Chintamani Ganapati – Applied Indology

The Rishi-Gurus, the temples, the scriptures, Three pillars have held Hindu Dharma and its ethos high, century after century. Together they echo the greatness of the loving lord Ganapati, the Lord of Dharma and Son created by the Divine Mother. For untold passage of centuries, our Rishis and Gurus have proclaimed the profound depths of the mind helping pass on ways to that we too can and must come to know God and the Gods.

The Sanatana Dharma, is the only living religion / Dharma on the planet that does not look to a human founder for its source of inspiration, scripture or historical beginning. It is timeless and ageless. Sanatana Dharma, the root religion of humankind, looks inward for its origins, into the subtle, super conscious realms within the microcosm, which it calls the Karaṇaloka, Shivaloka or Third World. This great Dharma has no single organized Base on the geography of the planet. Nor does it have a one hierarchy.

Lord Ganapati is the material manifestation of the Manasa or mind, of the Divine Mother Shakti and Lord Shiva. He embodies then Panchabhootas / five elements; earth, air, fire, water and ether and guides the elemental forces that produce, maintain order in the universe. He is the inner authority, the guardian, the one who grants access to the spiritual mysteries of the Sanatana Dharma.

Chintamani is a the elephant-headed god of wisdom form of Lord Ganesha and is one of Ashtavinayakas among the eight forms of Ganesha. All the idols of Ashtavinayaka are Swayambhu / self originated. All the the eight revered shrines of Ganesha are located in Maharashtra. Village of Theur is located in the Haveli taluka of Pune district, near the confluence of river Bhima and the conjoint river Mula-Mutha.

Long ago, King Abhijeet and Queen Gunavati gave birth to a son and Named him Gana. He grew up to being a strong and bright young man. An ardent devotee of Lord Shiva, he performed Tapasya for several years, pleased with his devotion and Tapasya, lord Shiva blessed him with Varahs / Boons. Shiva granted the kingship of the three worlds, Swargaloka, Bhooloka and Pathala and decreed that Gana could not be killed by anything that possessed any of the three Gunas ( Any of the three interdependent modes or qualities of Prakriti; Sattvika, Rajasika, or Tamasika).

With time, Prince Gana became egoistic, Cruel and fell into bad company turned into Ganasura. He was very strong but turned very greedy and a hot headed warrior Prince. Ganasura found pleasure in troubling poor people and creating obstacles in the meditation of the Rishis.

Once, he had gone to the forest for hunting with his friends. The Ashrama of Rishi Kapila was located in that forest. Ganasura went to the ashrama of Rishi Kapila, who owned a wish granting Gem “Chintamani“. The rishi welcomed Ganasura and invited him and his friends for lunch.

Ganasura laughed looking at Rishi Kapila’s ashrama (hermitage) and said, “How can a poor Rishi like you arrange for food for so many of us ?” On this, the Rishi removed the ‘Chintamani’ gem from his necklace and placed it on a small wooden table.

He bowed and prayed to that gem and to everyone’s surprise, Magically a kitchen was formed and Seats of sandalwood were arranged for everyone to sit. Various delicacies were served to everyone in silver plates. Ganasura and his friends enjoyed the delightful meal. Greedy prince desired to acquire the jewel.

After the meal, Ganasura asked Rishi Kapila for the magical gem; but the Rishi refused, as he knew Ganasura’s cruel nature. So, Ganasura forcibly snatched the gem from the Rishi’s hand. Helpless Rishi Kapila worshiped to lord Ganapati for help.

Ganasura brought the gem to his kingdom. He grows insecure thinking Rishi Kapila might fight with him to get the gem back. Lord Ganesha with his army appear in Ganasura’s dream; one of his soldiers cuts Ganasura’s head. Ganasura wakes up and marches towards Kapila’s ashrama with his army, intending to slay the Rishi. King Abhijeet tries to dissuade his son and advises him to return Chintamani gem to the Rishi, but Ganasura ignores his father’s advice.

Ganasura reaches the forest and starts to destroy the Ashrama. Lord Ganapati decides to punish Ganasura. Ganesha’s shakti, the goddess Siddhi appears and creates a 1000 armed warrior Laksha, who destroys Ganasura’s army. Now Ganapati himself entered the battlefield. Ganasura attacked Ganapati with a shower of arrows; but Ganapati destroyed the arrows mid-air.

Then Ganapati threw His parashu (Ganapati’s weapon) on Ganasura and thus killing the Cruel prince Ganasura. King Abhijeet, the father of Ganasura, arrived to the battlefield and bowed down in front of Ganapati. The King gives the ‘Chintamani’ gem back to Rishi Kapila and prayed to Ganapati to forgive his son and give him absolution ( Meaning ; release from guilt) after death. The compassionate Ganapati accepted his prayer.

Rishi Kapila refused to take the gem back instead he put that on Lord Ganesha’s neck. Ganesha stays on in this place called Theur with Kapila Rishi, taking the name of the jewel Chintamani. Thus the deity here is known as Chintamani Vinayaka. This happened under a kadamba tree therefore Theur is also known as Kadambanagar, the town of Kadamba trees.

The name Theur originates from the Sanskrit word Sthavar meaning stable, firm. According to another legend, the god Brahma meditated here and his restless mind became sthavar due to Ganesha’s blessings. Another tale narrates Indra deva worshiped Ganesha here under the Kadamba tree to get rid of the Rishi Gautama’s curse.

Chintamani Temple of Theur is a Hindu temple located 22 km from Pune, off the Pune Solapur highway. This pilgrimage center of ancient times, the current temple was built by the Ganapatya saint Morya Gosavi or his descendant Dharmadhar (Dharanidhar). The exact date of the temple is unknown.

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About Author:
Subhasini BA, is a Screenplay writer, Director, creative director, costume designer and producer, whose work has featured in some of the most prestigious film festivals in the country and internationally. She has collaborated on several film projects juggling different roles. 

In beginning of her career, she worked as Associate director and Costume Designer with the acclaimed director Girish Kasaravalli. She’s written and directed a documentary film on the famed Krishna Temple in Udupi, and also written plays, screenplays for films and short form content for some of the leading technology companies in India, including Microsoft, Akamai Technologies, LAM Research, and SAP. 

With Knowledge in Sanskrit, Subhasini is a seeker of the Eternal Truth / Santana Dharma, writes on dharma. She is passionate about History, Mythology, Philosophy and Spirituality. She believes Dharma is the manifestation of the natural strength of every living soul.
She lives in Cincinnati.

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