Oldest Ganesh Temple of Gujarat – Heritage of Vadodara

Not many have heard or been to this Ganesh Temple, located at the old city.

Address: Mairal Ganpati Mandir, Nr Maharashtra Krida Mandal, Wadi Fadanish Road, Baroda

Known as Dhundiraj Ganpati Temple, the two storeyed temple was created by Gopalrao Mairal, a diwan during the rule of Gaekwad in the year 1905. The Mairal family were the Bankers to the Gaekwad family of Baroda and are reputed to have great wealth. The temple was constructed by labourers brought in especially from Hyderabad, Rajasthan and Mumbai, is spread over 44,000 sq feet. Made from original teakwood, it stands on 44 pillars of 16 inch diameter each.

The temple lies in the city’s Wadi area. It is just in the middle of the old houses where people live and hence actually difficult to make out that there can be a temple here. No surprise why many people face difficulty locating it. It is known to be one of the oldest ganesh temple’s of Gujarat that too completely made of wood. The carvings on these wooden pillars are amazing and colorful. The built up takes us to the era of maratha and gujarati style of architecture. This temple is placed with idols of his wives Riddhi and Siddhi and their children Labh and Laksh. The ‘moushaq’ which is usually at the feet of Lord Ganesh is placed on marble pedestal outside the temple. It also has a small fountain and a little garden with few trees. The temple has colors like orange and Blue and they look very antique and interesting. It is surrounded with very old looking deserted houses.

Looking and going around this temple we can easily make out that its struggling to maintain its age-old existence and has not been able to derive the due attention.

Source : TOI, Wiki