Temples

Legend associated with the origin of Shri Bada Ganpati Temple :

Bada Ganesh is the special and main temple of Lord Ganapati in Kashi . Here there is a self-manifested idol of Ganesha and special worship of the Lord is done here in a closed and sacred environment.

The history of the Bada Ganapati temple is said to be two thousand years old. The special thing is that this temple rests on 40 pillars and having 40 pillars in the temple is considered very auspicious.

The Bada Ganapati Temple has been built by carving Meenakari and stones. Here Ganpati Ji is sitting under a silver umbrella. It is believed that once upon a time, the Ganga used to flow near Baba Vishwanath Temple. Dhundhiraj Ganesh who is at Vishwanath gate and his form is also worshiped here.

According to Shri Shiv Maha Purana, there was a task given to both Bhagwan Ganesh and his elder brother Bhagwan Karthikey to complete one full Parikrama around the Prithvi, the one who will come first will be declared the winner.

Bhagwan Kartikeya started with the race sincerely with high hopes of being able to come first in the race. Bhagwan Ganesh meanwhile thought for long and in the end started doing the Parikrama around Bhagwan Shankar and Maa Parvati itself.

Bhagwan Ganesh Ji with his gesture symbolized that his parents mean the world to him and by completing their Parikrama he has managed to complete the Parikrama of the entire world.

Both Bhagwan Shankar and Maa Parvati got impressed with the intelligence and thoughtfulness of Ganesh Ji and blessed him with eternal wisdom and knowledge i.e why it is important to seek the blessings of Ganesh Ji before starting anything.
 

Legend associated with the Sakshi Vinayak Temple :
Sakshi Vinayak Temple is one of the most important Ganapati temples of Varanasi. The literal meaning of the word Sakshi is 'Eye Witness'.
After Bhagwan Shiv made Kashi his permanent abode to stay, a lot of people started coming in Kashi so that they can get their sins wiped out merely by having Ganga Snanam and the darshans of Kaal Bhairav Temple.
All the sages and devatas asked bhagwan shiv to keep a check on the devotees who came to Kashi for darshan and Parikrama Yatras.
Bhagwan Shiv instructed Ganesh Ji to take the swaroop of Sakshi Vinayak and be a witness to all the good and bad acts committed by the devotees in the sacred Kashi Kshetra.
Thus Sakshi Vinayak swaroop of bhagwan Ganesh witnesses all the devotees coming to Kashi Avimukta Kshetra and also the Panchkoshi Parikrama Kshetra.
The Darshan of Sakshi Vinayak is mandatory for those undertaking the Panchkoshi Parikrama Yatra in Varanasi, as it is in the Sakshi Vinayak Temple only where the devotees receive the Punya of their Yatra.
According to a popular legend Sakshi Vinayak reports all the details of what he becomes witness to bhagwan Kaal Bhairav who finally gives both blessings (in proportion to good karma) and punishment (in proportion to their bad karma).

The Legend associated with the origin of Shri Siddhi Vinayak Temple :
In the vicinity of Shri Siddhi Vinayak Temple itself Bhagwan Vishnu had done Sadhana after which Madhu and Kaitabha (both demons) who battled with him for thousands of years were finally killed.
Bhagwan Shiv had instructed Shri Hari Vishnu to do Ganesh Vandan before the start of the final battle between them, it is only after that the battle which had gone on for thousands of years finally came to an end and bhagwan Vishnu emerged victorious.
The Siddhi Vinayak Temple became the place where Bhagwan Shri Hari Vishnu after the thorough prayers to bhagwan Ganesh attained his siddhi and blessings, hence Ganesh Ji from then on came to be known as Siddhi Vinayak (and the temple as Siddhi Vinayak Temple).
Bhagwan Ganesh in the Siddhi Vinayak swaroop granted the wish of bhagwan Brahma to create the universe and this nature. Lord Brahma did countless jaap of the OM mantra to impress and appease bhagwan Ganesh and finally, he was blessed by the Siddhi Vinayak swaroop.
Once lord Brahma not only received the energy to create the universe with the blessings of Bhagwan Siddhi Vinayak, but he also accepted the wish of Bhagwan Brahma to accept the two daughters of Bhagwan Brahma Riddhi and Siddhi as his wife.

The Sanskrit meaning of the word Chintamani is the jewel that fulfills all the wishes of the devotees and takes away all the problems and sufferings from their lives.
Shri Chintamani Ganesh is also known as 'Lambodar Vinayak' because the entire universe or Brahmand i.e. Booth (past), Bhaivsya (future), and Vartaman (present) are located inside of him.
According to a popular legend, Bhagwan Brahma meditated in front of Ganesh Ji when his mind was restless. With the blessings of Maha Ganapati Brahma Ji managed to get rid of his worries hence he named Ganesh Ji as Chintamani.
Devraj Indra also worshiped Chintamani Ganesh Ji to get rid of the curse of Gautam Rishi. During the reign of Devodas when Bhagwan Shiv couldn't enter Kashi because of the boon of Bhagwan Brahma to him.
According to Skanda Purana Ganesh Ji took the Chintamani swaroop and came to Kashi disguised as an astrologer to remove the worries of Bhagwan Shiva and bring him back to
Kashi.