In Gujarat's Dhank temple, devotees write letters to Lord Ganesha

Dhank Ganesha temple's priest reading a devotee's letter before the idol of Lord Ganesha

"Lord Ganesha,
Hope you are fine. I have a request to you, for which we urge you. I trust you will definitely help us."

A letter written to God? At first instance, you may think of it as a joke or a prank. But this is not a joke! In a small village in Gujarat, people seek blessings and address their grievances to God in a unique way - by writing letters. Hundreds of letters are written to Lord Ganesha seeking his blessings and kindness at the Ganesh temple in Dhank, which is located about 120 km from Rajkot in Gujarat

For the past 27 years, writing letters to Lord Ganesha to seek his blessings and favours has become a tradition. This tradition at the Dhank Ganesh Temple has become a popular event, drawing people from Rajkot and the whole of Guajarat. While it's a common sight to see devotees visit a temple to pray, writing a letter to God to seek divine intervention is a rare sight. So why do devotees write letters to Lord Ganesha? According to the villagers, the Lord Ganesha at Dhank temple makes the devotees' wishes come true when their grievances are addressed via letters.

The temple's pujari Bharatgiri Goswami says, "This tradition has been going on since my father Dayagiri's time. In the early days, the devotees used to send Kankotris to Lord Ganesha. But slowly and steadily, over the course of time people started to write their requests in letters to Lord Ganesha. Some devotees got a good result after writing a letter, and since then the tradition has continued."

Today, the Ganesha temple at Dhank receives more than 50 letters every day. During the festival of Ganeshotsav the temple receives around 150 letters per day. After receiving the letter from the devotees the temple's pujari Bharatgiri Goswami reads it before Ganesha's idol and requests the Lord to help the devotees.

Another interesting aspect about Dhank's Ganesha temple is that the idol of Lord Ganesha does not have a mouse as a vehicle, unlike other Ganesh idols. Interestingly, the Ganesha in this temple has a lion as his vehicle.

Also Read: Ganesh Chaturthi 2018: Andheri Cha Raja In Different Avatars

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