Shri Vishal Ganapati : Seat of faith of Nagar city bearing 200 year old history

The temple of Shri Siddhivinayak Vishal Ganapati, village Deity of Nagar city, is located in Maliwada and is a spiritually active place of pilgrimage with a 200 year old history. This Deity, known to fulfill desires of the devotees, and the temple is popular far and wide. As the Name Vishal (meaning vast) suggests, the idol is 11.5 feet tall, east facing and the trunk to the right. A hooded serpent is adorned in the region of the navel. The headgear of the idol is a pagdi (turban) used in the regime of the Peshwas (a dynasty of rulers in Maharashtra).

Hundreds of devotees visit the temple every day for darshan of Vishal Ganapati. The festivals celebrated here on a large scale with great fervour are Ganeshotsav, Ganesh Jayanti, Gurupournima and Sawta Maharaj Jayanti. The temple carved from wood is ancient and beautiful. Renovation of this temple is going on for past 23 years and is almost complete now.

The alluring idol of Shri Vishal Ganapati, the Deity of Nagar City ! To eliminate obstacles in the path of establishing a Hindu nation let us pray with spiritual emotion and surrender at His Holy feet !

Shri Ganapati – a master of music and dance

Manifestation of Brahman (God Principle) in the form of sound is Omkar. Shri Ganesh too is said to be a form of Omkar. From a number of Holy verses from the Shri Ganesh Varadstotra (Holy verse) it becomes clear how closely Shri Ganesh is linked with music. Through the composition of abhang (Devotional songs) of Saint Dnyaneshwar, Saint Namdev, Samarth Ramdas swami and other Saints, the close association of Shri Ganesh with music is obvious. Idols of Ganaraya in a dancing posture are also found. This Ganapati in dancing posture, has a golden complexion and eight hands. Its left leg is in padmasan (Lotus posture) and the right leg is in mid-air. Madhva Munishwar has described the greatness of the dance heritage of Shri Ganesh through a devotional song in Marathi ‘ये गणराया मंगलमूर्ति । पतित पावन दीनदयाळा । त्रिभुवनी सोज्वळ तुझी कीर्ती । कीर्तनरंगी नृत्य करी रे, संगीताची मिळवूनी पूर्ती ॥‘. Poet Moropant has beautifuly described the enticing form of Shri Ganesh using richness of his words and imagination, by stating that, ‘Seeing the dance of Gajanan even celestial musicians and beauties are put to shame’.