Ashtavinayak Diaries – 2

The only Ashtavinayak who resides on a mountain or rather, a mountain cave is the Lenyadri Ganpati named Girijatmaj. “ Lena “means cave in Marathi and sure enough there are about 30 of them on this mountain and all of them are Buddhist caves, serially numbered and dating back to the 3rd century AD. Cave No. 7 is surprisingly the abode of Girijatmaj. Located near Junnar and close to the Shivneri Fort, the entire cave complex is under the Archaeological Survey of India.

The legend of Girijatmaj ( son of Girija, another name for Parvati) begins with Parvati yearning to have Ganpati as her son, having heard about his power from Shiva. She meditates for 12 years creating a small Ganpati idol from flakes of her skin mixed with sandalwood. Pleased with her penance, Ganpati enters into the idol and is born as her son Girijatmaj, who grows up in the mountains and later assumes different forms to vanquish evil.

The sun was already up in the sky as we began our climb of around 300 steps, broad stone steps, no danger of slipping but a stiff climb all the same. It is stated that the steps represent the sensual desires, which Ganpati has overcome. Palanquins are available for the elderly. As we reached the top, we had a nice view of the countryside. Inside Cave No.7, we see Girijatmaj not as an idol but a carving on the wall. Possibly, the one Ganpati who one can say resembles Ganpati or was it the poor light in the cave which gives this impression, am not too sure. Not too much of puja or aarti we saw but yes there was a priest who comes down from the village below, we were told. People were more in picnic mode, climbing up to the other caves, exploring the stone carvings, stupas,etc apart from, of course clicking selfies.

We quickly made our way down as it was really hot now and we yearned for a nice cool nimbu paani which we got the foot of the steps. On the way up, we were cautioned against carrying any eatables in our hand and we found out why. There were troops of monkeys who snatch away eatables from people’s hands. As we enjoyed the ‘nimbu paani’, we were pleased with ourselves that we were able to complete this tough darshan of Lenyadri Girijatmaj.

Ganapati Bappa Morya!