Ashta Vinayak Yatra - March 2021 (Part 6)

The drive to Siddhatek was about 70 kms which took us nearly two hours to reach after passing through the town of Daund. Along the way, we stopped at a roadside Sugarcane juice shop and had nice fresh juice to cool & quench our thirst. It was nearly one p.m. when we reached and parked outside the  main temple.

The temple is situated on a hillock on the northern bank of the river Bhima surrounded by a thick foliage of Babul trees. We were informed that to propitiate the deity, devotees often do circumambulation of the hillock seven times, even though there is no paved road and the path passes through thorny shrubs.

Ganesh ji here is with his trunk turned to the right. Usually, the trunk of Ganesh is depicted turned to his left. It is believed that the right-trunked Ganesha is very powerful, but difficult to please. This is the only Ashtavinayaka shrine where the deity has his trunk to the right. Traditionally, a Ganesha whose trunk is to the right is named "Siddhi-Vinayaka", the giver of siddhi (accomplishment, success, supernatural powers).

Legend goes that Lord Vishnu performed penance at Siddhatek, invoking Ganesha with his mantra – "Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah". Pleased, Ganesha bestowed His blessings and various siddhis ("powers") on Vishnu who went on to fight and slays the demons Madhu & Kaithabh who were disturbing Brahma in His process of Creation. The place where Vishnu acquired siddhis was thereafter known as Siddhatek.

We walked in and climbed the few steps to reach the temple after buying some offering from a shop outside. The temple was nearly empty as was the case with all others temples we visited during this yatra. The Sanctum was cool from inside although there were no air-conditioning in sight. We had a nice long darshan of the Lord and could offer our prayers in leisure.

After that we drove back towards Pune. As it was very hot & we wero hungry,  we decided not to halt for lunch. Instead we are some fruits & snacks that our co-yatri had thoughtfully carried. We reached Pune by 5.30 p.m covering nearly 115 kms in about 3 hours.

That evening, at 7 p.m., we had an early dinner at a hotel called "Horn OK Please" at Ferguson Road, Pune. The hotel is made to appear as a Dhaba and serves pure vegetarian Punjabi food. The food was delicious and the pricing reasonable. They do not have many Jain fare (without onion & garlic) though. After this, we went back to our hotel tired but happy to have covered 6 out of 8 temples of the yatra.