“Navasacha Ganapati”: Our Ever Benevolent Siddhivinayak

A rich land lady from Matunga, Late Mrs.Deubai Patil, gave the onus of constructing a Lord Ganesh Temple to a professional contractor, Late Mr.Laxman Vithu Patil. The temple was thus built on Thursday, 19th November 1801. Lady Deubai who was childless, one fine day while praying to Lord Ganesha wished that the all granting Deva let other childless women have the joy of bearing a child of their own.
For the almighty elephant head, the only condition while invoking him is to do so with a pious and clean heart. Rest assured, no matter what you ask for, the big eared Ganesha sees to it that every wish is fulfilled and every dream comes to life. And so it was that Parvati’s son had come to be known as “Navasacha Ganapati”, the wish-fulfilling Ganpati and the ever benevolent Siddhivinayak.
As for the temple that was built all those forgotten years ago, it stands even today on the corner of Kakasaheb Gadgil Marg and S.K.Bole Marg in Prabhadevi, Mumbai. On an average, the monumental Siddhivinayak Temple sees anywhere between 25,000 to 2 lakh devotees flocking in everyday to just get a glimpse of their beloved Ganesha. During the auspicious Angaraki Chaturthi, about 10 lakh people come visiting with their infinite prayers, wishes, problems and queries. The ever humble Lord sees to it that they don’t go back empty handed. On such occasions, the nearby maidan (playground) is hired by the temple trust to accommodate the continually growing line of devotees. One of the richest temples in India, Siddhivinayak sees revenues worth mounting number of crores every passing year. The Siddhivinayak Ganpati Temple Trust spends this amount on various noble causes.
There is also a small Hanuman temple inside the Siddhivinayak premises. This idol of the monkey headed god has a legendary story of its own. A road extension project of Sayani Road near Elphinston Road resulted in the Municipal workers unearthing an ancient idol of Lord Hanuman. This idol was later brought to the Siddhivinayak temple premises and placed there in 1952 by the then head priest Shree Govind Phatak. It is so that ever since, Hanumanji has accompanied Bappa and the both have been tirelessly fulfilling wishes of those who come with a pious and clean heart none the less.

Shree Siddhivinayak Ganpati Temple