Hey fellow Ganesha devotees,
I have been to Ashtavinayak
yatra couple of times, one as recent as Feb’2017.
The thought of writing a blog was inspired by my desire to help fellow
devotees on the best possible shortest route to cover the entire trip.
On my recent trip, I saw lots of people asking the locals
questions like what should be the next stop, what are the available lodging
options etc.Answers to these questions may differ basis
your mode of commute, duration of your trip etc. I sincerely hope my blog
proves useful for you to plan the AshtavInyak trip in a smooth and timely
manner. May the supreme divine power bless you with all the wishes that you
seek..!!
Ganapati Bappa Morya!!
Few important points to
remember:-
To complete the Ashtavinayak circuit, it’s
important to come back to the 1st Ganesh temple you visited after finishing the
rest
- While all Ashtavinayak temples are open till 10 PM, Lenyadri closes at 6 PM since its located in a cave (without lights).
- From Mumbai, the last CNG pump is in Chakan MIDC
area.
- The shastras have defined a specific sequence for Ashtavinayak yatra. They are 1) Shree Mayureshwar – Morgaon 2. Shree Siddhivinayak – Siddhatek 3. Shree Ballaleshwar – Pali 4. Shree Varad Vinayaka– Mahad, 5. Shree Chintamani – Theur 6. Shree Girijatmaj- Lenyadri 7. Shree Vighneshwar – Ozar 8. Shree Mahaganpati – Ranjangaon 9. Back to Morgaon for completion of the Ashtavinayak Darshan circuit.
While this circuit can be done if
you are centered/ based in Pune, it can be an extremely tiring journey if you
are attempting this circuit from Mumbai. Since I am based out of Mumbai, my
itinerary was custom made based on the least travel required to complete the
journey.
My constant travel companion on
almost all my road trips is my wife and this one was no different. My preferred
mode of travel is my Toyota Etios which also has a CNG sequential kit thereby
making all the trips really economical.
Day One- Varad Vinayaka (Mahad)
We left from Mumbai around 9.30
AM and being a Friday there was some amount of traffic on the roads. (We left a
little late to avoid the crowd fully knowing that all Ashtavinayak trips
originating from Mumbai usually follow the same routine for the 1st two
temples).
We reached Mahad around 12 PM
post sipping some coffee from the Mc Donalds at Kalamboli. While the road
directions are different, you can drive down the expressway and take the
Imagica exit (Khopoli). Once you take the left turn, drive straight for 2-3 km.
and then take a small left turn. This turn will lead you right till the village
where the temple is located. The temple is a 5 min. walk. Incidentally this is
the only temple where the devotees are allowed right inside the temple sanctum
and allowed to directly worship the idol. As predicted there were no queues and
within 15 minutes we had finished our darshan here. We left Mahad at 12.30 PM
and were now headed to Pali
Day One- Shree Ballaleshwar (Pali)
This temple route passes right
through Imagica and is a drive of roughly 40 km. from Mahad. The roads leading
to Pali were by far the best roads on this entire trip. The lush green scenery
and the pothole free roads are a visual and driving treat for any Mumbaikar. We
reached Pali sharp at 1 PM and pilgrims can avail the free parking facility
provided by the temple trust. Again, there were absolutely no queues and we
finished our darshan of the Dhundi Vinayak and Ballaleshwar within the next 30
minutes. The absence of queues really help in spending some quality time with
the lord (as the temple security is more lenient in allowing you to pray in
front of the deity). Do not forget to take some Kandi pedas as Prasad on your
way back.
We decide to have lunch since it was 1.30 PM
and we were hungry. A new restaurant had opened diagonally to the main entrance
and the ambience seemed just right. (Pics attached - Vishnu Mauli).
We reached back to the Khopoli toll entrance by 2.45 PM (30 min lunch and 45
min for the drive back till the toll plaza). We were now on our way towards
Junnar.
Hotel pic
Day One- Shree Girijatmaj (Lenyadri)
We covered the Pune expressway
real quick and reached the Chakan exit by 3.30 PM. We were conscious about
reaching the temple prior 6 PM. A quick look and realized that the roads (which
were being built on our last visit) was ready and we could maintain a good
speed. Finally, we managed to reach the temple parking lot by 5.45 PM. This is
also the 1st temple on day one to charge a small parking and entrance fee. You
have to roughly climb 200 steep steps to reach this temple. Make sure to carry
some bottled water as there are no hawkers on the way–up to the temple and you will
definitely feel thirsty. We finished our darshan quickly and reached back at
the parking lot by 6.30 PM.
Day One- Shree Vignahar (Ozar)
Getting to Lenyadri on time was
the only stress factor and we were slightly relaxed by now. We had been to Ozar
couple of times earlier as well and it was like 2nd home for us. Now Ozar for
the urban travelers, can be the quaint village hamlet right out of your
favorite novels. It is situated on the banks of river Kukadi, is very peaceful
and the people staying here are extremely humble.
We reached Ozar and checked in to
our favorite hotel here (Arya regency) by 7.30 PM. We had a relaxing shower and
decided to have a quick darshan of the deity here prior having our dinner. The
temple is a 5 min. walk from the hotel and the darshan was completed within the
next 15 minutes. We had our dinner at the Arya restaurant by 8.45 PM (the
Pakodas, vada pav’s here are a must try). Tired of the journey, we retired to
bed by 10 PM and woke up only around 8 AM the next day
Day Two- Shree Mahaganpati (Ranjangaon)
We decided to have another round
of darshan at Ozar considering it was not crowded. Post our sumptuous
breakfast, we left Ozar around 11 AM. Our next stop was Ranjangaon which was at
a distance of 65 km (drive of around 2 hours).
We decided to take the shortest route suggested by Google Maps. However
this route turned out to be a disaster – as the roads were not good and it was
a single lane (narrow road). We reached Ranjangaon on the anticipated schedule
i.e. 1 PM sharp.
Owing to a delayed and relaxing
start, we decided to quickly finish our darshan. There was some amount of queue
at the temple (assuming it was a Saturday and this placed is close to Pune),
but the darshan was complete in about 30 minutes. Since we already knew there
were no places to eat lunch / snacks at Siddhatek, we decided to have a quick
lunch here. The food turned out to be quite good (Rotis, dal and Bhindi fry).
We left Ranjangaon by 2.30 PM
Day Two- Shree Siddhivinayak (Siddhatek)
While this time too, Google Maps
showed us a shorter route (13 km less) we decided to stick to the state highway
route. This was a good decision as we were able to cover the distance faster
owing to the superior quality of roads. Siddhatek is a remote village near
Daund and it’s the least commercialized place of all Ashtavinayak places. Hence
you will not see any good restaurants or hotels to stay at this place. But you
can definitely have the yummy sugarcane juices and fruits like guavas, bananas
to your heart’s content here. We reached
here by 3.45 PM and to our delight, there were no queues at all. We finished
our darshan by 4 PM.
We left Siddhatek at 4.30 PM. and
were headed straight to Morgaon
Day Two- Shree Mayureshwar (Morgaon)
Siddhatek to Morgaon is a
distance of around 74 km. We reached Morgaon by 6 PM. The quality of roads
increased drastically once we were in Baramati. We parked our vehicle in the
parking lot and decided to complete our darshan before deciding the next course
of action. (Phew. let me come to that later). It was only a queue of around 20
-25 people and the darshan was complete by 6.30 PM. The last time we did
Ashtavinayak was in the holy month of Shravan and every temple had a waiting
time of at least 1 hour for the darshan. Things were pleasantly different this
time around.
Note that Jejuri is quite close to this temple (~12 km). I was unaware of its proximity on my 1st visit because of which I had to take an independent trip to Jejuri. Ensure you wear clothes appropriately as you would be completely yellow by the time you complete your Jejuri darshan (owing to the turmeric offering done here)
During our last Ashtavinayak trip
we had planned to halt at Morgaon on the 2nd day, but since we had completed
Morgaon darshan by 5 PM that time, we went to Theur and ended up booking an OYO
room in Pune. This time, reaching Pune seemed difficult as we were not
comfortable driving post sunset. We decided to look for options to spend the night at
Morgaon. The first one was Arya Hotel on the Morgaon- Jejuri road. But this
hotel seemed isolated (2 km away from the temple) and had a deserted feel to
it. On our way back, we saw another hotel (Hotel Morya) right opposite the main
temple entrance.
While we did not quite like the
feel of the hotel, we were left with no choice as Theur did not have any hotels
in its vicinity and it would have been real late in the night by the time we
reached Pune. This hotel was an average hotel, but we decided to stay here as
it was really close to the temple. Few tips in case you are staying at this
hotel 1) check the bed sheets carefully as we could find hair on the beds in
our room. We insisted them to put a new bed sheet right in front of us 2) there
is only one good quality restaurant in the vicinity which is diagonally
opposite to this hotel. Note that they close at 8.30 PM and have a limited menu
(We got the option of Puri bhaji and Misal Pav. We tried both, but the latter
was really good) 3) both my laptop charger and Iphone charger got blown off
owing to voltage fluctuations. My mistake was that I kept them plugged to the
sockets after use. Since there were no switches accompanying the sockets,
sudden surge in power (on current coming back) seemed to be the culprit. 4)
While I was told the room price is 1200 Non AC / 1500 AC, another couple were
quoted 1500 Non AC/ 2000 AC right in front of us. Next day morning we again had a repeat
darshan at 9 AM prior to our breakfast. Again, we completed our darshan in
about 20 minutes time and left Morgaon by 10.30 AM.
Day Three- Shree Chintamani (Theur)
Sunday morning and the roads were
pleasantly empty. Morgaon to Theur is about 60 kms, however since this road
partly lies in the Bangalore – Pune route we could drive at consistent high
speeds. We reached Theur at 11.30 AM. Now, we could see a good amount of queue
and I can definitely say that Theur was the longest queuing time for us on the
entire trip. It took around 30 minutes for the queue and we had completed the
darshan by 12.15 PM. Do not forget to have the most yummiest and sweet guavas
sold by local women outside the temple. Though they are slightly expensive,
they are really worth it. Also, you can bargain with them to give you a good
deal in case you are buying 1 KG or more.
On our way back, I had preplanned
to meet a family friend at Khyber (Pimple Saudagar area in Pune) for lunch. We
reached there by 1.45 PM (slightly delayed as lot of political processions were
found on the road coz of Shivaji Jayanthi). We left Pune by 2.50 PM and reached
the food court right before the Khalapur Toll plaza by 3.30 PM. Had a
refreshing coffee break at Café Coffee day and took the exit to go to Varad
Vinayak (Mahad) to complete the last leg of our journey.
N that's how our trip for this year was. May Lord Ganesha help us seek his blessings again and again
Thank you for reading my blog. Please feel free to post any
questions not covered in my blog above and I will try to answer them to the
best of my knowledge
