Moreshwar Temple

At a distance of 17 km from Jejuri and 65 km from Pune, Sri Moreshwar temple, also known as Sri Mayureshwar Temple, is a Hindu temple located at Moregaon in the Pune district of Maharashtra. This temple is considered to be the first time among the Ashta Vinayak temples of Lord Ganesha and is also one of the popular places of pilgrimage in Pune.

The presiding deity of this temple is Lord Mayureshwar (Lord Ganesha) also called Lord Moreshwar, made of an alloy of five metals, with his trunk towards the left. Ganesha is depicted armed with a spear, while a cobra encircles his head. Lord Ganesha is flanked by his consorts Riddhi, and Goddess Siddhi. The other important deities of this temple are Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati, Lord Vishnu, Lord Rama, Goddess Sita, Lord Vignesha, Chintamani, Lord Brahma, Nagna-Bhairava, and Nandi. The entrance of the temple contains a 6 feet mouse, the vehicle of Lord Ganesha and the temple also houses the image of a peacock. The assembly hall of this temple contains 23 idols of Lord Ganesha, each depicting different forms of the Lord.

History

It was predicted by Lord Brahma that Lord Ganesha would incarnate as Vinayak in the Kritayug, as Mayureshwar in Treta Yug, as Gajanan in the Dwaparyug, and as Dhumraketu in the Kalyug. All these incarnations are related to certain legends of Lord Ganesha killing various demons.

In the Gandaki Nagari of Mithila, a king named Chakrapani was ruling. He and his wife Queen Ugra were unhappy, as they did not have a child. The couple worshipped God Surya and the queen with the blessings of the Sun God became pregnant. But soon released the embryo into the sea as she could not bear the brilliance and the radiance of the embryo. From that embryo, a brilliant son was born. The sea in the disguise of a Brahmin approached King Chakrapani with the child and gave the child to the King. As the child was born in the sea the king named him Sindhu. Sindhu, after growing old and strong became more powerful by worshipping the Sun God as advised by his Guru Shukracharya. Lord Surya, as a boon gave the nectar to Sindhu and said that as long as the nectar remains near his navel he will not die. Sindhu thus received immortality and started attacking Gods like Indra, Vishnu, etc. he defeated all of them and kept them in prison in his kingdom. The remaining gods worshipped Lord Ganesh and requested him to rescue them from the demon king Sindhu. Ganesha pleased with their prayers, promised to take birth as Devi Parvati's son and kill the demon.

Parvati recited the Ekakshari ‘OM' mantra to please the Lord and made a clay idol of Ganesha on the Bhadrapada Shuddha Chaturthi Day and worshipped. The idol soon turned into a real child. When the child was ten years old, Shiva and Parvati along with their son decided to leave the mountain Meru and on their way to mountain Kailash, Lord Ganesha defeated the demon Kamalasura with the help of Siddhi(the personified shakti) and Buddhi(the personified Intelligence). After this incident on their way, Lord Ganesha found the Gandaki Nagari of the demon king Sindhu and decided to attack him with all the army of Shiva's attendants. He thus attacked Sindhu and at first killed the two sons of Sindhu. Sindhu was advised to release the Gods and Goddesses from prison and leave the battlefield by his father. But he did not listen to it and continued the battle. Lord Ganesha removed the nectar from his navel with his Parashu and killed him. During this battle, Lord Ganesha was riding a peacock and therefore he got the name ‘Mayureshvar', the one who rides a peacock. Mayureshvar decided to reside at Morgaon, for the sake of his devotees.

Another legend that accounts for Lord Ganesh's Mayureshwar is:

Sage Kashyap had two wives, Kadru and Vinita. Kadru's sons who were the serpents, held Vinita's sons Shayen, Sampati, and Jatayu who were the birds, captive. Vinita, their mother was very hurt by this. As a consolation, Sage Kashyap gave Vinita the boon of having one more son also in the form of a bird. When this son was in the egg stage, Lord Ganesh broke the egg, and a peacock emerged from the egg. The newborn peacock and Ganesh battled with each other. Vinita the mother had to intervene to end this battle. Ultimately her peacock son chose to be Ganesha's vehicle and laid down the condition that Ganesh would be known by the peacock's name. Thus Ganesha took the name Mayureshvar. Moreshwar is a local variation of the name.

Architecture

The temple is one of the Ashtavinayaka, the eight revered shrines of Ganesha in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The temple is the starting and ending point of Ashtavinayaka Yatra. The eleven staircases of the temple have importance. Also, the ‘Nandi’ in front of the temple is a symbol of spirituality.

The main deity of this temple is Lord Moreshwar (Ganesh) also called Lord Mayureshwar, made of an alloy of five metals, with His trunk towards the left. Ganesh is bounded with Goddess Riddhi, and also Goddess Siddhi, his consorts. The other important deities of this temple are Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvathi, Lord Vishnu, Lord Rama, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Goddess Sita, Lord Vignesha, Chintamani, Lord Brahma, Nagna Bhairava, Nandi, etc.

Stone boundaries are a special element of the Morgaon Ganpati temple.

The courtyard has 2 Deepmalas and a 6-foot mouse that sits in front of the temple. A huge structure of Nandi faces the Lord on the outside of the temple gates. The area around the assembly hall includes 23 various idols representing numerous forms of Lord Ganesha. Recently there is an assembly hall which is the house to the deities of Lord Vishnu and Lakshmi.