Ashtavinayak Ganpati Darshan

Bhallal was a very ardent devotee of Lord Ganesh and his father Kalyansheth wanted to put a stop to it. One day, a very angry kalyasheth tied his son to the tree and told him to free himself with the help of lord Ganesha. The lord, after hearing the plea of his devotee came down in the form of a Brahmin and freed Bhallal. On Bhallal’s request, a temple with the deity was built on the spot. This is worth noting because this is the only temple in this circuit that is named after a devotee of his. Siddhivinayak Temple of Siddhatek is one of the Ashtavinayaka and the only Ashtavinayaka shrine in Ahmednagar district.

The temple is located on the northern bank of the river Bhima on a hillock, surrounded by thick foliage of Babul trees. The idol faces north with its trunk to the left, and has to be worshipped from the rear of the temple. This idol seems little different from the rest of the Ashtavinayak idols in a sense that it appears to be poorly designed or carved like the other idols.

Incidentally, the Chintamani Vinayak was supposed to be the family deityof Shrimant Madhavrao I Peshwa. In the above-mentioned legend, the stone idol that Ballal's father threw away is known as ashtavinayak mandir Dhundi Vinayak. The birth celebration of Dhundi Vinayak takes place from Jyeshtha Pratipada to Panchami.

The idol of Ganesha was found in the lake, which is located right next to the temple. There is an oil lamp inside this temple which is alight continuously from 1892. There’s another reason why this temple is popular among couples. It is a common belief that eating the coconut prasad from this temple on a Maghi Chaturthi, will bless couples with a son. The deity is seated and flanked on both sides by Riddhi and Siddhi. There is a local belief that the real statue of Mahaganpati is hidden in some vault and this statue has ten trunks and twenty arms.

The idol faces the east, is seated in a cross-legged position with a broad forehead, with its trunk pointing to the left. Ranjangaon Ganpati is one among the Ashtavinayak, celebrating eight instances of legends related to Ganesha. This Temple Ganpati Idol was inaugurated and donated by "Khollam" family one of the Gold Smith family in Ranjangaon.

It is believed that Parvati, Lord Shiva's consort, performed penance at this very spot, in order to beget Ganesha as her child. Hence, the name of the temple came to be Girijatmat (Girija's son). Most interestingly, this temple is situated amidst a cave complex of 18 caves of Buddhist origin. This Buddhistvihara is alternatively called Ganesh-Leni and Lenyadri.

It has an imposing main gate which is guarded by two statues of Jay and Vijay. The temple is designed in such away that during Dakshinayan, the apparent movement of the sun to the south, the rays of the sun fall directly on the deity. The temple of Maha Ganpati is very close to the centre of the town Ranjangaon. The temple was erected during the rule of the Peshwas. Peshwa Madhavrao had constructed the inner sanctum, to house the swayambhoo idol.