Morya Gosavi or Moraya Gosavi () alias Moroba Gosavi was a prominent saint of the
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
Ganapatya
Ganapatya is a denomination of Hinduism that worships Ganesha (also called Ganapati) as the Saguna Brahman.[Ganesha
Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu d ...](_blank)
as the Supreme God. Morya Gosavi is considered the chief spiritual progenitor of the Ganapatyas and has been described as the "most famous devotee" of Ganesha.
The lifetime of Morya Gosavi is speculated between the 13th to 17th century. Numerous legends recall his life. Morya became devoted to Ganesha when he started visiting the
Morgaon
Shri Mayureshwar Mandir ( mr, श्री मयूरेश्वर मंदीर) or Shri Moreshwar Temple ( mr, श्री मोरेश्वर मंदीर) is a Hinduism, Hindu Hindu temple, temple (''mandir'') dedicated to Gane ...
temple of Ganesha. It is believed that due to the hindrance in Morya's services to the god in the popular Ganesha shrine, Ganesha told Morya that he would appear in
Chinchwad for Morya to worship, so Morya moved from Morgaon to Chinchwad, where Morya built a Ganesha temple. Consequently, Morya took ''
sanjeevan samadhi'' by burying himself alive in his tomb.
Morya had a son called Chintamani, venerated as a living incarnation of Ganesha and addressed as ''
Dev''
(god). Chintamani was succeeded by six more ''Dev''s. The tomb of Morya Gosavi and the Ganesha temple at Chinchwad still attract many Ganesha devotees.
Dating
While Yuvraj Krishan places Morya Gosavi in the 13th–14th century,
RC Dhere
Ramchandra Chintaman Dhere (21 July 1930 – 1 July 2016) was a Marathi writer from Maharashtra, India.
Early life
Dhere was born in the small village of Nigade in Pune district. He was orphaned at an early age of five. He studied at Municipal ...
places him in the 16th century.
Paul B. Courtright and Anne Feldhaus date him to 1610–59.
The
Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation
Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, Pune is the civic body that governs the neighbourhoods of Pimpri, Akurdi, Chinchwad, Nigdi, and the remainder of the northwestern city limits of Pune, India. It was established on 11 October 1982. It g ...
dates him to c. 1330 to 1556. His marriage year is given as 1470 and his son's birth corresponds to 1481.
The ''Encyclopedia of Religion'' dates his death to 1651.
Various legends associate Morya Gosavi with
Humayun
Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northern ...
(1508–1556),
Shahaji
Shahaji Bhonsale (Pronunciation: əɦad͡ʒiː c. 1594 – 1664) was a military leader of India in the 17th century, who served the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, the Bijapur Sultanate, and the Mughal Empire at various points in his career. As a membe ...
(1594–1665)
and his son
Shivaji
Shivaji Bhonsale I (; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adils ...
(1627–1680).
His memorial temple has an inscription records that it was started in 1658-9.
Early life
According to one version of the story, Morya was born in
Bidar
Bidar (/ biːd̪ər/) is a city in the north-eastern part of Karnataka state in India. It is the headquarters of Bidar district, which borders Maharashtra and Telangana. It is a rapidly urbanising city in the wider ''Bidar Metropolitan area ...
,
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
in a
Deshastha Brahmin
Deshastha Brahmin is a Hindu Brahmin subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra and northern area of the state of Karnataka. Other than these states, according to authors K. S. Singh, Gregory Naik and Pran Nath Chopra, Deshastha Br ...
family. He was thrown out of the house by his father as he was thought to be of no use to the family. Morya travelled to the Ganesha shrine at
Morgaon
Shri Mayureshwar Mandir ( mr, श्री मयूरेश्वर मंदीर) or Shri Moreshwar Temple ( mr, श्री मोरेश्वर मंदीर) is a Hinduism, Hindu Hindu temple, temple (''mandir'') dedicated to Gane ...
– in neighbouring
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
– where he found a liking to Ganesha. He settled at
Chinchwad, away from Morgaon.
Another story declares him to be a son of a poor but pious couple
Deshastha Brahmin
Deshastha Brahmin is a Hindu Brahmin subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra and northern area of the state of Karnataka. Other than these states, according to authors K. S. Singh, Gregory Naik and Pran Nath Chopra, Deshastha Br ...
from
Pune
Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
, Maharashtra. Morya is believed to have been born due to the grace of Ganesha, whom the childless couple propitiated. After the birth of Morya, the family moved to Pimple, away from Chinchwad. After the death of his parents, Morya moved to
Tathavade
Tathawade is a census town in Pune district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Tathawade is an emerging suburb of Pune. Many educational institutes like JSPM Institutes, Indira College, Balaji Institutes, Orchids International School, Blosso ...
, away from Chichwad.
Both legends declare he visited the Morgaon temple regularly, daily or monthly to worship Ganesha.
Another tale tells that Morya was born in a
Deshastha Brahmin
Deshastha Brahmin is a Hindu Brahmin subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra and northern area of the state of Karnataka. Other than these states, according to authors K. S. Singh, Gregory Naik and Pran Nath Chopra, Deshastha Br ...
family with the surname Shaligram.
Morya's parents, Bhat Shaligram and his wife moved to Morgaon from Bidar. His parents prayed to Ganesha at Morgaon. Soon, Morya was born to them. Later, Morya became seriously ill and was not recovering so they prayed to Ganesha again. Soon, a ''Gosavi'' (priest) named Nayan Bharati came and gave medicine to Morya, curing him. Nayan Bharati also preached to Morya. Henceforth, the Bhat family took the family name Gosavi and Morya was known as Morya Gosavi.
From Morgaon to Chinchwad
![Morgaon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Morgaon.jpg)
According to a legend, on the occasion of
Ganesh Chaturthi
Ganesh Chaturthi (ISO: ), also known as Vinayak Chaturthi (), or Ganeshotsav () is a Hindu festival commemorating the birth of the Hindu god Ganesha. The festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha's clay idols privately in homes and p ...
(August–September) – the largest festival dedicated to Ganesha – Morya could not find a place in the temple, crowded by the laity and the wealthy Pingle family. Morya left his offering under a tree and then by a "miracle", the laity's offerings from temple were exchanged with Morya's offerings under the tree. The laity accused Morya of sorcery and prohibited his entry in Morgaon. Ganesha appeared in a dream of Pingle and told Pingle that he was offended by the ill-treatment of his favourite devotee Morya. So Pingle requested Morya to come back to Morgaon, but Morya refused. Ganesha thus gave a vision to Morya saying that he would come to stay with Morya in Chinchwad. Accordingly, Morya found an image of Ganesha – similar to the one worshipped at Morgaon – while bathing in the river and built a small shrine for it.
Another tale tells that the head-man of Morgaon was impressed by Morya's pious ways and offered him milk every day he visited Morgaon. Once the head-man was not present at his house, so a blind girl went to offer the milk to Morya. The moment she touched the threshold of the house where Morya was waiting, her sight was restored. Morya became famous due to this miracle and is credited to have cured the eyes of Shivaji (1627–1680) too – who would become the founder of the
Maratha Empire
The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shi ...
later. To escape the crowds of people, Morya relocated to the forest, where present-day Chinchwad stands. Due to his growing age, Morya found it hard to continue his visits to Morgaon. Once he reached Morgaon after the temple was closed. Tired and hungry, he slept. Ganesha gave Morya a dream-vision telling Morya to offer his prayers to him and that he would reside with Morya in Chinchwad and incarnate in Morya's lineage for seven generations. Morya woke to find the temple doors miraculously opened and offered his prayers. In morning when the temple-priests opened the temple-doors, they were astonished to see fresh flowers offered to the Lord and a pearl necklace missing. The necklace was discovered on Morya's neck, who was imprisoned but then freed due to Ganesha's aid. Morya found a conical stone rising in Chinchwad home, which he recognized as Ganesha and built a temple for it.
Another legend does not talk about his arrest, but says that Morya realised the presence of Ganesha at Morgaon but realised that there was hindrance in his devotion, so he moved to the forest near Tathavade to worship Ganesha. On every fourth lunar day after the full moon, Morya used to visit the
Chintamani Temple of Theur. Once, devotees from Chinchwad requested Morya to visit the bank of
Pavana River at Chinchwad. There, Chintamani – the form of Ganesha worshipped at Theur – is believed to have ordered Morya to marry. As per Ganesha's orders, Morya married Uma, the daughter of Govindrao Kulkarni whose family was staying in Tathavade near Chinchwad.
According to a story, as per his guru's orders, Morya performed penance at Theur by observing a strict fast for 42 days, within this period, he is believed to have "divine revelations".
After the death of his parents, Morya moved from Morgaon to Chinchwad.
The present structure of the Theur temple is built by Morya.
Death and lineage
Morya continued to visit Theur,
Ranjangaon
Ranjangaon is a village located at a distance of about 50 km from Pune. Located there is the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) Industrial area and a shrine to Ranjangaon Ganpati, Mahaganapati.
The MIDC in Ranjangoan ...
(another Ganesha temple site) and Chinchwad. Morya had a son, whom he named Chintamani (Chintaman).
Chintamani was venerated as a living incarnation of Ganesha.
But before that according to some experts, he helped the deposed
Mughal emperor
Humayun
Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northern ...
(1508–1556) to escape to
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
, when Humayun again became the Emperor of
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
, he showered Morya with gifts.
According to Dhere, Chhatrapati Shivaji's father Shahaji (1594–1665) is recorded as a donor to Morya Gosavi.
After his wife's death and his guru Nayan Bharati's ''sanjeevan samadhi'', Morya also took ''
sanjeevan samadhi'' by burying himself alive in a tomb with a holy book in his hand.
Morya left strict orders that his tomb be never opened.
Chintamani built a
temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
(samadhi) over his father's tomb.
Chintamani is described to have shown his true form as Ganesha to the
Varkari
Warkari (Marathi: वारकरी; Pronunciation: aːɾkəɾiː Meaning: 'The one who performs the ''Wari) is a sampradaya (religious movement) within the bhakti spiritual tradition of Hinduism, geographically associated with the Indi ...
saint-poet
Tukaram
Sant Tukaram Maharaj (Marathi pronunciation: ̪ukaːɾam was a 17th-century Marathi poet, Hindu ''sant'' (saint), popularly known as Tuka, Tukobaraya, Tukoba in Maharashtra. He was a Sant of Varkari sampradaya (Marathi-Vaishnav tradition) - ...
(1577 – c.1650), who called Chintamani a ''Dev'' spelt also as Deva or Deo (god). The lineage was henceforth known as the Dev family.
Chintamani was followed as a ''Dev'' by Narayan, Chintamani II, Dharmadhar, Chintamani III, Narayan II and Dharmadhar II. The Mughal emperor
Aurangzeb
Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...
(1658–1707) gifted Narayan the hereditary grant of eight villages, impressed by the latter's "miracle" of changing a piece of beef sent by the former into jasmine flowers. (Beef is considered unholy in Hinduism and killing of cows – considered sacred – is prohibited.
) Narayan II violated Morya's orders and opened the latter's tomb. According to the tale, Morya who was found still mediating in the tomb, was disturbed and cursed Narayan II that his son would be the last Dev. Narayan II's son, Dharmadhar II – the seventh generation of Morya – died childless in 1810 ending the direct lineage of Morya, but a distant relative of Dharmadhar, Sakhari was installed as a ''Dev'' by the priesthood to continue the temple funding.
Devotional poetry of all the Devs still survive.
Veneration
Morya Gosavi is considered the chief spiritual progenitor and the most important saint of the Ganapatya – the Hindu sect centred on Ganesha worship – tradition and has been described as the "most famous devotee" of Ganesha.
Chinchwad has shrines to the departed ''Dev''s, chief of which is that of Morya. Morya's memorial temple is a low plain building (30' x 20' x 40') with a square hall or
mandap
A mandapa or mantapa () is a pillared hall or pavilion for public rituals in Indian architecture, especially featured in Hindu temple architecture.
Mandapas are described as "open" or "closed" depending on whether they have walls. In temples, ...
and an octagonal inner shrine, inscribed with a
Marathi
Marathi may refer to:
*Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India
*Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people
*Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece
See also
*
* ...
inscription: "This temple was begun on the bright twelfth of
Kartik (November–December)
Shaka
Shaka kaSenzangakhona ( – 22 September 1828), also known as Shaka Zulu () and Sigidi kaSenzangakhona, was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. One of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu, he ordered wide-reaching reforms that ...
1580 (A.D. 1658-9) Vilambi
Samvatsara
Samvatsara (संवत्सर) is a Sanskrit term for a "year" in Vedic literature such as the ''Rigveda'' and other ancient texts. In the medieval era literature, a samvatsara refers to the "Jovian year", that is a year based on the relative ...
and finished on Monday the bright fourth of
Ashadha
Ashadha or Aashaadha or Aadi ( hi, आसाढ़ ''Āsāṛh'' or ''Āṣāḍh''; as, আহাৰ ''ahar''; or, ଆଷାଢ଼ ''Āṣāḍh''; bn, আষাঢ়; syl, ꠀꠀꠠ ''aáṛ''; ne, असार ''asār''; gu, અષા ...
, Vikari Samvatsara".
The temples enjoyed the revenue from the eight villages given by Aurangzeb in the past.
The sanjeevan samadhi of Morya Gosavi as well as the Ganesha temple constructed by him still attracts many Ganesha devotees to Chinchwad.
Devotees believe that though Morya Gosavi attained
moksha
''Moksha'' (; sa, मोक्ष, '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'' and ''mukti'', is a term in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, enlightenment, liberation, and release. In its soteriology, ...
(salvation) but "his presence continues to endow the shrine with sacred significance."
On the circumbulation path (''
Pradakshina
Parikrama or Pradakshina is clockwise circumambulation of sacred entities, and the path along which this is performed, as practiced in the Indic religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. In Buddhism, it refers only to the path along ...
'' path) of the
Morgaon Ganesha temple
Shri Mayureshwar Mandir ( mr, श्री मयूरेश्वर मंदीर) or Shri Moreshwar Temple ( mr, श्री मोरेश्वर मंदीर) is a Hindu temple (''mandir'') dedicated to Ganesha, god of wisdom. It i ...
, there is a tree near the Kalpavrushka Mandir. The tree is believed to have the spot where Morya Gosavi underwent penance.
An image of Morya Gosavi is worshipped in the temple complex too. Morya Gosavi is also credited to have popularized the Morgaon temple.
References
{{Reflist
Ganesha
Marathi Hindu saints
People from Pimpri-Chinchwad