had real fun out there at the top. It gives real sense of achievement as you feel on top of the world. I was always fascinated by Rohtang Pass especially after I watched the song in movie "Jab We Met" shot on Karina and Shahid Kapoor. Song was so very beautifully pictured then that I got very determined to visit it whenever I go to Simla-Manali tour.It was first week of June when there was not much snow as it used to be during Feb-Mar period. During Feb-Mar one can see huge amount of snow everywhere. But yet we could see snow in small small pockets every now and then so we were not disappointed much. Then top is the top so we were happy for that. Probably due to lesser amount of snow we could reach the top.

Well my dream came true on 04-Jun-2011. As we reached the bottom of the Rohtang Pass, we were convinced to rent out some special clothes to protect ourselves from the chilling cold. The clothes also includedThey charged us some Rs. 100/- odd then per person. After wearing those clothes and reaching the top we thought that probably we could have managed with our own winter clothes. So we were cursing the tour manager but later on we realised that it was a good decision as we played and tried to climb some elevated part at the top the clothes were badly damaged. Well I did some Sunny Deol styled "Maa Tuze Salam" from the top of the "Rohtang Pass".

It was indid a memorable day for me. On our way back we met with our other subgroup which was then very annoyed with their driver but then it was little too late.

I suggest the readers of this post to plan a visit to Rohtang Pass atleast once in their lifetime. Even if they have made it before still a worth visiting again. 

Do write back for more clarifications on vijaymane66@gmail.com or submitting the contact form.Jai Hind

Manali - Nature at its Best

                                                    

To speak with the entire Simla-Kullu-Manali region is full of natural beauties. But I felt that at Manali, the natures appears to be at Best.

I was amazed to see the different shades of Nature. To enhance this effect, god has clubbed it with spitituality and divinity. In fact it is also claimed that this is were foundation for Mankind is being laid out.

You will find different kinds of Flowers as depicted in the photos included as part of this blog. You will also apple and akrod trees as you walk down the streets.

 

You can see quite a good number of Hindu and Buddhist temples in Manali and surrounding areas. You will find temples of Hidimba, Ghatotkach, Ram Mandir at Vashist, Manu Mandir.

Hidimba Temple

Ghatotkach Temple

Hidimba was wife of Bhima while Ghatotkach was their son. Temples of both Hidimba & Ghatotkach are in same vicinity.
At the backdrop of Hidimba temple, there are beautiful range of trees where certain scenes of Movie Roja were pictured.






Ram Mandir at Vashist is the temple at which place Lord Rama did his prayaschitta after killing demon king Ravana. As Ravana was a brahmin scholar himself so Rama was feared of Brahmahatya and hence he performed prayaschita rituals at this place. Also Vashista had mentioned to Laxmana that whoever visits this place and take a holy bath will be freed from all his sins.

At Manu Mandir, you will find temple of Manu rishi who is supposedly started the mankind era on the earth. In fact this temple and surrounding area was called Manu Alay meaning Manu's Home which was later got recognition as Manali. (A picture depicting the board displaying detailed information in this regard is attached within this blog.)

Maharshi Manu Mandir, Manali

There is also a very beautiful ancient Buddhist monastery.

Buddhist monastery

So all in all Manali is full of nature, spirituality, culture etc.

I enjoyed my trip to Manali for many reasons as mentioned above, I hope you can also get the same enjoyment and get recharged.

For any query, please contact us via email on vijaymane66@gmail.com and/or contact form.

We wish you a very happy and enjoyable trip to Manali