The
Shree Vinayaka Devaru is a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Ganesha
(Vinayaka), located on the West Coast of India in the Idagunji town in Uttara
Kannada district in Karnataka state, India. The temple's popularity as a
religious place is recorded by about 1 million devotees visiting it annually.
Location
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, 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
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.
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.