Om Shri Nirmal Ganesha Namoh Namah

Shri Balleshwar, Pali

In the Konkan Pallir village now known as Pali there lived a young boy Ballal who
was a very sincere devotee of Lord Ganesh. Son of a rich businessman, his pre-
occupation with worship at a young age displeased his father. Ballal spent a large
part of his time in worship and influenced his friends to do so too. His friends’
parents felt that Ballal was misleading their children by showing them the
Bhaktimarg [the path of devotion] at such young age. They asked Ballal’s father to
restrain him. His father went to look for Ballal and found him in the forest
engrossed in his worship of Lord Ganesh. He disrupted the puja, threw away the idol
of Ganesh and beat his son. Not content with this he also tied him to a tree. He then
left Ballal in the forest asserting that let Lord Ganesh himself come and rescue him.
Ballal was in great pain but he kept calling upon Lord Ganesh who took the form of
a Brahmin and appeared before him. He set Ballal free and then asked him to make
a wish. Ballal entreated Lord Ganesh to reside in this region. The God acquiesced
and, resided in a stone which is now believed to be the idol of Ballaleshwar Vinayak,
that people worship at Pali. The idol that Ballal’s father had desecrated too was
placed in the temple. The idol of Dhundivinayak nearby is believed to be that idol.
 Shri Chintamani, Theur

Abhijeet was a great and powerful king who had everything in life except a son
who would be the heir to his throne. The king and his wife at the suggestion of
Rishi Vaishyampayane carried great penance and were finally rewarded with son
who they named Gana. He later came to be known as Ganaraja.
The son was bright brave and gifted except he was also very aggressive. Ganaraja
was once invited to visit the ashram of Sage Kapil. The sage was a good host and
with the help of the Chintamani Ratna [a precious stone] he was able to serve the
best of food to Ganaraj. Impressed by the ratna, Ganaraj wanted it for himself,
but when Kapilmuni refused to part with the ratna, he forcibly took it away from
him.
Goddess Durga who was Kapilmuni’s mentor advised him to seek the help of Lord
Ganesh.
Lord Ganesh responded to his call and battled with Ganaraj under a Kadamba
tree and managed to get the ratna back for Kapilmuni. But by then Kapilmuni
had lost all desire to possess the Chintamani ratna and he offered it Lord Ganesh.
He tied the Chintamani Ratna around Lord Ganesh’s neck and so he came to be
known as the Chintamani Vinayak.
Since all of this occurred under a Kadamba tree, Theyoor was also known as
Kadambanagar.
 Shri Girijatmaj, Lenyadri

Goddess Parvati went through severe penance in the cave at the

Lenyadri mountain to become the mother of Lord Ganesh. Pleased by
her penance Gajanan blessed her and promised that he would take
birth as her son.
On the Chaturthi, fourth day of Bhadrapad Shuddh she created a
idol from the dirt wiped from her body. In this idol entered Gajanan.
He stood before as her a little boy, who had six arms and three eyes.
This boy was called Ganesh, the one who has conquered all the
senses.
It is believed that Ganesh resided in Lenyadri for fifteen years
 Shri Mahaganapati, Ranjangoan

Tripurasur was a the son of Sage Gritsamad. One day the sage sneezed
and from this was created a young boy who the Sage brought up as his
own son. The sage taught the boy the Ganana Twam, Ganesh Mantra.
Equipped with this mantra the boy meditated intensely on Lord Ganesh
who ultimately blessed him. He was given three pura-s of gold silver and
iron. Since he was the owner of these three pura-s he was given the
name Tripur. Ganesh also bestowed on Tripur to be the most powerful,
who none but Lord Shiva himself could destroy and after being destroyed
by Lord Shiva he would attain mukti-salvation.
This boon made Tripur proud and he brought havoc in the entire world.
He conquered the Nether world and then proceeded to takeover Heaven.
He defeated Indra the king of heaven. His aggression made Lord Brahma
hide in a lotus and Lord Vishnu in the Shirsagar. He soon also took over
Lord Shiva’s Kailash Parvat and thus became the King of all the three
worlds. The gods wondered on how to vanquish Tripurasur. Lord Narada
told them that, since he had been granted a boon by Lord Ganesh
himself it would be very difficult to vanquish him. He advised them to
meditate on Lord Ganesh. Pleased Lord Ganesh decided to help the
Gods.
 Shri Mahaganapati, Ranjangoan
Disguised as brahmin he visited Tripurasur and told him that he was a
very enlightened Brahmin and could make for him three flying planes.
Riding these he woud be able to go anywhere he wished within minutes.
The planes could only be destroyed by Shiva.In return Lord Ganesh
asked him to get him the statue of Chintamani which was at the Kailash
Mountain. Lord Shiva refused to give the statue to Tripurasur’s
messenger. The angry Tripurasur himself went to get the statue. A fierce
battle started between him and Lord Shiva. He destroyed everything that
belonged to the Lord Shiva who too retired to the Girikandar.
Lord Shiva too realized that he was unable to destroy Tripurasur
because he had not paid his respects to Lord Ganesh. He recited the
Shadaakshar Mantra to invoke Ganesh. On doing so from his mouth
emerged Gajanan to grant Shiva a boon. Shiva continued his invocation
of Ganesh who ultimately directed him on how Tripurasur could be
killed. Lord Shiva was asked to recite the Sahastranam and then direct
an arrow at the three pura-s of Tripurasur.
Lord Shiva followed these instructions and finally vanquished
Tripurasur.
The place where Lord Shiva invoked Lord Ganesh he also created a
temple for him.
 Shri Moreshwar, Morgoan

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 in the sea as she
could not bear the brilliance and the radiance of the embryo. From that
embryo, 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.
 Shri Moreshwar, Morgoan

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 in 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.
 Shri Siddhivinayak, Siddhatatek

The place Siddhtek is believed to be the place where Vishnu ultimately

achieved siddhi and thereby killed the demons Madhu and Kaitabha who he
had been battling for a thousand years.Long ago Lord Brahma thought of
creating Nature and for that he ceaselessly chanted the alphabet "OM". Lord
Ganesha was delighted with the penance and gave him the boon that he will
fulfill the wish of creating Nature.When God Brahma was creating Nature, Lord
Vishnu fell asleep.Demons Madhu and Kaitabh emerged from God Vishnu's
ears. They started harassing all the Gods and Goddesses.God Brahma realised
that only Vishnu will be able to annihilate these demons. Vishnu tried his very
best to kill them but failed. He then stopped the battle and took the form of
Gaankushal Gandharva and began singing. Shiva when he heard the celestial
notes of the Gandharva summoned him. Vishnu then told Lord Shiva all about
his unfinished battle. Shiva said that since he had not sought the blessings of
Ganesh his task had remained unfinished. Shiva asked Vishnu to recite the
Shadakshar mantra[the Ganeshaya Namah] and said he would achieve what
he wanted.
Vishnu chose the Siddhshetra to complete the ritual of propitiating Ganesh.
Ganesh granted him his wish. Vishnu then created a four-door temple on the
hillock and installed the statue of Gajanan. Since Vishnu achieved siddhi here
Ganesh was called the Siddhivinayak and the place was called Siddhtek or
Siddhshetra.
 Shri Varad Vinayak, Mahad

Rukmangada was the son of King Bheema of Kaudinya. One day Rukmangada went into the
forest on a hunt. There he met Mukundaa, whose husband was the Sage Vachaknavi.
Mukundaa felt attracted to the young Rukmanganda and expressed her desire for him.
Rukmangada was shocked and turned down her proposal. Mukundaa cursed him that he would
lose his beauty and turn into a leper.
Rukmangada’s body changed instantly.
The dejected Rukmangada worshipped Chintamani Vinayak who blessed him and freed him
from the curse. In the mean time Indra came to know of Mukundaa’s desire and disguised as
Rukmangada ful-filled her desire. Mukundaa gave birth to a son who was called Gritsamav. He
grew to be a great scholar. One day he participated in a major debate where great sages like
Vasistha, Atri and Vishwasmitra were invited. Atri said that he could not debate with Gritsamav
as he was not a true Brahmin. Gritsamav unaware of the flaw in his birth was shocked. He
came back to his mother and demanded the truth. On knowing the truth he was stunned and
cursed her that she would turn into a thorny Ber tree, and though this tree would bear delicious
fruit its thorns will keep people away. Mukundaa in turn said that since he was so harsh in
judging her, he would in his life bear the pain of being a parent of a heartless and cruel child.
Gritsamav moved into the Pushpak forest and started a severe penance. Ganesh heard his
prayers and asked him what he wished. Gritsamav asked to be recognized as a Brahmin and he
then asked Ganesh to reside in the Puspak forest. Ganesh granted him the two wishes.
Gritsamav called Ganesh Varad Vinayak, the one who fulfills all wishes and consecrated him in
a temple This temple is now believed to be the temple at Mahad. Gritsamav is known as the
creator of the Ganana Twam mantra.
 Shri Vigneshwar, Ozhar

A king called Abhinandan one day decided to become the King of Heaven. To
achieve this goal he started a Yagya, a sacrifice. When Indra the King of
Heaven heard this he decided to create obstacles in the king’s path. He
summoned Kalapurush and asked him to destroy King Abhinandan’s Yagya.
After doing so Kalapurush acquired the name Vighnasura, the creator of
obstacles.
Vighnasura then went on a rampage and destroyed all Vedic practices on
earth. The gods realised that they had to destroy this destructive force and
they turned to Gajanan for help, who in those days was at the ashram of
Sage Parashar.
Gajanan took birth as the son of Parshwaputra and his wife Deepvatsala.
This son then fought valiantly with Vighnasura, who had to except defeat. He
abdicated himself to the Lord and asked to be blessed. Ganesh said that he
would be let him go, but made him promise that he would never enter any
place where Lord Ganesh was being worshipped. Vighnasura accepted this on
condition that Lord Ganesh be known by his name.
So Lord Ganesh came to be known as Vighneshwar or Vighnaharta.
Ozhar it is believed is where Lord Ganesh resided as Vigneshwar.
Om Shri Gauri Ganesha Sakshat Shri Mataji Shri
Nirmala Devi Namoh Namah