Ashtavinayak Trip | Temple Drive

ajitem · 26th February 2022, 15:55

I had been planning to do the Ashtavinayak trip for a while now and owing to COVID I had to keep postponing it. Finally after a lot of planning I decided to do the trip during 18-20 Feb 2022. I chose Pune as my base for the trip as I wanted to do the trip as defined by the tradition.

The traditional route for the trip is as follows:

Once you visit all the temples, you have to visit the Morgaon temple once again to finish the yatra.

I was travelling with my wife and my 2 year old son. I decided to cover four temples in one day and complete the whole yatra in 3 days. I chose the Novotel Hotel on Nagar Road as my base for the whole trip.

Day 1 - 18th Feb 2022

Start ODO - 32239

1. Shree Mayureshwar - Morgaon

Route Taken: Nagar Road - Kharadi Bypass - Magarpatta - Hadapsar Gadital - Loni Kalbhor - Uruli Kanchan - Yavat - Kedgaon (Chaufala) - Supe - Morgaon

ODO - 32324

We left the hotel early at about 5.30am and stopped for a cup of tea at the Amrittulya Outlet on Kharadi Bypass Square. After spending about 20 minutes there we headed straight for Morgao and reached there at 7.08am. The road quality was good. Due to the early morning time, we could escape the Pune traffic and travel very efficiently.

There are two parking spots available here. One is immediately opposite the temple although this one is closed and reserved for two wheelers during rush hour. The other one is across the street. The parking charge here ₹40.

Ashtavinayak Trip | Temple Drive-img_1297.jpeg

There was no rush at the temple. We left Morgaon at 7.30am after a quick but very satisfying darshan.

2. Shree Siddhivinayak - Siddhatek

Route Taken: Morgaon - Supe - Kedgaon (Chaufala) - Patas - Kurukumbh - Daund - Khorodi - Alegaon - Devalgaon - Siddhatek

ODO - 32392

The road from Morgaon until Daund is good. Daund onwards there are sections where road resurfacing and maintenance work was in progress and this impacted our speed. We finally managed to reach Siddhatek at 8.37am. There is parking available here which is a bit away from the temple location. Due to less rush in the morning, we were able to park our car on the street side and go inside for darshan. Just like at Morgaon, we could get a quick darshan and return to resume our journey. We departed for Pali at about 10.43am.

Ashtavinayak Trip | Temple Drive-img_1303.jpeg

Ashtavinayak Trip | Temple Drive-img_1306.jpeg

3. Shree Ballaleshwar - Pali

Route Taken: Siddhatek - Devalgaon - Khorodi - Daund - Virobawadi - Patas - Kedgaon (Chaufala) - Yavat - Uruli Kanchan - Loni Kalbhor - Hadapsar - Bhairoba Nala - Alankar Chowk - Pune RTO - Sancheti Hospital - Shivajinagar - Aundh - via Aundh-Ravet Road - Expressway - exit Expressway at Khalapur - via Imagica (its now become Novotel Imagica) - Durshet - Parali - Bhaigul - Pali.

ODO - 32623

This was the most arduous and time consuming part of the journey. The 200km distance is the longest between any two consecutive temples and to add to the difficulty, you need to cross Pune city as a part of this journey. Not a fun prospect. Enroute to Pali, we stopped at Jogeshwari Misal to have some breakfast. I found a lot of these and similar outlets dotted across the Pune Metropolitan Area and are good options to have tasty misal and some much deserved rest. To add to our misery of crossing Pune, the Solapur Road Flyover near Magarpatta was closed for traffic due to maintenance work. This led to a huge congestion. Apart from that the journey was smooth. After exiting the expressway, the roads are not very good. They are unsurfaced for the most part and riddled with potholes. Although maintenance work is underway, this section has a serious impact on speed and overall fatigue. We managed to reach Pali at about 3.31pm.

There is a parking space available on the opposite side of the temple. The family who owns the place also sells locally made food stuff and the head of the family is a priest at the temple. They offer various kinds of pooja related services there. The parking charge is ₹40. According to tradition, there is another temple called as Dhundi Vinayak temple behind the Ballaleshwar Temple. This temple needs to be visited before visiting the main temple. It took us about 30 minutes to get darshan here. We left for Mahad at about 4.05pm

Ashtavinayak Trip | Temple Drive-img_1311.jpeg

Ashtavinayak Trip | Temple Drive-img_1314.jpeg

4. Shree Varad Vinayak - Mahad

Route Taken: Pali - Bhaigul - Parali - Durshet - Imagica - Niphan - Mahad

ODO - 32662

We reached at the temple at 5.08pm. The journey isn't long but due to the road quality takes time. Most of the road is the same one that we took to reach Pali. Mahad is a small and quiet town with a lot of parking options both free and paid close to the temple. After getting the darshan and relaxing for a while, we left for Pune at 5.45pm.

Ashtavinayak Trip | Temple Drive-img_1316.jpeg

End of Day 1

The return journey was a bit hectic. We encountered some congestion on the expressway and after getting through it, we then had to battle the Pune traffic to get back to our hotel at Nagar Road. We were back home by 8pm.

ODO 32759

Day 2 - 19th Feb 2022

Start ODO - 32759

5. Shree Chintamani Vinayak - Theur

Route Taken: Nagar Road - Wagholi - Kesnand - Theur

ODO - 32782

We left the hotel early in the morning like on the first day at 5.30am and then reached Theur around 6.13am. The road was good and due to the early hour there was no traffic. The atmosphere when we reached there was nothing short of awesome. There is a lot of parking space available just in front of the temple. The parking is free. After a quick darshan, we departed for Lenyadri at 6.30am.

Ashtavinayak Trip | Temple Drive-img_1320.jpeg

Ashtavinayak Trip | Temple Drive-img_1323.jpeg

6. Shree Girijatmaj - Lenyadri

Route Taken: Theur - Kesnand - Lonikand - Koregaon Bhima - Sanaswadi - Shikrapur - Pabal - Wafgaon - Manchar - Kalamb - Narayangaon - Lenyadri.

ODO - 32895

The route until Pabal is good. Pabal - Wafgaon - Manchar is bad with maintenance work in progress. Manchar onwards the road is decent. We reached Lenyadri at around 9.14am. It helps to reach this spot as early as possible to avoid climbing in the sun. The greatest doubt we had in our mind when visiting Lenyadri was to be able to carry our son all the way up but due to God's grace we managed that together. It was a cool, breezy day. There are a lot of spots on the way up the stairs where one can take a breather. People also carry snacks/water bottles along with themselves. I would not advice carrying a lot of snacks as there are a lot of monkeys who will try to snatch your belongings. It took us a total of 40 minutes to climb up and down and around 20 minutes in the temple. The entire visit was completed in an hour and 10 minutes including snack break.

The parking charge is ₹30. The entry charge is ₹25 per person and entry is free for children under 15. For more information and online booking visit ASI site - https://asi.payumoney.com/ There are a lot of options for snacks around the place.

Ashtavinayak Trip | Temple Drive-img_1325.jpeg

Ashtavinayak Trip | Temple Drive-img_1326.jpeg

Ashtavinayak Trip | Temple Drive-img_1327.jpeg

7. Shree Vighanahar - Ozar

Route Taken: Lenyadri - Junnar - Shiroli - Ozar

ODO - 32911

This was the shortest drive we had in the entire trip in between temples. We departed Lenyadri at 10.24am and reached Ozar at 10.50am. The road is decent. There is a lot of parking available beside the temple. After getting darshan, we departed for Ranjangaon at 11.30am.

Ashtavinayak Trip | Temple Drive-img_1333.jpeg

8. Shree Mahaganpati - Ranjangaon

Route Taken: Ozar - Narayangaon - Manjarwadi - Nagapur - Paragaon Shingave - Kavathe - Malthan - Ranjangaon

ODO - 32980

We reached Ranjangaon at about 1.42pm. The road was not very good. We got the most rush here. There is a lot of parking space and eatery options at this place. The parking charge is ₹40. After Darshan, we left for our hotel at 3.15pm.

Ashtavinayak Trip | Temple Drive-img_1336.jpeg

End of Day 2

The return journey was uneventful with some traffic on the way. We reached our hotel at 4.30pm.

Day 3 - 20th Feb 2022

We again started a little later than the previous two days at 8.30 am and reached Morgaon at 10.30am. As it was a Chaturthi, there was a huge crowd at the temple. This time around we needed 3 hours to get the darshan. After getting the darshan, we completed our Ashtavinayak Yatra successfully and as per the tradition.

The highlight of the trip was the best fuel efficiency delivered by my car in my almost 1.5 years of ownership. I managed to cover a distance of 794km (Nagpur-Shirdi-Pune) in one full tank of diesel. I got the best ever mileage of 17.76kmpl on my car.

Ashtavinayak Trip | Temple Drive-img_1253.jpeg

Ashtavinayak Trip | Temple Drive-img_1308.png

Sa!lor · 28th February 2022, 09:26

Hi ajitem great temple travelogue, I do Ashtavinayak trip every year with family but due to covid unable to go from last two years. Your travelogue brought back memories.We make sure we don't skip any year without ashtavinayak trip so this time as I won't be able to travel my Mom dad are going for self drive ashtavinayak trip in this week.

I saw the route you took and just wondering any reason you did not do Morgaon-theur-sidhhatek-ranjhangaon-lenyadri-ozar-mahad-pali

I plan my route in following order:
Day 1: Morgaon-theur-siddhatek and ranjangaon Day 2: Lenyadri-ozhar-mahad and Pali

This way don't have to cross Pune all the way for Pali and Mahad, after covering Pali can directly get on the expressway and go to Pune.

Thanks for the amazing writeup could experience my journey from your write-up.

ghodlur · 28th February 2022, 09:57

Great write up and superb pics.

Reminded me of the trip I had taken way back in 2011. I had covered in 2 days. Didnt start at Morgan as everyone says it should which I thought was some myth and was supported by my wife and in laws too. Day 1 was Mahad - Pali - Ozhar - Lenyadri (night halt). Day 2 was Lenyadri - Ranjangaon - Theur -Siddhatek - Morgan and back to Pune for halt at inlaws. Drove in the Ford Fiesta and some good memories of the trip.

raje022 · 28th February 2022, 12:07

The Ashtavinayak Temples should be visited in a pre-determined sequence. It should begin with Sri Moreshwar Temple followed by the Siddhivinayak Temple, Ballaleshwar Temple, Varadvinayak Temple, Chintamani Temple, Girijatmaj Temple, and the Vignahar Temple. The last temple in the list is the Mahaganapathi Temple at Ranjangaon, Pune. It is believed that the pilgrimage is complete only when the devotee visits the first time again after visiting all the other seven temples.

All these murtis (idols) are called Swayambhu (self-existent) effigies in Sanskrit. This is to indicate that they were not sculpted but they were found formed by nature.

The one taken and made popular by travel packages is about convenience, which would focus on 4 temples each day which are in vicinity.

ajitem · 28th February 2022, 20:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sa!lor

Hi ajitem great temple travelogue, I do Ashtavinayak trip every year with family but due to covid unable to go from last two years.

Thanks! Like I mentioned at the beginning of thread, I wanted to do this trip in the traditional order which required me to take the route I took. There is no harm in doing it the way you do it too! This trip was truly an amazing experience and I cannot wait do repeat it once again!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Drove in the Ford Fiesta and some good memories of the trip.

Thank you! There is a traditional order but it depends on our individual faith as well. As my family wanted to do it the traditional way, I did it this way. Plus, more driving is more fun so I had another reason as to why to do it this way

Mod Note - Please quote only the relevant portion.

Road_Monk · 9th June 2022, 16:59

I am confused about the actual traditional way of doing this right...

Isn't this the right sequence, finishing off with Morgaon (Mayureshwar) at the end again?

Morgaon (Mayureshwar)
Siddhatek (Siddhivinayak)
Theur (Chintamani)
Ranjangaon (Mahaganpati)
Ozar (Vighneshwar)
Lenyadri (Girijatmaj)
Mahad (Varadvinayak)
Pali (Ballaleshwar)

26th February 2022, 15:55	#1
ajitem Newbie Join Date: Sep 2020 Location: Nagpur Posts: 3 Thanked: 24 Times	Ashtavinayak Trip \| Temple Drive I had been planning to do the Ashtavinayak trip for a while now and owing to COVID I had to keep postponing it. Finally after a lot of planning I decided to do the trip during 18-20 Feb 2022. I chose Pune as my base for the trip as I wanted to do the trip as defined by the tradition. The traditional route for the trip is as follows: Shree Mayureshwar - Morgaon Shree Siddhivinayak - Siddhatek Shree Ballaleshwar - Pali Shree Varad Vinayak - Mahad Shree Chintamani Vinayak - Theur Shree Girijatmaj - Lenyadri Shree Vighanahar - Ozar Shree Mahaganpati - Ranjangaon Once you visit all the temples, you have to visit the Morgaon temple once again to finish the yatra. I was travelling with my wife and my 2 year old son. I decided to cover four temples in one day and complete the whole yatra in 3 days. I chose the Novotel Hotel on Nagar Road as my base for the whole trip. Day 1 - 18th Feb 2022 Start ODO - 32239 1. Shree Mayureshwar - Morgaon Route Taken: Nagar Road - Kharadi Bypass - Magarpatta - Hadapsar Gadital - Loni Kalbhor - Uruli Kanchan - Yavat - Kedgaon (Chaufala) - Supe - Morgaon ODO - 32324 We left the hotel early at about 5.30am and stopped for a cup of tea at the Amrittulya Outlet on Kharadi Bypass Square. After spending about 20 minutes there we headed straight for Morgao and reached there at 7.08am. The road quality was good. Due to the early morning time, we could escape the Pune traffic and travel very efficiently. There are two parking spots available here. One is immediately opposite the temple although this one is closed and reserved for two wheelers during rush hour. The other one is across the street. The parking charge here ₹40. There was no rush at the temple. We left Morgaon at 7.30am after a quick but very satisfying darshan. 2. Shree Siddhivinayak - Siddhatek Route Taken: Morgaon - Supe - Kedgaon (Chaufala) - Patas - Kurukumbh - Daund - Khorodi - Alegaon - Devalgaon - Siddhatek ODO - 32392 The road from Morgaon until Daund is good. Daund onwards there are sections where road resurfacing and maintenance work was in progress and this impacted our speed. We finally managed to reach Siddhatek at 8.37am. There is parking available here which is a bit away from the temple location. Due to less rush in the morning, we were able to park our car on the street side and go inside for darshan. Just like at Morgaon, we could get a quick darshan and return to resume our journey. We departed for Pali at about 10.43am. 3. Shree Ballaleshwar - Pali Route Taken: Siddhatek - Devalgaon - Khorodi - Daund - Virobawadi - Patas - Kedgaon (Chaufala) - Yavat - Uruli Kanchan - Loni Kalbhor - Hadapsar - Bhairoba Nala - Alankar Chowk - Pune RTO - Sancheti Hospital - Shivajinagar - Aundh - via Aundh-Ravet Road - Expressway - exit Expressway at Khalapur - via Imagica (its now become Novotel Imagica) - Durshet - Parali - Bhaigul - Pali. ODO - 32623 This was the most arduous and time consuming part of the journey. The 200km distance is the longest between any two consecutive temples and to add to the difficulty, you need to cross Pune city as a part of this journey. Not a fun prospect. Enroute to Pali, we stopped at Jogeshwari Misal to have some breakfast. I found a lot of these and similar outlets dotted across the Pune Metropolitan Area and are good options to have tasty misal and some much deserved rest. To add to our misery of crossing Pune, the Solapur Road Flyover near Magarpatta was closed for traffic due to maintenance work. This led to a huge congestion. Apart from that the journey was smooth. After exiting the expressway, the roads are not very good. They are unsurfaced for the most part and riddled with potholes. Although maintenance work is underway, this section has a serious impact on speed and overall fatigue. We managed to reach Pali at about 3.31pm. There is a parking space available on the opposite side of the temple. The family who owns the place also sells locally made food stuff and the head of the family is a priest at the temple. They offer various kinds of pooja related services there. The parking charge is ₹40. According to tradition, there is another temple called as Dhundi Vinayak temple behind the Ballaleshwar Temple. This temple needs to be visited before visiting the main temple. It took us about 30 minutes to get darshan here. We left for Mahad at about 4.05pm 4. Shree Varad Vinayak - Mahad Route Taken: Pali - Bhaigul - Parali - Durshet - Imagica - Niphan - Mahad ODO - 32662 We reached at the temple at 5.08pm. The journey isn't long but due to the road quality takes time. Most of the road is the same one that we took to reach Pali. Mahad is a small and quiet town with a lot of parking options both free and paid close to the temple. After getting the darshan and relaxing for a while, we left for Pune at 5.45pm. End of Day 1 The return journey was a bit hectic. We encountered some congestion on the expressway and after getting through it, we then had to battle the Pune traffic to get back to our hotel at Nagar Road. We were back home by 8pm. ODO 32759 Day 2 - 19th Feb 2022 Start ODO - 32759 5. Shree Chintamani Vinayak - Theur Route Taken: Nagar Road - Wagholi - Kesnand - Theur ODO - 32782 We left the hotel early in the morning like on the first day at 5.30am and then reached Theur around 6.13am. The road was good and due to the early hour there was no traffic. The atmosphere when we reached there was nothing short of awesome. There is a lot of parking space available just in front of the temple. The parking is free. After a quick darshan, we departed for Lenyadri at 6.30am. 6. Shree Girijatmaj - Lenyadri Route Taken: Theur - Kesnand - Lonikand - Koregaon Bhima - Sanaswadi - Shikrapur - Pabal - Wafgaon - Manchar - Kalamb - Narayangaon - Lenyadri. ODO - 32895 The route until Pabal is good. Pabal - Wafgaon - Manchar is bad with maintenance work in progress. Manchar onwards the road is decent. We reached Lenyadri at around 9.14am. It helps to reach this spot as early as possible to avoid climbing in the sun. The greatest doubt we had in our mind when visiting Lenyadri was to be able to carry our son all the way up but due to God's grace we managed that together. It was a cool, breezy day. There are a lot of spots on the way up the stairs where one can take a breather. People also carry snacks/water bottles along with themselves. I would not advice carrying a lot of snacks as there are a lot of monkeys who will try to snatch your belongings. It took us a total of 40 minutes to climb up and down and around 20 minutes in the temple. The entire visit was completed in an hour and 10 minutes including snack break. The parking charge is ₹30. The entry charge is ₹25 per person and entry is free for children under 15. For more information and online booking visit ASI site - https://asi.payumoney.com/ There are a lot of options for snacks around the place. 7. Shree Vighanahar - Ozar Route Taken: Lenyadri - Junnar - Shiroli - Ozar ODO - 32911 This was the shortest drive we had in the entire trip in between temples. We departed Lenyadri at 10.24am and reached Ozar at 10.50am. The road is decent. There is a lot of parking available beside the temple. After getting darshan, we departed for Ranjangaon at 11.30am. 8. Shree Mahaganpati - Ranjangaon Route Taken: Ozar - Narayangaon - Manjarwadi - Nagapur - Paragaon Shingave - Kavathe - Malthan - Ranjangaon ODO - 32980 We reached Ranjangaon at about 1.42pm. The road was not very good. We got the most rush here. There is a lot of parking space and eatery options at this place. The parking charge is ₹40. After Darshan, we left for our hotel at 3.15pm. End of Day 2 The return journey was uneventful with some traffic on the way. We reached our hotel at 4.30pm. Day 3 - 20th Feb 2022 We again started a little later than the previous two days at 8.30 am and reached Morgaon at 10.30am. As it was a Chaturthi, there was a huge crowd at the temple. This time around we needed 3 hours to get the darshan. After getting the darshan, we completed our Ashtavinayak Yatra successfully and as per the tradition. The highlight of the trip was the best fuel efficiency delivered by my car in my almost 1.5 years of ownership. I managed to cover a distance of 794km (Nagpur-Shirdi-Pune) in one full tank of diesel. I got the best ever mileage of 17.76kmpl on my car.
	(22) Thanks

28th February 2022, 09:26	#2
Sa!lor BHPian Join Date: Dec 2021 Location: Vadodara Posts: 27 Thanked: 45 Times	Re: Ashtavinayak Trip \| Temple Drive Hi ajitem great temple travelogue, I do Ashtavinayak trip every year with family but due to covid unable to go from last two years. Your travelogue brought back memories.We make sure we don't skip any year without ashtavinayak trip so this time as I won't be able to travel my Mom dad are going for self drive ashtavinayak trip in this week. I saw the route you took and just wondering any reason you did not do Morgaon-theur-sidhhatek-ranjhangaon-lenyadri-ozar-mahad-pali I plan my route in following order: Day 1: Morgaon-theur-siddhatek and ranjangaon Day 2: Lenyadri-ozhar-mahad and Pali This way don't have to cross Pune all the way for Pali and Mahad, after covering Pali can directly get on the expressway and go to Pune. Thanks for the amazing writeup could experience my journey from your write-up.
	() Thanks

28th February 2022, 09:57	#3
ghodlur Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Thane Posts: 6,062 Thanked: 4,274 Times View My Garage	Re: Ashtavinayak Trip \| Temple Drive Great write up and superb pics. Reminded me of the trip I had taken way back in 2011. I had covered in 2 days. Didnt start at Morgan as everyone says it should which I thought was some myth and was supported by my wife and in laws too. Day 1 was Mahad - Pali - Ozhar - Lenyadri (night halt). Day 2 was Lenyadri - Ranjangaon - Theur -Siddhatek - Morgan and back to Pune for halt at inlaws. Drove in the Ford Fiesta and some good memories of the trip.
	() Thanks

28th February 2022, 12:07	#4
raje022 Newbie Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Mumbai Posts: 5 Thanked: 9 Times	Re: Ashtavinayak Trip \| Temple Drive The Ashtavinayak Temples should be visited in a pre-determined sequence. It should begin with Sri Moreshwar Temple followed by the Siddhivinayak Temple, Ballaleshwar Temple, Varadvinayak Temple, Chintamani Temple, Girijatmaj Temple, and the Vignahar Temple. The last temple in the list is the Mahaganapathi Temple at Ranjangaon, Pune. It is believed that the pilgrimage is complete only when the devotee visits the first time again after visiting all the other seven temples. All these murtis (idols) are called Swayambhu (self-existent) effigies in Sanskrit. This is to indicate that they were not sculpted but they were found formed by nature. The one taken and made popular by travel packages is about convenience, which would focus on 4 temples each day which are in vicinity.
	(5) Thanks

9th June 2022, 16:59	#6
Road_Monk Newbie Join Date: Mar 2021 Location: Mumbai Posts: 7 Thanked: 0 Times	Re: Ashtavinayak Trip \| Temple Drive I am confused about the actual traditional way of doing this right... Isn't this the right sequence, finishing off with Morgaon (Mayureshwar) at the end again? Morgaon (Mayureshwar) Siddhatek (Siddhivinayak) Theur (Chintamani) Ranjangaon (Mahaganpati) Ozar (Vighneshwar) Lenyadri (Girijatmaj) Mahad (Varadvinayak) Pali (Ballaleshwar)
	() Thanks