Ashtavinayak literally means "Eight
Ganeshas" in Sanskrit. Lord Ganesha is the Hindu deity of prosperity and
learning.
The Mayureshwar Temple,
Moregaon
This is the most important temple on this tour.
The temple, built from black-stone during the Bahamani reign, has four gates
(It is supposed to have been built by one of the knights named Mr. Gole, from
the court of Bidar's Sultan). The temple is situated in the centre of the
village. The temple is covered from all sides by four Minarets and gives
feeling of a mosque if seen from a distance. This may have been done to prevent
attacks on the temple during Mughal periods. The temple has 50 feet tall wall
around it.
There is a Nandi (Shiva's bull mount) sitting in
front of this temple entrance, which is unique, as Nandi is normally in front
of only Shiva temples. However, the story says that this statue was being
carried to some Shiva mandir during which the vehicle carrying it broke down
and the Nandi statue could not be removed from its current place.
The murti of Lord Ganesha, riding a peacock, in
the form of Mayureshwara is believed to have slain the demon Sindhu at this
spot. The idol, with its trunk turned to the left, has a cobra (Nagaraja)
poised over it protecting it. This form of Ganesha also has two other murtis of
Siddhi (Capability) and Buddhi (Intelligence).
However, this is not the original murti (statue)
-which is said to have been consecrated twice by Brahma, once before & once
after being destroyed by the Asura Sindhurasur. The original murti, smaller in
size and made of atoms of sand, iron, and diamonds, was supposedly enclosed in
a copper sheet by the Pandavas and placed behind the one that is currently
worshiped.
The Divine Belief
It was predicted by Lord Brahma that Lord
Ganesha would incarnate as Vinayak in the Kritayug, as Mayureshwar in Treta
yug, as Gajanan in the Dwaparyug and as Dhumraketu in the Kalyug. All these
incarnations are related to certain legends of Lord Ganesha killing various
demons.
In the Gandaki Nagari of Mithila, a king named
Chakrapani was ruling. He and his wife Queen Ugra were unhappy, as they did not
have a child. The couple worshipped God Surya and the queen with the blessings
of the Sun God became pregnant. But soon released the embryo in the sea as she
could not bear the brilliance and the radiance of the embryo. From that embryo,
brilliant son was born. The sea in the disguise of a Brahmin approached King
Chakrapani with the child and gave the child to the King. As the child was born
in the sea the king named him Sindhu. Sindhu, after growing old and
strong became more powerful by worshipping the Sun God as advised by his Guru
Shukracharya.
Lord Surya, as a boon gave the nectar to Sindhu
and said that as long as the nectar remains near his navel he will not die.
Sindhu thus received immortality and started attacking Gods like Indra, Vishnu
etc. he defeated all of them and kept them in prison in his kingdom. The
remaining gods worshipped Lord Ganesh and requested him to rescue them from the
demon King Sindhu. Ganesha pleased with their prayers, promised to take birth
as Devi Parvati's son and kill the demon.
Parvati recited the Ekakshari mantra to please
the Lord and made a clay idol of Ganesha on the Bhadrapada Shuddha Chaturthi
Day and worshipped. The idol soon turned into a real child. When the child was
ten years old, Shiva and Parvati along with their son decided to leave the
mountain Meru and on their way to mountain kailash, Lord Ganesha defeated the
demon Kamalasura with the help of Siddhi (The Personified Shakti)
and Buddhi (The Personified Intelligence).
After this incident on their way, Lord Ganesha
found the Gandaki Nagari of the demon king Sindhu and decided to attack him
with all the army of Shiva’s attendants. He thus attacked Sindhu and at first
killed the two sons of Sindhu. Sindhu was advised to release the Gods and
Goddesses in prison and leave the battlefield by his father. But he did not
listen to it and continued the battle. Lord Ganesha removed the nectar from his
navel with his Parashu and killed him. During this battle, Lord Ganesha was
riding a peacock and therefore he got the name as ˜Mayureshvarâ, the one who rides a peacock.
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