Sri Ballaleshwar Palli Ganapathi Temple - Pali
Sri Ballaleshwar Pali temple is located in Pali village
in the Raigad district of Maharashtra State.
Shri Ballaleshwar
Ashtvinayak is the main deity of this temple.
The murti of Vinayaka
sits on a stone throne, facing east with its trunk turned left and sitting
against a background of silver which displays Riddhi and Siddhi waving
chamaras.
The murti's eyes and
navel contain diamonds, 3 feet in height, and Swayambhu.
The Palakhi utilized for
the procession is additionally covered with silver plates. Gold and silver
crowns can be seen adorning the icon and fish, which are also offered by
devotees.
The bathing utensils of
Lord Ganesha like the circular pot known as the Ghangal and the sitting device the
Chaurang, the upper arms of the icon, and the focal hanging of the Zumber are covered
completely with silver plates.
Ballaleshwar Temple is
facing in the East direction and was constructed in the Peshwa Style of architecture.
There are two sanctums in
the temple an inner and an outer sanctum. The inner sanctum is 15 feet (4.6
meters) high, while the outer sanctum is only 12 feet (3.7 meters) high. The
outer sanctum contains a murti in the shape of a rat, holding modak (Sweet Pashad
of Ganesha) in its hands while facing lord Ganesha. The main hall of the temple
is 40 feet (12 meters) long and 20 feet (6.1 meters) wide and contains eight
pillars resembling Cyprus trees.
The temple’s crest also
known as Kalas is enhanced with a brilliant golden sheet which was offered by
donations from devotees.
According to Ganesh
Puran, Kalyansheth was a successful businessman in Pallipur. His son Ballal was
a devout child who spent most of his time praying and worshipping Lord Ganesh.
Then, one day he invited all the children from his village for a special Pooja.
Ballal and his friends kept one large stone and worshipped it as Lord Ganesh.
However, the children were so engrossed in their prayers that they did not
return home for days. This irritated the villagers who complained to
Kalyansheth. Then he came to the Pooja and destroyed the stone and tied Ballal
to a tree as punishment. Ballal cried and prayed to Lord Ganesh who appeared
before him as a Sadhu. Ballal identified the Sadhu as the Lord himself and
asked for his blessings. He also requested the Lord to always be with him and
stay in this place. Hence, Lord Ganesh embraced Ballal and vanished into a
stone. Then this stone became Lord Ballaleshwar's idol.
The large stone that Ballal’s father Kalyansheth threw to the ground was known as Dhundi Vinayak.
This is believed to be self-manifested or Swayambu and is worshipped before
Lord Ballaleshwar.
Pali Ganpati Temple is believed to be originally built in the 11th
century.
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