TEMPLES OF LORD GANESHA
Lord Ganesha is one of the best known and most widely worshipped Deities of Hindu Religion. All walks of people worship him. We find temples of Lord Ganesha in almost all places across the country. In some places we find an exclusive temple while in some other places we find Lord Ganesha along with other main Deities. In this regard please find below a list of some of the famous temples exclusively dedicated to Lord Ganesha.
Among the temples of Lord Ganesha some of them are said to be more powerful & important. Eight among such important temples which are called as Ashta Vinayaka temples, which are located in the state of Maharastra within a radius of about 100 km from Pune. Lot of significance is given to these temples in Hindu religion. They are all ancient temples where the idols of Lord Ganesha got manifested in different cosmic ages. Each one is an incarnation of Lord Ganesha associated with mythological legends behind them.
Elaborating on the Ashtavinayaka, the official tourism website of Maharashtra state notes: "Vinayak is another popular name for the god loved and worshiped by Hindus all over, Ganesh. Lord Ganesh is known to be the protector of his ardent devotees. Eight (Astha) naturally-formed sculpted stone statues are housed in old temples at the places where they were first found. The temples of Ashta Vinayaka are within the range of just 20 to 110 km of each other."
List of these Ashta Vinayaka Temples are as follows:
Besides these famous temples there are several other important,famous Ganesha Temples in the Other States as well. In Tamil Nadu, at the junction of four roads there will be a small temple of Lord Ganesha located. Also, in most of the South Indian Temples Lord Ganesha idols will be present.