Lenyadri
Lenyadri, sometimes called Ganesa Lena, Ganesh Pahar Caves, are a series of about 30 rock-cut Buddhist "caves", located about north of Junnar in Pune district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. They are cut into a natural cliff or steep slope. Other caves surrounding the city of Junnar are: Manmodi Caves, Shivneri Caves and Tulja Caves. The Lenyadri caves date between the 1st and 3rd century AD. Some have later been adapted to Hindu use.
Twenty-six of the caves are individually numbered. The caves face to the south and are numbered serially from east to west. Caves 6 and 14 are chaitya-grihas, while the rest are viharas. The latter are in the form of dwellings and cells. There are also several rock-cut water cisterns; two of them have inscriptions. The layout of the caves, in general, are similar in pattern and shape. They generally have one or two sides with two long benches for occupants' use.
Two of the central cells of Cave 7 – originally a Buddhist vihara – were at an unknown later date appropriated for the worship of the Hindu god Ganesha. The rest of the cells and the hall of Cave 7 remain in their original form. This Ganesha Lena vihara is one of the Ashtavinayak shrines, a set of the eight prominent Ganesha shrines in Western Maharashtra. In regional mythology, this is the Girijatmaja cave where goddess Parvati desired to be a mother and where Ganesha was born.
Names
The current name "Lenyadri" literally means "mountain cave". It is derived from 'Lena' in Marathi meaning "cave" and 'adri' in Sanskrit meaning "mountain" or "stone". The name "Lenyadri" appears in the Hindu scripture Ganesha Purana as well as in a Sthala Purana, in association to the Ganesha legend. It is also called Jeernapur and Lekhan parvat.The hill was once known as Ganesh Pahar. An ancient inscription calls the place Kapichita . The caves are also known as Ganesh Lena or Ganesh Caves.
Geography
Lenyadri is located at, in the Indian state of Maharashtra in Pune district. Lenyadri is a deserted location, with no human settlement nearby. It is located at about from Junnar, the headquarters of Junnar taluka. It is situated on the north-west banks of river Kukadi, which flows between Golegaon and Junnar. It is also approached through Nanaghat, which was originally on the trade route between Aparantaka or the northern Konkan and the Deccan and descending to the plains of the Junnar town. The circular hill, where Lenyadri caves have been emboweled, raises about above the plains in the Hatkeshwar and Suleiman ranges.Lenyadri is the only Ashtavinayaka temple on a mountain and within the precincts of Buddhist caves.
Cave 7: Ganesha Temple
Architecture
The Ganesha temple is located in Cave 7, the largest excavation around Junnar, about above the plains. It is essentially a Buddhist Vihara in design, an unpillared hall with 20 cells with varying dimensions; 7 on either side and 6 on the rear wall. The hall is large, can be entered by a central door, under a pillared veranda. The hall is long; wide and high. There are 2 windows on either side of the entrance. The hall is treated now as a sabha-mandapa of the Ganesha temple. 283 steps built in stone masonry over eight flights lead to the entrance. The steps are believed to represent sensual pleasures, which Ganesha has overcome. The veranda has six pillars and two pilasters, that support "an architrave from which projects eaves relieved with a railing resting on beams and rafters". The pillars have octagonal shafts and "over benches and back rest and topped by an inverted ghata, compressed amalaka in between two square plates, inverted stepped pyramid and finally crowned by a bracket" with tigers, elephants and bulls.In a later period, the two central cells of the rear wall have been combined by breaking the partition in between to house the Ganesha image. The old entrance was also widened during the conversion to the Ganesha temple. There are two other smaller entrances to the hall. All entrances bear marks of sockets for fixing wooden doors, added during the conversion, and still have doors. The hall also has traces of plaster and paintings, both added during the conversion and renewed in later times - possibly as late as the 19th century. The Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency records that the hall was plastered and white-washed. The paintings depicted Ganesha's childhood, marriage preparations, battle with demons and so forth, along with scenes of other Hindu deities like Devi, Krishna, Vishnu and Shiva.
; Icon
The Ganesha form worshipped here is called Girijatmaja. The name is either interpreted as "mountain-born" or as "Atmaja of Girija", the son of Parvati, who herself is daughter of the mountain Himavan, a personification of the mountains of Himalayas. The features of the Ganesha icon, seen on the back wall of the cave, are the least distinct vis-a-vis the other Ashtavinayak temples. Though the temple faces the inauspicious south, - according to a local tradition - the deity faces north, with his back to his worshipper and his face visible on the other side of the mountain. The Peshwa rulers even tried in vain to locate the face of Ganesha on the other side. The central icon was covered with brass-plated wooden armour, given as a gift by Junnar. The armour is not present currently. After it was removed, Ganesha could be seen with his trunk turned to the left side, facing east, with one of his eyes visible. The icon is covered with sindoor and is directly formed/sculpted on the stone wall of the cave.
Like all Ashtavinayaka temples, the central Ganesha image is believed to be svayambhu, a naturally occurring stone formation resembling an elephant-face.
Legend
According to the Ganapatya scripture Ganesha Purana, Ganesha incarnated as Mayuresvara or Mayureshwar, who had six arms and a white complexion. His mount was a peacock. He was born to Shiva and Parvati in the Treta Yuga, for the purpose of killing the demon Sindhu.Once Parvati asked her husband Shiva who he was meditating on. He said he was meditating on "the supporter of the entire universe" - Ganesha, and initiated Parvati with the Ganesha Mantra "Gam". Desiring to have a son, Parvati underwent austerities meditating on Ganesha, for twelve years at Lenyadri. Pleased by her penance, Ganesha blessed her with the boon that he will be born as her son. Accordingly, on the fourth lunar day of the bright fortnight of the Hindu month Bhadrapada, Parvati worshipped a clay image of Ganesha, which came alive. Thus, Ganesha was born to Parvati at Lenyadri. Later, he was named Gunesha by Shiva. Shiva gave him a boon that whosoever remembers him before starting a job, will successfully complete that task. For 15 years Gunesha grew up at Lenyadri. Sindhu, who knew that his death would be at the hands of Gunesha, sent demons like Krur, Balasur, Vyomasur, Kshemma, Kushal, and many more, to kill Gunesha, but all of them were instead killed by him. At the age of six, the architect-god Vishwakarma worshipped Gunesha and endowed him with the weapons Pasha, Parashu, Ankusha and Padma. Once, little Gunesha knocked an egg from a mango tree, from which emerged a peacock. Gunesha mounted the peacock and assumed the name Mayuresvara. Mayuresvara later killed Sindhu and his army-generals at Morgaon, the most important Ashtavinayaka temple.
Worship
Lenyadri is one of the eight revered Ganesha temples collectively called Ashtavinayaka.The caves including the temple lie under the control of the Archaeological Survey of India. Sardar Deshpande is the priest in charge of the temple's activities. He does not stay in Lenyadri. The priests are Yajurvedi Brahmins. The festivals of Ganesh Jayanti and Ganesh Chaturthi are celebrated in the temple, when pilgrims crowd all Ashtavinayak temples.
''Chaityas'' (chapels)
; Cave 6Cave 6 is the main chaitya-griha of the Lenyadri caves and one of the earliest examples of a Hinayana chaitya-griha. Its plan is similar to the Ajanta Caves chaitya-griha, though smaller in size. It has a veranda, pillars and pilasters with animal-capitals, and a shrine with 5 steps at the entrance. The shrine hall is entered by a plain and a socketed-door measuring in width and in height. The hall measures in length; in width and in height. It has a row of five pillars and one pilaster on each side of the chaitya or Dagoba or stupa, located at the rear of the hall. A start was made on a typical large arched window above the entrance, but this was never completed, and remains a blind recess.
The Satakarni period pillars begin with a four-plated pyramid structure, then a waterpot base, followed by an eight-sided shaft, above a reversed pot, then a capital in five plates, and on the top the amalaka or cogwheel pattern. The capital has animal figures like lions, elephants, a sphinx and tigers. Parts of the pillar are broken. Behind the relic-shrine, are six eight-sided pillars, arranged in a curve. "The stupa consists of a drum with a moulding below and railing above, a globular dome and a corbelled dome with a railing at the base." The stupa has Buddhist tridents carved on it. A hole is carved for fixing garlands in the front and 5 holes on the top probably to fix a central wooden umbrella and side flags. A 2nd century, swastika-flanked inscription on the back wall of the veranda translates: "A meritorious gift of a chapel cave by the distinguished Sulasadata, son of Heranika of Kalyana ."
Between caves 5 and 6, on higher level, is an excavation originally intended either for a dwelling or for a seat, but converted into a cistern following discovery of a rock-fault. On its left side is a bench.
; Cave 14
This cave, also a chaitya-griha, has a flat roof. However, it has no pillars in the hall that measures in length; in width and in height. It has a pillared veranda; pillars are in octagonal shape. The stupa is in three steps with a base of diameter. The rim has a railing design surrounded by a cylindrical drum with "a square harmika with railing pattern and an inverted stepped pyramidal abacus." A carved chhatri covers the ceiling. The pillars of the veranda consist of octagonal shafts resting on ghata base over a stepped pedestal. An inverted kalasha adorns the top, which also has a corbelled abacus. Inscription on the back wall of the veranda dates the cave to the 2nd century CE. The inscription translates as: "A meritorious gift of a chapel cave given by Ananda, a son of Tapasa and grandson of Upasaka."