Siddhivinayak Temple, Siddhatek

सिद्धिविनायक मंदिर, सिद्धटेक

Ganesha · Siddhivinayak · with Siddhi

Svayambhu image, seated cross-legged, sheathed in brass, trunk turned to the right

Siddhatek, Siddhatek, Ahilyanagar (Ahmednagar) district, Maharashtra · Ganapatya tradition

It is the only Ashtavinayak shrine whose Ganesha has his trunk turned to the right, a form regarded as especially powerful and hard to please.

The story begins: “Creation is beginning.”

Read the story
Directions

At the gate

Walking and access
The temple is on a hillock; the circuit of the hill that pilgrims walk is an unpaved path. We have not yet found a count of the steps to the shrine.
Getting there
Train: Daund JunctionAir: Pune International Airport (Lohegaon)

Not yet confirmed: darshan hours, dress code, phone rules, entry for visitors of other faiths. Ask at the temple office or enquiry counter — and if you know, tell us. hello@aalayakatha.com

Full visiting details

Sthala purana

The story of this place

Family note: this story includes violence or death.
Told in: The Mudgala Purana, as summarised by Grimes

Vishnu learns to begin with Ganesha

Creation is beginning. A lotus rises from the navel of the sleeping Vishnu, and Brahma emerges on it to make the world.

The work is interrupted. Two demons, Madhu and Kaitabha, are born from Vishnu's ear, and they set about disrupting what Brahma is making. Vishnu is woken and goes out to fight them.

He cannot win. The battle goes on without a result, and it is Shiva who explains the reason: Vishnu began without first invoking Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, whose worship has to come before any undertaking.

Vishnu turns back. He comes to this hill above the Bhima and performs penance, repeating a Ganesha mantra. Ganesha is pleased and appears to him, and he grants Vishnu siddhis — the powers that bring an undertaking to accomplishment. Vishnu returns to the fight with them and kills Madhu and Kaitabha.

The place takes its name from the episode: Siddhatek, the hill where siddhi was given. The Ganesha here is Siddhi-Vinayaka, the giver of siddhi, and the site is counted a jagrut kshetra, a place where the deity is held to be especially awake and potent.

The story is also read into what a visitor sees. The image's trunk turns to the right — the only one of the eight Ashtavinayak images to do so — and a right-trunked Ganesha is regarded as powerful but exacting. The brass guardians on either side of the image are Jaya and Vijaya, the doorkeepers of Vishnu's own abode, standing here at the shrine where Vishnu worshipped.

Where this account comes from

  • Scholarship: John A. Grimes, Ganapati: Song of the Self, State University of New York Press, 1995, pp. 110–1, 117–8
  • Scholarship: Milind Gunaji, Offbeat Tracks in Maharashtra, Popular Prakashan, 2003, pp. 104–5

In one minute

Why Siddhivinayak Temple, Siddhatek matters

Each line says who it comes from and how settled it is. What the labels mean

  1. It is the only Ashtavinayak shrine whose Ganesha has his trunk turned to the right, a form regarded as especially powerful and hard to please.

    2 sources for: It is the only Ashtavinayak shrine whose Ganesha has his trunk turned to the rig
    • Scholarship: John A. Grimes, Ganapati: Song of the Self, State University of New York Press, 1995, pp. 117–8
    • Scholarship: Milind Gunaji, Offbeat Tracks in Maharashtra, Popular Prakashan, 2003, pp. 104–5

  2. In the Mudgala Purana's account, Vishnu won the siddhis he needed to kill the demons Madhu and Kaitabha by worshipping Ganesha here, and the place is named for that.

    Source for: In the Mudgala Purana's account, Vishnu won the siddhis he needed to kill the de
    • Scholarship: John A. Grimes, Ganapati: Song of the Self, State University of New York Press, 1995, pp. 117–8

  3. The temple stands on a hillock on the bank of the Bhima river, and pilgrims walk around the whole hill, not just the shrine.

    2 sources for: The temple stands on a hillock on the bank of the Bhima river, and pilgrims walk
    • Government: Department of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, Ashtavinayak: Siddhatek, last modified 27 March 2025 maharashtratourism.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09
    • Scholarship: Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Loving Ganesa: Hinduism's Endearing Elephant-Faced God, Himalayan Academy Publications, 2000, pp. 279–80

  4. The present temple is attributed to Ahilyabai Holkar, the late-eighteenth-century queen of Indore who built and restored temples across India.

    Source for: The present temple is attributed to Ahilyabai Holkar, the late-eighteenth-centur
    • Scholarship: John A. Grimes, Ganapati: Song of the Self, State University of New York Press, 1995, pp. 117–8

Shilpa

When you visit, look for…

Architectural style not yet identified

A black-stone, north-facing temple with a stone sabha-mandapa and a second, later hall; the sanctum has a dome-shaped stone ceiling. No architectural survey assigning it a style has been found.

  • Sanctum

    The right-turned trunk

    The svayambhu image sits cross-legged, sheathed in brass, with its trunk turned to the right. Siddhi sits beside him, often hidden under garlands and sindoor.

  • Sculpture

    Jaya and Vijaya

    Brass figures of Jaya and Vijaya, the doorkeepers of Vishnu's abode, flank the central image — a reminder of the Vishnu legend that names the place.

  • Sculpture

    The head on the threshold

    A small sculpted demonic head is set into the threshold of the main shrine.

    Where to stand: At the sanctum doorway, looking down.

  • Detail

    Haripant Phadke's Nagarkhana

    The drum-house and the paved approach to the main door, built by the Peshwa commander Haripant Phadke.

  • Enclosure

    The hill circuit

    The temple sits on a hillock among babul trees about a kilometre from the village. Pilgrims circle the whole hillock, often seven times, on an unpaved path.

  • Sacred water

    Bhima river

    The temple hillock stands on its bank.

Yatra

Plan your visit

Darshan times

We could not confirm the opening times from the temple’s own notice, so we are not printing any. Please check with the temple office or the devasthanam before you travel.

Before you go

  • No dress code or entry rules have been confirmed for this temple yet. Traditional, modest clothing is always the safe choice; ask at the entrance.

Walking, steps and access

The temple is on a hillock; the circuit of the hill that pilgrims walk is an unpaved path. We have not yet found a count of the steps to the shrine.

Getting there

  • By air: Pune International Airport (Lohegaon)
  • By train: Daund JunctionThe nearest major junction, across the Bhima river from Siddhatek.
  • By road: DaundRoad access from the Daund side of the Bhima.

Routes are general guidance and not yet checked against an official source.

The order of darshan

No published source gives the order in which to visit the shrines here, so we have not invented one. Follow the queue and the temple staff.

Festivals

  • Vijayadashami fair

    Sep–Oct · Ashvin, Shukla paksha, Dashami

    A festival and fair are held at the temple on Vijayadashami.

  • Somavati Amavasya fair

    A fair is held whenever the new moon falls on a Monday.

Customs you will see here

Itihasa

Through time

Two registers, kept apart on purpose: what the Puranas tell, and what the historical record shows. They answer different questions and we do not force them to agree.

In the Puranas and tradition

  1. Vishnu receives siddhi from Ganesha

    The Mudgala Purana account of Vishnu's penance here before killing Madhu and Kaitabha at the beginning of creation. Grimes's summary does not say in which yuga this happened.

    Source for: Vishnu receives siddhi from Ganesha
    • Scholarship: John A. Grimes, Ganapati: Song of the Self, State University of New York Press, 1995, pp. 117–8

In the historical record

  1. Haripant Phadke builds the Nagarkhana

    Haripant Phadke, a Peshwa commander who had lost his post, prayed here for twenty-one days, circling the temple twenty-one times a day. Restored as commander-in-chief, he built the Nagarkhana and a paved path to the main door. No year is given.

    Source for: Haripant Phadke builds the Nagarkhana
    • Scholarship: Milind Gunaji, Offbeat Tracks in Maharashtra, Popular Prakashan, 2003, pp. 104–5

  2. Ahilyabai Holkar builds the present temple

    Grimes attributes the present temple to Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore, in the late eighteenth century. Grimes gives no construction year.

    Source for: Ahilyabai Holkar builds the present temple
    • Scholarship: John A. Grimes, Ganapati: Song of the Self, State University of New York Press, 1995, pp. 117–8

Around here

Worth the detour

Sources

Where this page comes from

  • Scholarship: John A. Grimes, Ganapati: Song of the Self, State University of New York Press, 1995, pp. 110–1, 117–8
  • Scholarship: Milind Gunaji, Offbeat Tracks in Maharashtra, Popular Prakashan, 2003, pp. 104–5
  • Scholarship: Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, Loving Ganesa: Hinduism's Endearing Elephant-Faced God, Himalayan Academy Publications, 2000, pp. 279–80
  • Government: Department of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, Ashtavinayak: Siddhatek, last modified 27 March 2025 maharashtratourism.gov.in · seen 2026-10-09

Cite this page

Aalaya Katha Foundation, “Siddhivinayak Temple, Siddhatek”, Aalaya Katha, version last reviewed 2026-10-09. https://www.aalayakatha.com/temple/siddhivinayak-siddhatek (accessed ).

Last reviewed 2026-10-09. How we label sources and confidence