Ashtavinayak Yatra – Part 6, The Chintamani Temple, Theur Maharastra, India

Ashtavinayak literally means "Eight Ganeshas" in Sanskrit. Lord Ganesha is the Hindu deity of prosperity and learning.

At Theur in the Haveli Taluka of Pune district in Maharashtra is the temple dedicated to Chintamani Vinayak. The village is along the river Mulamutha. Ganesh as Chintamani is god who brings peace of mind and drives away all perplexities of the mind.

The temple is build during the rule of Peshwas. The total cost of expenditure incurred to make the temple was Rs. 40,000 which in today's world amounts to Rs 400 million. The temple is made so strong that it still has the same structure even after 400 years of existence, the gathering hall is still original made with wood.

As Peshwas visited these place very frequently, the two 5 metal bell bought from Europe from the church was one kept in Mahad and other one was kept here. As after the death of Madhav Rao Peshwa, his wife went for sati, the beautiful garden was made in her memory is very attractive to see.

The main archway of the temple faces north.Temple hall is made up of wood and there is a small fountain made up of black stone in the hall.The courtyard of the temple is quite big paved with floor. There is a small temple of Lord Shankar in the courtyard of the temple.A big bell can also be seen in the temple. The Idol faces east and is swayambhu (self emanated) and has a left side trunk.There are carbuncle and diamonds in the eyes of Vinayaka.

It is believed that Brahma the creator once felt tharva that is restive. To still his mind he called upon Lord Ganesh. The place where Brahma achieved the quietude he was looking for is known as the Sthavar region or as Theur.

Ganesha is believed to have got back the precious Chinatamani jewel from the greedy Guna for sage Kapila at this spot. However, after bringing back the jewel, sage Kapila put it in Vinayaka's (Ganesha's) neck. Thus the name Chintamani Vinayak. This happened under the Kadamb tree, therefore Theur is known as Kadambanagar in old times.

The lake behind the temple is called Kadambteertha. The temple entrance is North facing. The outer wooden hall is built by Peshwas. The main temple is supposed to have been built by Dharanidhar Maharaj Dev from the family-lineage of Shri Moraya Gosavi. He must have built this around 100 years before Senior Shrimant Madhavrao Peshwa built the outer wooden hall.

This idol also has a left trunk, with carbuncle and diamonds as its eyes. The idol faces the East side.

Theur's Chintamani was the main worshipped god of Senior Shrimant Madhavrao Peshwa. He suffered from tuberculosis and died at a very young age (approx 27years). He is supposed to have died in this temple. His wife, Ramabai went as Sati with him on 18 November 1772.

The Divine Belief

Abhijeet was a great and powerful king who had everything in life except a son who would be the heir to his throne. The king and his wife at the suggestion of Rishi Vaishyampayane carried great penance and were finally rewarded with son who they named Gana. He later came to be known as Ganaraja.

The son was bright brave and gifted except he was also very aggressive. Ganaraja was once invited to visit the ashram of Sage Kapil. The sage was a good host and with the help of the Chintamani Ratna (a precious stone) he was able to serve the best of food to Ganaraj. Impressed by the ratna, Ganaraj wanted it for himself, but when Kapilmuni refused to part with the ratna, he forcibly took it away from him.

Goddess Durga who was Kapilmuni’s mentor advised him to seek the help of Lord Ganesh.Lord Ganesh responded to his call and battled with Ganaraj under a Kadamba tree and managed to get the ratna back for Kapilmuni. But by then Kapilmuni had lost all desire to possess the Chintamani ratna and he offered it Lord Ganesh. He tied the Chintamani Ratna around Lord Ganesha’s neck and so he came to be known as the Chintamani Vinayak. Since all of this occurred under a Kadamba tree, Theyoor was also known as Kadambanagar.

The temple is located 22 Km from Pune, off the Pune-Solapur highway, and is hence the nearest from Pune. The village of Theur sits at the confluence of three major regional river’s Mula, Mutha & Bhima.