Ranjangaon is just 50 km away from the city of Pune, and the temple is situated near the Pune Ahmednagar highway. The proximity of the place to the city of Pune makes Ranjangaon one of the popular destinations for people from Pune for a one day trip.
Legend
According to the legend popular about Ranjangaon, a demon called Tripurasura built three massive citadels (the evil Tripuram forts) here. Lord Shiva blessed him with a boon that no one could defeat Tripurasur in war. The boon made him insane and he spelt doom on the earth as well as in the heaven. After all the gods came to Lord Shiva with their fervent appeals to kill Tripurasura, Shiva intervened. But soon he realized that he too was not able to destroy the demon and so as per Narada’s advice he worshipped Lord Ganesha and by Ganesha’s grace, killed Tripurasur.
According to the legend popular about Ranjangaon, a demon called Tripurasura built three massive citadels (the evil Tripuram forts) here. Lord Shiva blessed him with a boon that no one could defeat Tripurasur in war. The boon made him insane and he spelt doom on the earth as well as in the heaven. After all the gods came to Lord Shiva with their fervent appeals to kill Tripurasura, Shiva intervened. But soon he realized that he too was not able to destroy the demon and so as per Narada’s advice he worshipped Lord Ganesha and by Ganesha’s grace, killed Tripurasur.
History
As per the historical references the Mahaganapati temple in Ranjangaon was built somewhere in the 9th century. Madhavrao Peshwa is said to have built the sanctum in the temple to keep the Ganesh idol. Later some of the renovations of the temple were carried out by Sardar Kibe of Indore. The temple faces east and has a beautiful massive entrance. The temple has been so constructed that the rays of the rising sun fall on the Ganesh idol in the sanctum during the Dakshinayana i.e. the southward movement of the sun.
The beautiful Ganesh idol faces east and shows Ganesha sitting cross legged. The forehead of Ganesha is pretty broad and his trunk is turning to his left. It is said that the idol that we see today is not the original one and the original idol has been hidden in the basement. Remarkably, this hidden idol has 10 trunks and 20 hands and is called Mahotkat. The temple authorities, however, have always denied the existence of any other idol in the basement.
The Mahaganapati Temple is one of the most important worship places in Maharashtra. This is the reason why oodles of Ganesh devotees keep coming here throughout the year. Like all the other shrines of Lord Ganesh, the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in the Hindu month of Bhadrapad and the Ganesh jayanti festival in the Hindu month of Magh are the grand celebrations here
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