How nice it would be to have darshan of variety of Ganapas under a single roof, especially on the day of Vinayaka Chaturthi.  There is one such fascinating temple in Bangalore called BEL Ganapathi Seva Mandali in BEL Colony in Jalahalli.  It has 32 different types of Ganapatis. 

The Ganapatis include Ekaakshara Ganapa, Vara Ganapa, Kshipraprasaada Ganapa,  Haridra Ganapa,  Ekadantha Ganapa, Shrusti Ganapa, Uddanda Ganapa, Runavimochaka Ganapa, Dhundi Ganapa, Dvimukha Ganapa, Thrimukha Ganapa, Simha Ganapa, Yoga Ganapa, Durga Ganapa, Sankashtahara Ganapa, Baala Ganapa, Tharuna Ganapa, Bhaktha Ganapa, Veera Ganapa, Shakthi Ganapa, Dvija Ganapa, Siddhi Ganapa, Uchchista Ganapa, Vigna Ganapa, Kshipra Ganapa, Herambha Ganapa, Lakshmi Ganapa, Maha Ganapa, Vijaya Ganapa, Nritya Ganapa, Urdva Ganapa and Vidya Ganapa all under one roof, says Rame Gowda, President of the Temple Committee.

It is a feast for the eyes to see that elaborate arrangements have been made to install all 32 Ganapa idols in this temple. "While there is one temple of this type in Karnataka (in a village near Udupi), this temple is different from that with regard to ample space and other infrastructure facilities available. To add more attraction to the temple, the president of the committee and its members are contemplating upon inscribing slokas of all the 32 Ganapas on the wall underneath each Lord Ganapa idol. All the 32 Ganapas are different and have been sculptured in a magnificent way”, he adds.

On the day of Ganesha Chaturthi, which is on September 15 this year, a giant size Lord Ganesha is installed in this temple. Different types of poojas are held throughout the day. On Sunday, Lord Ganapa will be immersed in the water in temple's Kalyani which is in the temple campus itself. People from far and near will gather in the temple to have blessings of Lord Ganapa and to see variety of programmes and poojas..

The genesis
There is ample space around BEL Ganapathi Seva Mandali temple for devotees to experience peace and calm. This temple, which was built on 3-acres of land, was inaugurated in 1971 by Sringeri Sri Shivaganga Sharada Peetadhipathi, Sri Sachchidananda Abhinava Subramanya Bharathi Swamiji.  This temple has been attracting large number of devotees ever since its inception from different parts of the City and elsewhere. 

Another unique feature of this temple is that it has got its own 'Kalyani', which was constructed a couple of years ago, with an initiative of  Rame Gowda, for the convenience of the temple authorities to immerse Lord Ganapa immediately after Vinayaka Chathurthi. To bring the Kalyani to the present form, the temple had incurred nearly Rs one lakh, says Rame Gowda. The temple authorities have also recently constructed a beautiful mantapa to perform special poojas and homas on important occasions.  

The temple attracts innumerable devotees on various occasions, especially on the day of Sankashta Hara Chaturthi, which occurs once in a month. "On this auspicious day, more than four to five thousand devotees throng this temple to have the glimpses of the Lord Ganapa, since this day is considered auspicious to this Lord", says the temple priest, Dattatreya Sharma, who has been here for a long time and performs poojas of various types. Irrespective of the numbers, all the devotees will be given one 'Kadubu' each on this day, as prasadam. Apart from this, there is Sathyanarayana Swami Pooja, which also occurs once in a month and attracts more number of devotees.