The temple was built in 1801 under the instruction of Deubai Patil, a rich lady of Agri Samaj from Matunga. Deubai Patil was a great devotee of Lord Ganesha. Being childless was her greatest pain and stigma. She prayed to Lord Ganesha to give her a child. In return, she promised to get a temple constructed for the deity. However, Deubai Patil lost her husband soon after. 

 

This catastrophe did not deter her devotion to Lord Ganesha, and despite her pain, she ordered the construction of the Siddhivinayak Temple. This time, she asked the lord to grant the wishes of other childless women who would visit the temple and pray to him, and the lord heard her prayers.

 

The original temple was consecrated on 19th November, 1801 and its popularity grew with each passing decade. By 1965, the trickle of visitors throughout the day changed to a steady stream and in another ten years, the temple had started to witness unmanageable crowds. The serpentine queues grew longer every day and devotees had to wait for several hours to get a glimpse of the elephant god. This necessitated massive renovation and reconstruction to help accommodate the ever growing number of devotees. The renovation that began in 1990 cost close to 3 crore rupees and took three years to complete. Thus, the generation saw the transformation of a temple built in ancient architectural style to a modern, state of the art place of worship. During the course of renovation, the architects ensured that the main idol and the sanctum santorum were not touched. The new plan also ensured that more people could now pay their respects to their favorite deity. The temple’s crown installation and Kumbhabhishek ceremony took place in June, 1994.

 

The temple is now an intricately planned six storied building with several well visualised facilities. The four armed idol of Ganesha carved out of a single black stone stands between goddesses Riddhi and Siddhi in the centre of the temple, where it has always been. The floors above have been designed to avoid the presence of human feet above the deity. These floors house offices, conference halls, a high tech IT center, a well equipped library and kitchens to prepare Maha-Naivedya (offerings) and food during festivals.

 

Caste, creed, wealth and education no more remain the dividing lines between devotees worshipping the deity with folded hands and bent heads in the serene ambience of the holy place.

 

The Siddhivinayak temple has been designed on the lines of the Shiva temple at Ambernath and is a culmination point of people from different faiths and religions. The frame of the sanctum santorum has been crafted by a Muslim artisan family, whereas the crown has been the work of a Marathi artisan. What also makes this place unique is the fact that the Ganesha idol has its trunk turned toward the right, which is unlike the conventional left sided trunks seen in almost all Ganesha idols.

 

 

Siddhivinayak Temple, Prabhadevi, Mumbai – 400 028

Tel: 2437 3626