The Ganesh Art Gallery in Dombivli has various idols & pictures of lord ganesh of different sizes and shapes.
The ‘Mayureshwar Mandir’ in Dombivli built by Satguru Sau Sandhya Tai Amrute, popularly known as ‘Tai’ by her followers, a dedicated follower of lord ganesh from 30 years, is very famous. This temple is the replica of the Morgaon-Panthi Temple, major & first ganpati of Ashtavinayak, near Pune. And the unique feature of this temple is its ‘Ganesh Art Gallery’.
This Ganesh Art Gallery is one of its kinds in India. Since childhood Tai was found of collecting idols and posters of her favorite lord ganesha (Bappa) which she later thought should be shared with all the people. Hence, this Art Gallery was established in year 2007. She says, “Humans can build a posh flat with air conditioners and all luxuries for themselves, so why not build the same posh place for Bappa to reside.” And this art gallery was built by a Christian follower of Tai.
The Ganesh Art Gallery has about 2000 plus idols & posters of lord ganesha in various forms i.e from 5 centimeters to 15 inches. There are many ancient idols also as part of the collection. One can find idols and posters made out of different materials like stones, shells, copper, grass, gold, silver, stones, brak of tress, etc. And this shows that this God of God is present in all forms.
These idols and posters are an exclusive collection of Tai. She has bought it from various places she visited. Tai has also has the idols from Dubai, Thailand, Indonesia as a part of her collection. And some of them are gifted to her followers.
We all know that ‘Mushek’ (rat) is the vehicle of lord Ganesha. However the ‘Panchmukhi’ (5 head) Murti bought by Tai from Thailand has ‘Lion’ as its vehicle, as Lion is the Holy animal there. One can also see the rare form of ganesh in this gallery which is ‘Strirup Ganesha’ (Gayatri Mata Rup).
“All the idols here are equally my favorite and it’s hard to distinguish between them. But the ones that I would like to mention according to their significance are idols of ‘Shammi Ganesh’ & “Mandar Ganesh’. These are two holy trees which from the idol of lord Ganesh in its bark when workshipped for several years. And they have lot of significane”, asserts Tai.
There is now a little space constrain in the Ganesh Art Gallery as there are many idols getting added to the gallery. When asked Tai about the expansion plans she says, “We are now going to expand this Ganesh Art Gallery so that all the new idols can be accommodated properly and it will be named as ‘Ganesh Darbar’. However the period not fixed yet.”
This beautiful and exclusive Ganesh Art Gallery is open for viewing everyday from between 11 am- 8pm. “ This Art Gallery is kept open on all the days so that people can come anytime and taken a look at the various forms of Bappa. As he is everybody’s god and not restricted to anyone in particular”, says Tai with a smile on her face.
Location: Siddhivinayak Mayureshwar Mandir, Bhopar Gaon, Dombivli (east)
Timings: Open on all days between 11 am – 8pm
(Pictures By Nikita Sawant)
