Shri Ballaleshwar

          

          Ballaleshwar Pali temple is one of the eight temples of Lord Ganesha, Ashtavinayak. Among Astavinayakas, Pali's Ballaleshwar is the only vinayak who is famous by his devotee's name. It is located in village Pali which is at a distance of 30 km from Karjat in Sudhagad taluka of Raigad district. It is situated between fort Sarasgad and the river Amba.

The Temple

          The original wooden temple was renovated in 1760 to make way for a new stone temple designed by Shri Fadnis. This stone is shaped in the form of the letter 'shree'; it was made by mixing lead with the cement during construction. The east-facing temple was carefully positioned so that during Dakshinayan at sun-rise, the rays of the sun falls directly on the Vinayaka. The temple contains a bell that was brought back by Chimaji Appa after his defeat of the Portuguese in Vasai and Sasthi.

        The temple complex encircles two lakes and is tiled throughout. There are two Sanctums (Gribhagriha) in the temple, an Inner and Outer Sanctum. The Inner Sanctum is 15 feet (4.6 m) high, while the Outer Sanctum is only 12 feet (3.7 m) high. The Outer Sanctum contains an murthi in the shape of a rat which holds Modak in its hands while facing Ganesh. The main hall of the temple is 40 feet (12 m) long and 20 feet (6.1 m) broad. It contains 8 pillars which resemble the cyprus throne tree.

The murti

            The murti of Vinayaka, sits on a stone throne. It faces east and with its trunk turned left, sitting against a background of silver which displays Riddhi and Siddhi waving chamaras. The idol's eyes and navel contain diamonds.

Legend

            This is story of Krityuga in the country Sindhu. In the village of Pali there was a businessman called Kalyan & his wife Indumati. They had a son Ballal who was a staunch devotee of Ganpati. Along with other children Ballal used to worship with small stones being treated as Gods. Once the children went outside the village & saw a big stone. At the insistence of Ballal, the children treated the stone as Ganpati & started worshipping. All of them got so engrossed that they forgot about hunger & thirst or about day or night.

             Their parents were waiting for the children at their homes. When the children did not return on time, they all went to Kalyan's house and complained about Ballal. Kalyan seth become furious took a stick and went in search of children. He saw children listening                      Ganesh purana outside the village. In rage he broke the small temples built by the children who fled away. Ballal was caught by his father while submerged in meditation and was beaten until he bled. His father tied him to a tree and smashed all the pooja materials collected by the children. He threw away the big stone which children treated as Ganpati. "Let me see which God protects you now" he said, and went home.After being tied up Ballal cursed whoever had done it.He said,"Let them become blind, deaf, dumb and hunchbacked".Though he was affected by pain, hunger and thirst, he kept on chanting the name of Gajanan till he fainted.Ballal entreated Vinayaka to appear. Lord Ganpati was moved by the child's devotion and appeared in the form of a Brahmin before Ballal & touched him. Ballal's thirst and hunger vanished, wounds were healed & he felt a new vigour moving in his body. He prostrated before the Brahmin whom he recognised as Gajanan & worshipped him. Ganpati told Ballal to ask for a boon. Ballal said " Let me have unshaken devotion towards you. You must stay at this place & remove the miseries of the people, who come to you." Ganesh said, "I shall ever remain here in my part form, I will take your name before mine & be called as Ballal Vinayak." Then he embraced Ballal & vanished into the nearby stone. Then the stone's cracks disappeared,and was whole again.

                That stone statue is called Ballaleshwar. The stone idol which Kalyan vaishya threw away is also called as Dhundi Vinayak. This is a swayambhoo Moorti. It is worshipped before Ballaleshwar is worshipped.