History, Importance, Timings, Festivals, Architecture, Social & Religious Activities, Interesting Facts and Travel Guide of Shri Siddhi Vinayaka Temple, Mumbai, India
The Siddhi Vinayak temple also famed as Shree Siddhi Vinayak Ganpati mandir located in Prabhadebi, Mumbai Maharashtra is one of the prime attraction of city. It is a Hindu temple where the deity is Lord Ganesha, the Vighnaharta Dev. This temple was built in 1801, almost 220 years ago funded by lady DeuBai Patil to contractor Lakshman vithu. The Siddhivinayaka Temple is one of the most prosperous temples in India. The temple has a small scale Mandap with the sanctum of Siddhivinayak Ganesha. It is said that he fulfill your wish. The image of the Ashtavinayak has been carved on the wooden door to the sanctum. In Maharashtra Ashtavinayak means the eight manifestations of Ganesha. The sanctum has a gold plated inner roof. The idol of the Ganesha is situated in the centre of the sanctum. The Hanuman temple is also placed in the fringe of the area. The idol of Shree Ganesha is exactly situated under the vault. External part of the temple consists of this vault and in the evening it light up with multiple colours. And in every few hours it keeps changing.
After half of the 20th century Siddhivinayak mandir developed gradually from a small minor place of Glory to the grand Temple that stands presently. This Temple Glory was acquired by the politicians who visited the temple and also by the Bollywood film stars. They are constantly come up to this temple to take the boon from Lord Ganesha and also apple’s CEO Tim Cook has started his Indian journey by the morning prayers of the temple in 2016. Siddhivinayak is also known as ‘NavaSala Pavanara’ Ganpati and ‘Navsacha Ganpati’ as he grant a wish of devotees whenever they do it humbly and genuinely. The temple’s authorities give the facilities to conduct different kind of Puja.
As Shree Ganesh is the vighnaharta (destroyer of barrier), he is the first to be reverenced before rising any journey for new projects. It is located at panchdevi in Mumbai. It is said that it is a couple of century old temple that fulfil all the desire of devotees. The temple was a small structure Shri Siddhivinayak which is carved in a black stone it was two and half feet wide. The extraordinary features of this stone Idol is the tilt of the trunk is towards the right side instead of the left side which make it different from others. It is called chatrabhuj also as this idol has four hands. It contains a small axe, in upper left and a lotus in upper right and also contains a bowl (full of Modak) and holy beads in the lower right hand. Goddesses Riddhi and Siddhi who stands for fulfillment prosperity sanctity and welthy are fringe on both side of the Deity. An eye is engraved on the forehead of the deity. That resembles the third eye of the lord shiva.
It is also said that, if someone whisper their desires in the ears of big silver mice who are located within the temple premises, the Desire get directly convey to Lord Ganesha.
History of Siddhivinayak Temple, Mumbai, Maharashtra
History says the temple was sponsored by a childless woman named Deubai Patil. She belonged to the ‘Agri’ (Hindu) community. As an infertile woman, she helped to construct the temple with the hope that Lord Ganesha won’t let any other woman be childless.
As Swami Samartha (a Hindu Saint) states, one day on his order, one of his disciples buried two spiritual idols in front of the divinity. It is said that 21 years later an Indian Coral tree grew at the burial place. The tree had a structure of Lord Ganesha in its arms.
The temple has an adjacent lake that was burrowed to check the lack of water. A few years had passed when the lake was found to overflow with water. With the conjoining lake on the Eastern and Southern parts, the temple had its own quarters for the guards.
Siddhivinayak Mandir Mumba architecture
The old version of the temple had an ancient flavor to it. It had a large hall, few open spaces, and a sanctum sanctorum.
The new version is built into a whole new multiangular framework, which is six-storeyed. The temple is surmounted by a dome-shaped structure that is gold-plated. This kind of dome is typical in North Indian temples. The first floor is used for worship and darshan. The second floor has the kitchen, which is used to prepare Naivedya. The third floor is used for official purposes. The fourth floor has a library with a collection of 8000 books. Those books are based on literature, economics, religion, etc. the fifth floor is used for preparing food, which is necessary for festivals and fire offerings. The top of the temple has a cluster of 47 gold-plated crowns.
Main Festivals celebrated at Siddhi Vinayak Temple, Mumbai
The main festival celebrated in the temple is Ganesh Chaturthi. The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the most popular festivals celebrated in Maharashtra. The celebration starts with a morning aarti which is performed by the priest. It is a ten days long festival. Every year, thousands of devotees visit the temple at the time of Ganesh Chaturthi. A procession is also held to celebrate the festival with local people.
Special rituals
A special aarti takes place during the first prayer in the morning, known as ‘Kakad Aarti’. During this period people can have a close darshan of Lord Ganesha.
For the next 15 minutes, the food offerings are done. The ritual is called ‘Naivedya’.
The evening aarti takes place from 7.30 pm to 8.00 pm.
The day ends with a Shej Aarti in the night. The temple has a few stern timetables to arrange rituals for all day.
Siddhi Vinayak Temple Daily Darshan Timings
In the morning, the visiting time for the devotees is from 6.00 am to 12.15 pm. In general devotees can visits temple from 5.30 AM to 9.50 pm.
The schedule is quite different for Tuesday, as the first prayer starts at 3.15 am and ends at 4.45 am. The darshan period begins at 5.30 am in the morning and ends at 12.15 pm. The time for Naivedya is from 12.15 pm to 12.30 pm. The evening prayer takes place from 9.30 pm to 10.00 pm. Eventually, the Shejaarti is performed at 9.50 PM marking the end of the day.
The best time to visit the temple is the first prayer. During the pandemic, people had to book an online appointment to visit the temple. But, now the government has reduced such restrictions.
The most interesting fact about the temple is that the snout of the idol is tilted to the left, but most of the Ganesha idols have the snout bent to the right. The Siddhi Vinayak idol is said to be highly powerful.
Another interesting fact is that the temple receives huge donations each year from its devotees. Huge donations come from famous visitors such as Bollywood actors or industrialists.
One can contact the temple authority at this number – 022 2422 4438, to have an idea about the timings and rituals.
With all the history behind it and such beautiful architecture, the temple is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India.
How to Reach Siddhi Vinayak Temple, Mumbai, The capital of Maharashtra, India
The temple is not really hard to visit. Public buses are available for the South Mumbai region. People can also take a local train to get there. The local trains reach Dadar station. A person can take a shared taxi from Dadar to reach the temple. The temple is within 15 minutes' walking distance from the station. As Mumbai is capital of Maharashtra and financial center of India, it is very well connected with all major cities of India and also all the major cities of world. You can easily get flights to reach Mumbai from any corner of world. Mumbai has major railway junctions from where you can get train to reach almost all major cities of India. Every year millions of tourist and visitors across the world reaches here at Mumbai for different purpose. So public transport is also very much develop to facilitate them. Mumbai is located at just 150 km from Pune, 166 km from Nashik, 84 km from Matheran, 82 km from Lonavala, 245 km from Shirdi, 197 km from Bhimashankar, 177 km from Trambak etc.
