Idagunji Vinayaka
Temple
The Idagunji
Shree Vinayaka Devaruis a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Ganesha
(Vinayaka), located on the West Coast of India in the Idagunji
town in Uttara Kannada
district. The temple's popularity as a
religious place is recorded by about 1 million devotees visiting it annually.
It is one of the six famous Ganesha temples on the west coast of India, which is also popularly called the "Ganesha
Coast".
Geography:
Idagunji where the temple is located is a small village on
the west coast of India close to the Sharvathi River which joins the Arabian Sea.
It is close to Manki,
Mavinakatte and is about 14 km from Honavar,
28 km from Navilgaon, 65 km from Gokarna,
and 7 km from a road which branches from the National Highway 17
(India), towards the west coast. Honnavara,
the capital of the taluk in which Idagunji lies, is also the nearest railway
station.
Legend
The importance of the temple is attributed to a legend,
occurring at the end of the Dvapara Yuga (the third Hindu epoch or era) before the onset of Kali Yuga
(the present epoch or era). Every one feared the advent of Kali Yuga, as the
god Krishna
was about to leave earth for his divine abode at the end of Dvapara Yuga. Sages
started performing austerities and prayers seeking Krishna's help to overcome
all impediments of Kali Yuga. Sages led by Valakhilya
started rituals in Kunjavana, a forest area on the banks of the Sharavati River
in Karnataka which joins the Arabian Sea. During this period, he encountered
many obstacles in performing the sacrifice and was very disturbed. He,
therefore, sought the advice of the divine sage Narada,
seeking suitable ways to tackle the problem. Narada advised Valakhilya to seek the blessings of
Ganesha - the remover of obstacles - before restarting his sacrifice.
At the request of the sages, Narada selected a site for the
rite on the banks of the River Sharavathi, at Kunjavana, seeking Ganesha's
intervention. Even the Hindu Trinity (the gods Brahma,
Vishnu
and Shiva) had visited this place in the past to bring an end to the
demons who were involved in destroying the earth. The gods had even created the
sacred lakes Chakratirtha and Brahmatirtha at that time. Narada and
the other sages created a new sacred pond called Devatirtha. Narada invited the gods and requested Ganesha's mother Parvati
to send Ganesha. The rites were performed and hymns recited extolled Ganesha.
Pleased by their devotion, Ganesha consented to remain at the site to help them
conduct the rituals without any trouble. On this occasion, one more lake was
also created and named as Ganesha-tirtha
to fetch water to the temple. The same location is now called the Idagunji, where the Ganesh Temple was
built by the devotees around 4th-5th century CE.
Central
Icon:
The central icon of the Idagunji Temple dates to 4-5th
century CE. The image of Ganesha in dvibhuja
style, similar to that of the Gokarna
Ganesha temple, nearby Idagunji. He has two arms and is standing on a stone
slab. His right hand holds a lotus bud, and he holds a modak sweet in other hand. He wears a garland across the chest in
the style of a yagnopavita (sacred thread). Ganesha is adorned with a necklace of
small bells. A rat, the vahana or vehicle of Ganesha, always depicted alongside Ganesha,
is not depicted in this image. The image is 83 centimetres (33 in) tall
and 59 centimetres (23 in) in width and is placed on stone pedestal.
Worship
and belief:
The Idagunji Temple is one of the prominent temples in South
India, independently dedicated to Ganesha.
The Ganesha of Idagunji is the chief patron deity (Kuladevata) of the Havyaka Brahmins, who are Smarta by sect. Bandhis, a Dalit community of Karnataka, seek blessings of the deity, after
conclusion of amicable marriage negotiations, for conduct of the marriage. The
families of the bride and the groom visit the temple and perform the ritual of prasada keluvudu. A chit is placed on
each of the legs of Ganesha and worship is performed. The falling of the chit
of the right leg first is taken as a sign of divine approval to the marriage,
however if the left chit falls first, an adverse verdict is inferred.
Idagunji is part of a temple circuit of six Ganesha temples
along India's western coast. The circuit starts with Kasargod,
Mangalore,
Anegudde,
Kundapura,
Idagunji and Gokarna. Any person visiting with his family all the six temples,
within one day between sunrise and sunset will receive special blessings (a
belief).
The best puja offering that a devotee offers to Ganesha is
garike/grass/doorve which is sold in
the kiosks of the temple. Many other poojas can also be performed by the
devotees.
Souvenirs:
Masks made out of lavancha
(sogade beru in Kannada language which is vetiver) are the souvenirs to carry as gifts from the temple.
Lavancha or vetiver in the raw state gives out a pleasant scent if soaked in
water and it has medicinal qualities.