Ashtavinayak Yatra Tour Package 4 Nights 5 Days

Siddhatek: East across the district, the only one of the eight in Ahmednagar, standing on a hill above the Bhima river. The idol trunk turns to the right, which is rare and considered especially potent.

Ranjangaon: Mahaganapati, the most powerful of the eight by tradition. The temple is oriented so that the sun strikes the idol directly at the equinoxes.

Return: Back to Pune for the night. This is the longest driving day of the circuit.

• Top Places to Cover: Siddhivinayak temple Siddhatek, Bhima river, Mahaganapati temple Ranjangaon.
• Importance of Each Place: The right-turned trunk at Siddhatek is unusual - most Ganpati idols have a left-turning trunk, and the right is held to be more difficult to propitiate.
• Things to Know: Siddhatek involves a short climb. This day covers around 200 km; start by seven.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner | Overnight: Pune

Ozar: North on the Kukdi river, with a golden dome and a temple wall running right around the complex.

Lenyadri: The most unusual of the eight - the shrine sits inside a Buddhist rock-cut cave, one of a group of thirty, reached by around 300 steps cut into the hillside. It is the only Ashtavinayak temple on a mountain and the only one inside a cave.

Return: Back to Pune.

• Top Places to Cover: Vighnahar temple Ozar, Kukdi river, Lenyadri caves, Girijatmaj temple.
• Importance of Each Place: Lenyadri is the only one of the eight where a Hindu shrine occupies a Buddhist excavation, and the cave group dates to roughly the 1st to 3rd centuries.
• Things to Know: The Lenyadri climb is around 300 steps and unshaded. Go early in the day. Palanquins are available for those who need them.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner | Overnight: Pune

Over the Ghats: West into Raigad district, dropping down the Sahyadri escarpment.

Mahad: Varadvinayak, where an oil lamp is said to have burned continuously since 1892.

Pali: Ballaleshwar, the only one of the eight named after a devotee rather than the deity, and the only one facing east. The temple is shaped so that at the winter solstice the sun falls directly on the idol.

Return: Back to Pune in the evening.

• Top Places to Cover: Varadvinayak temple Mahad, Ballaleshwar temple Pali, Sudhagad fort viewpoint.
• Importance of Each Place: Ballal was a child devotee whose story gives the temple its name - the only instance among the eight where the devotee, not the god, is remembered in the name.
• Things to Know: The ghat descent and return is the most winding driving of the circuit. This day runs long; expect to return after dark.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner | Overnight: Pune

Closing the Loop: Tradition holds the yatra is complete only on returning to Moreshwar at Morgaon, so the circuit finishes where it began.

Departure: Transfer to Pune airport or railway station.

• Top Places to Cover: Moreshwar temple Morgaon, Pune airport, Pune Junction.
• Things to Know: The return to Morgaon and onward transfer takes most of the day - book departures for the evening.

Meals: Breakfast | Overnight: Journey ends