Girijatmaj Temple

In the Ashtavinayak yatra

The Ashtavinayak are eight Ganesha temples in Maharashtra. According to Maharashtra Tourism the yatra begins and ends at Morgaon: Morgaon, Siddhatek, Pali, Mahad, Theur, Lenyadri, Ozar, Ranjangaon and back to Morgaon. Lenyadri is the sixth stop. Tradition holds all eight images to be swayambhu, found in natural form rather than carved (Maharashtra Tourism leaflet).

The story (by tradition)

According to the temple trust Parvati did penance in this very cave for twelve years, wishing for a son, so the Ganesha here is called the son of Girija, Girijatmaj; according to Maharashtra Tourism Ganesha is worshipped here as a child. The Maharashtra Tourism leaflet says the place is mentioned in the Ganesha Purana and a sthala purana, but gives no chapter.

The caves

According to the Archaeological Survey of India the roughly 30 caves of Lenyadri face south in a single row and date from the 1st to the 3rd century AD. Cave 7 is the largest, a hall with twenty cells; the two middle cells of its back wall were joined to make the Ganesha shrine, a later addition. According to the temple trust the temple occupies the whole of the seventh cave, faces south, and the image’s trunk turns to the left.

According to the temple trust the temple and caves are in the charge of the archaeology department, which charges a fee of 5 rupees for darshan. The trust calls the story that the image here is worshipped from the back a rumour.

How to reach Girijatmaj

• According to Maharashtra Tourism Lenyadri is 96 km from Pune and 5 km from Junnar, near the Pune-Nashik highway (National Highway 60); Pune airport is about 100 km away. According to the Archaeological Survey the caves are 4 km north of Junnar, across the Kukdi river.

Main festivals

Where the sources differ

• Which way the image faces: the trust and the Archaeological Survey say south, the Maharashtra Tourism leaflet east, an old Pune district page north.
• Steps: the trust gives 338, Maharashtra Tourism 307, an old Pune district page 283. Maharashtra Tourism dates the temple to the 1st to 3rd century, while according to the Archaeological Survey the Ganesha shrine was made later inside a cave of that age.
• The Maharashtra Tourism web page names Talegaon (about 85 km) as the nearest railway station; this could not be confirmed from a second source.

Frequently asked questions