Trinetra Ganesh Temple, Ranthambore

Trinetra Ganesh Temple
Trinetra Ganesh Temple
	Ganesh Temple - most visited temple inside the fort at Ranthambore Fort, Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan.
Religion
Affiliation	Hinduism
District	Sawai Madhopur
Deity	Ganesha(Trinetra form)
Festival	Ganesh Chaturthi
Location
Location	Ranthambore Fort, Ranthambore National Park
State	Rajasthan
Country	India
Elevation	482 m (1,581 ft)

Trinetra Ganesh Temple is located in the Ranthambore fort within the Ranthambore National Park at a height of 1579 feet, near the city of Sawai Madhopur in Sawai Madhopur district of Rajasthan, India. People from different parts of eastern Rajasthan and all over the world come for darshan, to pray. On the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi nearby villagers visit this temple, as their belief in this temple dates back more than 700 years. It is famous for its letter-like invitations sent during auspicious work and for resolving problems. Thousands of invitations and letters arrive daily, claiming that the heart's desires are fulfilled at this sacred location.^[1]

History edit

First temple of Trinetar Ganesh Ji- Trinetra Ganesh ji is also mentioned in the Ramayana and Dwapar Yug. It is said that Lord Rama anointed this form of Ganesha before leaving for Lanka. According to another belief, Lord Krishna was married to Rukmini during the Dwapara Yuga. In this marriage, they forgot to invite Ganeshji. Ganesha's vehicle rats dug everywhere in front of Krishna's chariot. Krishna realised His mistake, and He persuaded Ganesha. Then Lord Ganesha is worshipped before performing every auspicious task. Ranthambore was the place where Krishna worshipped Ganesha. This is the reason why Ranthambore Ganesh is called the first Ganesh of India. It is believed that Vikramaditya also came to worship here every Wednesday.
The Battle of Ranthambore was fought between Maharaja Hammirdev Chauhan and Delhi ruler Alauddin Khilji between 1299 and 1301 AD.^[2] Enemies surrounded this fort during this period for more than nine months. When the ration began to run out in Duhen Ganesh ji gave darshan to Hamirdev Chauhan in a dream and asked him to worship at the place where today this idol of Ganesh ji is. When Hamir Dev reached there, he found a self-manifested Ganesha idol there. Hamir Dev built the temple here agai^[3] n.
In this temple Lord Ganesha is seated in the form of Trinetra in which the third eye is considered a symbol of knowledge. This is the only temple in the entire world where Lord Ganesha is seated with his complete family, two wives - Riddhi and Siddhi and two sons - Shubh and Labh. There are four self-contained Ganesha temples in the country, of which Trinetra Ganesha in Ranthambore is the first. Apart from this temple, Siddhpur Ganesh temple is located in Gujarat, Avantika Ganesh temple in Ujjain and Siddhpur Sehore temple in Madhya Pradesh. A fair is held here on the Chaturthi of Bhadrapad Shukla in which lakhs of devotees attend the court of Ganesha. During this time, the entire area resonates with the chants of Gajanan. The circumambulation of Lord Trinetra Ganesha is about 7 km. The distance of Trinetra Ganesh Temple from Jaipur is about 142 kilometres.^[4]