The Lord

Ganapati Ganesha or Ganesh (, , ), 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 the Ganapatya sect. His depictions are found throughout India. Hi ...

Temple is situated in the city of

Tasgaon Tasgaon () is a city in Maharashtra and Taluka in Sangli district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Tasgaon city is developing city in Maharashtra. Tasgaon was given as Jahagir to Parshuram Bhau Tasgaonkar by Narayanrao Ballal Peshwa in 1774 ...

Sangli Sangli (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Sāṁgalī''; ) is a metropolitan town and the headquarters of Sangli District in Maharashtra, in south-western India. It has earned the nickname "Turmeric City of India" for being the hub of the Asia's largest produ ...

district in the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 subnational entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into 800 districts and smaller administrative divisions by the respe ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. Most of the Ganapati idols have a left-sided

trunk Trunk may refer to: Biology * Trunk (anatomy), synonym for torso * Trunk (botany), a tree's central superstructure, and the stem of woody plants * Trunk of corpus callosum, in neuroanatomy * Elephant trunk, the proboscis of an elephant Comput ...

, while this temple's idols' trunk bends towards the right. The Ganapati idol with the trunk curved towards the right is said to be 'active (jagrut)’. This Ganapati is regarded as a living idol, ready to bless communities with good luck, wisdom, prosperity and happiness. The idol is embellished with solid gold, weighing .

History

Parasuram Bhau Patwardhan ( Raje of Tasgaon Sansthan) was Sar-Senapati of

Nanasaheb Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao (8 December 1720 – 23 June 1761), often referred to as Nana Saheb I, was the 8th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. He was appointed as Peshwa in 1740 upon the death of his father, Peshwa Bajirao I. During his tenure, the Chhatra ...

, who had established this Tasgaon Sansthan. Raje Parashuram had fought more than 100 wars against the

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (, , ''Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu''; 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799) commonly referred to as Sher-e-Mysore or "Tiger of Mysore", was a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery ...

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

. At that time Tipu Sultan was impressed by the temples of southern India and its culture of worship.

Design

The construction of a temple at Ganapati was begun in 1779 by Parasuram Bhau Patwardhan and finished in 1799 by his son Appa Patwardhan. These construction was made by Hindu- Wadar caste peoples from

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. Its architecture resembles South Indian temple construction. It consists of an image−chamber and a hall (

Mandapa A ''mandapa'' or ''mantapa'' () is a pillared hall or pavilion for public rituals in Indian architecture, especially featured in Hindu temple architecture and Jain temple architecture. ''Mandapas'' are described as "open" or "closed" dependin ...

) of plain but finely worked stone. The image−chamber is 9.44m x 8.83m and the hall 13.71m x 10.36m. The image−chamber has a

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

10.36m, flanked by our smaller ones 2.43 meters shorter making a grand composition. Mandapa has a flat roof of carved Stone slabs. The hall consists of a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with three aisles made by two rows of pillars with a 3.04m space between them. At the hall's entrance are two shrines of the bull

Nandi Nandi may refer to: People * Nandy (surname), Indian surname * Nandi (mother of Shaka) (1760–1827), daughter of Bhebe of the Langeni tribe * Onandi Lowe (born 1974), Jamaican footballer nicknamed Nandi * Nandi Bushell (born 2010), South Afr ...

and the

Garuda Garuda (; ; Vedic Sanskrit: , ) is a Hindu deity who is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. This divine creature is mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain faiths. Garuda is also the half-brother of the D ...

Guard 6.40m high including the pinnacles (

shikhara ''Shikhara'' (IAST: '), a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India, and also often used in Jain temples. A ''shikhara'' over the ''garbhagriha'' chamber ...

). The entrance gateway formed by a masonry arch surmounted by a tower of the form known as the

Gopura A ''gopuram'' or ''gopura'' (Tamil language, Tamil: கோபுரம், Telugu language, Telugu: గోపురం, Kannada: ಗೋಪುರ, Malayalam language, Malayalam: ഗോപുരം) is a monumental entrance tower, usually ornate ...

The Gopur is a large and lofty pinnacle. Gopura at

Gadag Gadaga-Betageri is a city municipal council in Gadag district in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Gadag District. The original city of Gadag and its sister city Betageri (or ''Betgeri'') have a combined ...

State, India is comparable. It is seven-storied, gradually tapering to a ridge at the top. The lowest storey measures 11.27m, the whole is 29.08 m high, and the kalas (pinnacles) and curved arms are 0.17 m higher. Gopura is carved into images of gods and goddesses.

Festival

The Grand celebration occurs in the city on next day of Bhadrapat Chaturthi when thousands of people gather to celebrate this auspicious occasion. This festival is cultural and religious event helping the people to unit together. This Ganpati stays for one and half-day. The Procession starts in afternoon for immersion of Ganpati. The 30 feet 'Ratha' (chariot) used to decorate specially for this occasion.

Ratha Ratha (Proto-Indo-Iranian: ''*Hrátʰas'', Vedic Sanskrit: रथ, ; Avestan: ''raθa'') is the Indo-Iranian term for a spoked-wheel chariot. The term has been used since antiquity for both fast chariots and other wheeled vehicles pulled by an ...

is pulled by the Ganpati devotees up to stream where they do immersion of Ganpati. This tradition has continued since 1785. And the first reference to given for these ratha was that caste should be announced to Apparaje Patvardhan, because they was constructed the temple of Sansthan's Ganpati. First the Ratha was made of teak wood which was too heavy. Due to its accident in one year, new iron Ratha came into picture.

References

External links

Lord Ganpati
{{Sangli district topics Hindu temples in Maharashtra Tourist attractions in Sangli district