Babulanth Ganesh

Obeisances unto the Glorious Lord Ganesha

Lord Ganesh, is worshiped by the Hindus, from times immemorial. He is worshiped by people of all classes, high & low, rich & poor, young & old, men & women of all castes, color, occupations, primarily for the favor of removing all obstacles in their progress and for grant of special boons.

Ganesha means The Lord of the Gaņas

The word Ganapathi also signifies, Ga means Buddhi (intellect), Na means Vignana (wisdom) and Pathi means the Lord. Ganapathi means the one who is the Lord of intellect and wisdom.

The blessed Lord Ganesha has the form of OM and he is situated at the first syllable of the Vedas. The great sages and demigods, led by Indra, always remember him in their hearts. The Gods Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu and Indra continually worship him as the cause of creation and cause of all causes.

The first prayer of the day

At sunrise I offer my humble prayers to Lord Gananath, who is the cause of this manifestation, who awards boons to the demigods such as Brahma and others, abounds in the Agamas ( scriptures) awards the results of the activities of dharma (religiosity), artha (economic development), and kama (sense gratification), who is the cause of liberation for the human race, is beyond words, is the beginning, and has unlimited incarnations.

Some of the above links are from The Ganesha Purana (Chs. 1 – 5) Edited by C. Devadas

In the north of India, on the other hand, Ganesha is often portrayed as married to the two daughters of the God Brahma: Buddhi (intellect), who is also called Riddhi (prosperity) and Siddhi (spiritual power).

As one enters the compound of the Babulnath temple, just before the lift and steps leading up to temple one is greeted by the Holy idol of Lord Ganesha, who is flanked on each side by his auspicious wives Buddhi (intellect), who is also called Riddhi (prosperity) on his left and Siddhi (spiritual power) and on right. After one had prayed and made their homage to Lord Ganesha one must then pray and pay homage to his wives, Buddhi who is also called Riddhi and Siddhi. This will ensure removal of all obstacles and achievement of intellectual power, prosperity and spiritual power to the devotee.

This idol is very unique as its right hand has SIX fingers; its left hand has the normal five fingers found in most other Ganesh idols. This uniqueness is not found in other Ganesh idols which are commonly known.

The legend of this idol was told to me by an unknown devotee, that a man, who was living near the Babulnath Temple, got a dream that a Ganesh idol would be washed ashore nearby.

The next day he went to the Girgaum Chowpatty beach nearby and found this idol washed ashore. Finally this idol was installed in the compound of the Babulnath temple. It is said that whoever prays to this Ganesh idol sincerely and with good intentions, get their prayers are answered. Blessed are those fortunate souls who get to pray at the feet of this Ganesh idol.

Lord Ganesha is placed with idols of his wives Riddhi and Siddhi in a temple in Vadodara.

This temple is right opposite the Shri Maa Lakshmi (Amba Bhai) Mandir, Vadodara, Gujarat. Photos of this Shri Maa Lakshmi Temple are also included so that this Lord Ganapati temple can be located.