From Mahabharata to date, Waigaon’s Siddhivinayak Temple a sanctum of faith
| Date :01-Sep-2022 |
By Pravin Kapile
The ancient temple of Lord Siddhivinayak at Waigaon in Bhatkuli tehsil, 21 kms from Amravati, is abuzz with devotees with ten-day Ganesh festival beginning on Wednesday. While the temple is visited by hundreds of devotees round the year, during the Ganeshotsav, the numbers simply multiply.
The Siddhivinayak Temple finds mention in the Mahabharata and later in the Mughal history. What is pertinent to note is that after staying hidden under the ground for a good 600 years, the idol was unearthed and reinstalled and has been a sanctum of faith ever since.
The idol in Siddhivinayak Temple has the trunk pointing towards right. In Maharashtra, Siddhivinayak having right trunk is only in Amravati after Mumbai. It has Siddhi on the right and Riddhi on the left. During the Uttarayana and Dakshinayana phase the first rays of the rising sun fall on this idol.
As per mythology, during Agyatvaas (exile), the Pandavas are believed to have stayed for a long time with King Virat of Chikhaldara and they ended their exile after taking darshan of Lord Siddhivinayak close to Achalpur.
History books say that hundreds of years, during the Mughal period, Achalpur, Darapur and Kolhapur villages, which are adjacent to Waigaon, were under the control of the Mughals. As people feared destruction of temples and desecration of idols during this period, the idol of Lord Siddhivinayak at Waigaon was hidden by people under ground. As years passed by there came a time when people had no clue as to exactly where the idol had been hidden. However, people of the area still used to worship in the area where they believed the idol had been kept safely.
But in the 16th century, one Ingole family of Waigaon village became the medium for ‘resurrection’ of the idol. The family was planning to build their wada at a particular site and for which digging was done. But, what the labourers stumbled upon was a 600-year-old idol of Lord Ganesha. The family promptly built a temple that looks like a wada and installed the idol in it with complete religious rituals. Since then the Ingole family has been incharge at the temple.
Over the years, as the faith in the temple and the deity rose, the number of devotees coming to the temple also grew manifold. The Ingole family therefore established a trust to be able to provide better facilities to the devotees. It is then that a new temple was built. Once again, the Ingole family took a lead and the construction was done from a farm donated by the family.
At present, the temple trust is managed by Lalji Patil, Sitaramji Patil, Tulshiram Patil, Shivram Patil, Tukaram Patil. Sriram Patil and Dayaram Patil. Vilas Tukaram Ingole is the President.