Siddhatek Temple

People of Ahmednagar consider themselves very fortunate to be living in the proximity of many sacred temples of India. The well known Shirdi Sai Baba Temple and Shani Temple are two such immensely sacred temples that are located in the very proximity of Ahmednagar city. There is, however, another temple that belongs to this coveted league of ‘sacred temples of India’ and is also located in the very proximity of Ahmednagar city. This temple is sacred Siddhivinayak Temple located in small Siddhatek town of Karjat Taluka, also referred as Siddhatek temple.  

What makes Siddhivinayak Temple at Siddhatek sacred is the fact that it is one of the Ashtavinayak Temples. But, more so because it is the only Ashtavinayak Temple in entire Ahmednagar district. Ashtavinayak Temples, as we all know, refer to 8 sacred Lord Ganesha Temples located solely in the state of Maharashtra. Hence Siddhivinayak Temple at Siddhatek town doesn’t just draw Ganesha devotees from Ahmednagar district but also from across Maharashtra state.

This temple is located on the top of hillock. It doesn’t boost a grand and beautiful architecture as such, but the spiritual aura and sacredness of this temple is more than enough to draw thousands of Ganesha devotees every year from across Maharashtra state. However, one prominent feature of Siddhatek’s Lord Ganesha idol makes it more sacred than the rest of Ashtavinayak Temples. This prominent feature is that Ganesha idol of Siddhatek Temple is the only idol amongst all Ashtavinayak Ganesha Idol’s whose trunk is pointed towards right side and not left side. Any Ganesha idol whose trunk points towards right hand side is always considered very auspicious by Ganesha devotees, as it is believed that it is more powerful than those whose trunk points towards left hand side.
                     
Besides, the Ganesha Idol of Siddhatek is also believed to be the giver of siddhi, i.e. intellect. This is the reason the visiting devotees of Siddhatek temple always make it a point to wish for more intellect from Lord Ganesha.
 
As for the history of this temple is concerned, this temple is indeed very old. As matter of fact there are many popular mythological stories about how this temple came into being. One such popular mythological story is that Lord Vishnu himself created this temple. However, historical evidence clearly suggest that this temple was constructed by famous queen of Indore Ahilyabai Holkar in 1700’s.

Being an important Ashtavinayak Temple, this temple is thronged by thousands of devotees round the year. But, obviously during auspicious Ganesh Chaturthi and Ganesh Jayanti, number of visiting devotees zooms to huge number. 
   
How to reach Siddhatek Temple from Ahmednagar