Mahaganpati / Dholya Ganpati, Wai, Maharashtra, India.

About Mahaganpati/ Dholya Ganpati

Mahaganapati temple or Dholya Ganapati temple is located on the bank of Krishna river in the wai, Satara district of Maharashtra.

Wai is an ancient city. during Mahabharata’s time the city was known by the name “Virat Nagari’ (Virat means very large and Nagari means city in Hindi). It is also called  ‘a town of temples‘ because there are many temples situated along the ghats of the Krishna river. It is also known as  ‘Dakshin Kashi‘ because there are 7 ghats along the Krishna river in Wai.

Mahaganapati temple is situated in ganpatiaali ghat in a wai. In front of this temple, there is Kashi vishveshwar temple. In that temple, the large statue of Ganapati is made from a single black finished stone, and from the same stone the Nandi statue is made in Kashi vishveshvar temple. The temple was built in 1762 by Shri Ganapatrao bhikaji raste.

Among these temples situated along the Krishna river, most popular temple in wai is the dholya Ganapati temple. It’s called ‘dholya‘ because of the big size of the Ganesha statue. its 10 feet tall and 8 feet wide. In the Marathi language ‘dholya’ means huge or fat. the Ganesha statue is in a sitting position and looks very happy and positive.

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One of the unique features of this temple is the ‘fish shape’ given to the back of the temple. This is done to protect the temple from floods in Krishna river. The fish shape of the temple back will divide the water current and will reduce the water pressure on the temple and thus protecting it from floods.

Local people also strongly believe that the Mahaganapati idol is decreasing in size also they believe that whatever you desire/pray (Navas in Marathi) in this temple gets fulfilled.

Wai is a beautiful town surrounded by lush green mountains. many Bollywood movies are shot here. A few of them are Gangajal, Omkara, Dabbang, Swadesh, Ishqiya, Singham, Deool, bol Bachchan, Zila Ghaziabad, Gulaab gang, Chennai express.

The Ganesha temple is not very large. It has one big hall and from there you enter inside the inner sanctum where the dholya Ganapati statue is placed. After praying to Lord Ganesha, people take parikrama of the statue and exit from there. It’s a small temple with a very beautiful and charged Ganesha idol. it needs a little bit more care, cleanness, and protection.

How to Reach

By Air: The nearest airport is Lohegaon Airport, Pune.

By Train: The nearest station is Wathar railway station which is 27km away.

By Road: You can easily get regular buses to Wai from other major cities .