About Titwala Ganesh Mandir

The Siddhivinayaka Mahaganapati Temple is a Hindu temple located in Titwala –Thane district – near Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The temple is dedicated to the Hindu God of wisdom, Ganesha with an elephant head. Many devotees visit the place on account of the belief that marriage to one’s wished person will take place and marital discord will be happily resolved.

The Siddhivinayaka Mahaganapati temple built by Shakuntala with the stated legendary background was submerged under a tank. It was during the de-silting operations carried on by Peshwa Madhavrao I to solve the problem of drought that the temple was found buried. Soon thereafter, the renovation of the temple was undertaken and a stone temple was built. Initially, the temple was very small with a woodenaudience hall, which was in a bad condition.In 1965–66, renovation work was initiated and a new temple was built. 

According to legend, this village was part of Dandakaranya forest where the Katkari tribe lived. Sage Kanva had adopted Shakuntala who was abandoned by her parents. After a few years, it so happened that King Dushyanta of Gandhara kingdom was passing by for his battle campaign and he happened to notice her. They fell in love and soon married each other according to the Gaandharva rite. But he had to leave her due to unrest in his capital kingdom. He gave her a royal signet as his token of love. While the king was gone,Shakuntala was thinking about him only and did not pay expected reverence to Sage Durvasa. In a rage of fury, Sage Durvasa cursed her that the person about whom she was thinking would forget about her. But hearing Shakuntala’s pleadings he mellowed down and said that unless the person was showed the personal token which was given to her, he would not remember her. Sage Durvasa’s words came true. King Dushyanta refused to recognize her. Then, Sage Kanva advised her to build a temple of Lord Ganesha and pray daily. Her sincere efforts bore efforts and she was joyously reunited with the king. Angarika Chaturthi and Ganesh Chaturthi, are the festivals celebrated here, with great joy.