Girijatmaj Lenyadri – Only Ashtavinayak Temple located on a mountain and in a cave

The Lenyadri village is located in Junnar Taluka of Pune district on the bank of river Kukadi. Among all the Ashtavinayak temples, Girijatmaj temple Lenyadri is the only Ashtavinayak temple located on a mountain and it stands in the seventh cave, of the complex of 18 caves that date back to the 3rd century and hence the name Girijatmaj Lenyadri.

About Girijatmaj Lenyadri.

Lenyadri” means “mountain cave”. Lena’ in Marathi means “cave” and ‘adri’ in Sanskrit means “mountain” or “stone”. The Ganesha here is worshipped as Girijatmaja (गिरिजात्मज). The name is either interpreted as “mountain-born” or as “Atmaja of Girija”, the son of Parvati, who herself is daughter of the mountain Himavan, a personification of the mountains of Himalayas.

While some believe that order of visiting the temples in Ashtavinayak temples tour is irrelevant, Girijatmaj temple Lenyadri is usually visited as the sixth Ashtavinayak temple. During our Ashtavinayak tour, we visited Shri.Girijatmaj Lenyadri as the third Ashtavinayak, after taking darshan of Shri. Ballaleshwar Pali on the first day of our three days Ashtavinayak tour.

To reach the Ashtavinayak temple of Girijatmaj Lenyadri one has to climb 283 steps. At the entrance there is a small gate, only people with valid government id are allowed to enter for free. Other have to pay entry free. Our tour guide advised us to not carry any bags, food and water to the top of the mountain. Since, there are many monkeys on the top waiting to snatch these items.

The steps are very high and difficult for age old people to climb. So dolis (palanquin) are available at the bottom of the steps for Rs.1000/person. They take you to the top of the mountain for the darshan of Shri. Girijatmaj Lenyadri and again drop you at the bottom of the hill.

After reaching on the top of the mountain which is about 100 feet (30 m) above the plains, we could see the Ashtavinayak temple located in the 7th cave. These caves date from between the 1st and 3rd century AD. To take the darshan of Shri. Girijatmaj Lenyadri one has to enter a large hall of the cave through a central door, under a pillared veranda.

The hall is 17.37 metres (57.0 ft) long; 15.54 metres (51.0 ft) wide and 3.38 metres (11.1 ft) high. There are 2 windows on either side of the entrance. This hall is treated now as a sabha-mandapa (“assembly hall”) of the Ashtavinayak temple. Once you enter the sabha mandapa one can experience peace of mind.

Though the temple faces the inauspicious south, – according to a local tradition – the deity faces north, with his back to his worshipper and his face visible on the other side of the mountain. Goddess Parvati consecrated Ganesh idol in the cave wherein she had performed penances. Like other Asthavinayak temples, the idol here is not a separate and distinct one. It is carved on stone wall of the cave which is adorned with ‘sindoor’ (red vermilion) and is swyambhu.

Besides Shri. Girijatmaj Lenyadri idol there are idols of lord Hanuman, lord Shiva. Besides the Gririjatmaj temple, there is an Lord Shiva temple on the mountain. You get to witness the Shivneri fort from the top of the mountain. After a peaceful and pleasant darshan of Shri. Girijatmaj Lenyadri we stayed on the top of the mountain and witness the beautiful view from there. After enjoying some cool breeze we started back to towards our fourth and last Asthavinayak temple of the day i.e. Shri. Vighnahar Ozar.

About the legend of Shri. Girijatmaj lenyadri.

Once at Trimbakeshwar, Lord Shiva was doing meditation. Goddess Parvati asked him who he was meditating on. Lord Shiva replied that he was meditating on “the supporter of the entire universe” whose name is Omkar Ganesha. Lord Shiva advised goddess Parvati to start meditating at some peaceful place by chanting the Ganesha Mantra “Om”.

As advised by lord Shiva and with the desire to have a son, Goddess Parvati started meditating in one of the caves (now famous as Lenyadri) on a mountain near the Junnar village. To concentrate her mind on something, Goddess Parvati created a idol of a child in front of her and meditated for 12 years in this caves. Ganapati was pleased and a bal Ganesha was born from this idol created by goddess Parvati. Since Ganesha was born on Bhadrapada Shudh Chaturthi, people started bring Ganesh idols in there homes on this day and started celebrating the Ganesha festival.

Goddess Parvati established lord Ganesha’s idol in the cave where Ganesha was born. However, it is not possible now to reach this cave. So the cave where the back side of Shri Girijatmaj is visible is worshiped now. It is believed that this Lenyadri mountain is Ganesha’s form. So many devotees pray even to this Lenyadri mountain.

Insider tips:

1. How to reach
   1. By bus: From Pune Shivajinagar bus stop one can take bus which go by Pune -Nashik Road. On the Pune- Nasik Road, on passing through Chakan – Rajgurunagar – Manchar – Narayangaon – Junnar one reaches Leynyadri.
   2. By train: The nearest railway station to Girijatmaj temple Leynyadri, is Pune Railway Station or Talegoan railway station. 
   3. By air: Pune airport is the nearest airport to reach Shri. Girijatmaj temple Leynyadri. From the airport one can take the state transport buses or hire a Taxi to reach this Ashtavinayak temple.
2. Best time to visit: Festivals like Ganesh Jayanti and Ganesha Chaturthi are best time to visit since many cultural programs are organized during this time. Bullock cart racing is also organized on this occasion. Further, celebrating are held at Girijatmaj temple Leynyadri during the Bhadrapad (August – September) and Magh Chaturthis. These celebrations are again worth watching.
3. Distance to other Ashtavinayak temples: 
   1. Shri. Girijatmaj Lenyadri to Shri Varad Vinayak temple Mahad– 142 k.m via Bengaluru – Mumbai Hwy/Mumbai Hwy/Mumbai – Pune Hwy/Mumbai – Pune Expy and NH60 – (approximately 3 hour 20 mins)
   2. Shri. Girijatmaj Lenyadri to Shri Mayureshwar Ganpati temple, Morgaon – 182 k.m via Shirur – Satara Rd and NH61 (approximately 4 hours)
   3. Shri. Girijatmaj Lenyadri to Shri Mahaganapati temple, Ranjangaon – 86 k.m via NH60 (approximately 2 hour 20 mins)
   4. Shri Vighnahar temple Ozar to Shri Chintamani temple, Theur – 109 k.m via NH60 (approximately 2 hours 55 mins)
   5. Shri. Girijatmaj Lenyadri to Shri Vighnahar temple Ozar – 15 k.m. via Narayangaon – Junnar – Ozar Rd (approximately 27 mins)
   6. Shri. Girijatmaj Lenyadri to Shri Ballaleshwar, Pali – 177 k.m. via Bengaluru – Mumbai Hwy/Mumbai Hwy/Mumbai – Pune Hwy/Mumbai – Pune Expy (approximately 4 hours 30 mins)
   7. Shri. Girijatmaj Lenyadri to Shri Siddhivinayak, Siddhatek – 108 k.m. via MH SH 50 and NH61 (approximately 3 hours 50 mins)

In Nutshell

The Asthavinayak temple of Shri. Girijatmaj Lenyadri, is one of the unique temple situated on a mountain, in one of the caves and hence the name Girijatmaj. This place is also famous as Lord Ganesha’s birth place. The face of Shri. Girijatmaj here is not visible to the devotee since it is carved on a wall and is in a cave which is not reachable today. So the back side of the vinayaka is worshipped. Devotees have to climb 283 steps to take darshan of the vinayaka. The site of Shri. Girijatmaj Lenyadri bring peace and calms the mind. All these unique characteristics attracts many devotees to this Ashtavinayak temple making it a worth visiting temple near Pune.