Ashtavinayak Mayureshwar – Morgoan Ganesha Temple

Ashtavinayak Mayureshwar – Morgoan Ganesha temple is one of the eight revered Ganesha temples called Ashtavinayak. The temple is located in Morgaon in Pune in Maharashtra. Morgaon is about 80 km from Pune city.

At Mayureshwar Temple, Lord Ganesha portrays peacock as his vehicle. In the local language ‘Mayura’ or ‘Mora’ means ‘peacock’. Again, the shape of the Morgaon village resembles that of a peacock and in ancient days there was an abundance of peacocks in the village. Both the temple and the village have derived their names after the bird peacock.

According to the Ganesha Purana, Ganesha incarnated as Mayuresvara or Mayureshwar (Mayūreśvara), who has six arms and a white complexion. His mount is a peacock. He was born to Shiva and Parvati in the Tretayuga, for the purpose of killing the demon Sindhu. Lord Ganesha is the God of prosperity and good will and is the remover of all obstacles that is faced by humans in their life. Hence before beginning any new venture people worship Lord Ganesha. The elephant faced God is prayed and loved by everyone who believes in Hinduism.

In the Morgoan Ganesha temple, the idol of Ganesha is a three eyed Ganesha who has a leftward trunk and on the head of the deity, fangs of Nagraj (snake) are seen. The idol is riding on a peacock. Similar to other Ashtavinayaks, the Mayureshwar idol of Lord Ganesha is accompanied by his two wives, Riddhi (Intelligence) and Siddhi (Capability).

The vehicle of Lord Ganesha, mooshaka, can be seen in the premises, holding two ladoos between its paws. A tortoise and a Nandi can be seen opposite to the main gate, facing the deity in the sanctum.

As per the Hindu tradition, Nandi is the primary vehicle of Lord Shiva. The story has it that when the Nandi idol was on its way to Shiva temple, the vehicle carrying it collapsed midway and as the sign of auspiciousness, it remained here and got installed at the Mayureshwar temple.

Again, Hindu Mythology experts are of the opinion that the current Nandi idol is not the one originally consecrated by Lord Brahma. The original one was much smaller and made up of diamond, sand and iron particles. It was the one apparently wrapped in the copper sheet by the Pandavas and placed behind its current location. The original idol was consecrated by Lord Brahma twice; first, during its original installation; and second, after being destroyed by Sindhu, the demon king.