Legend of Siddhivinayak Temple

The place Siddhtek is believed to be the place where Vishnu ultimately achieved siddhi and thereby killed the demons Madhu and Kaitabha who he had been battling for a thousand years.Long ago Lord Brahma thought of creating Nature and for that he ceaselessly chanted the alphabet "OM". Lord Ganesha was delighted with the penance and gave him the boon that he will fulfill the wish of creating Nature.When God Brahma was creating Nature, Lord Vishnu fell asleep.Demons Madhu and Kaitabh emerged from God Vishnu's ears.

They started harassing all the Gods and Goddesses.God Brahma realised that only Vishnu will be able to annihilate these demons. Vishnu tried his very best to kill them but failed. He then stopped the battle and took the form of Gaankushal Gandharva and began singing. Shiva when he heard the celestial notes of the Gandharva summoned him. Vishnu then told Lord Shiva all about his unfinished battle. Shiva said that since he had not sought the blessings of Ganesh his task had remained unfinished. Shiva asked Vishnu to recite the Shadakshar mantra[the Ganeshaya Namah] and said he would achieve what he wanted.

Vishnu chose the Siddhshetra to complete the ritual of propitiating Ganesh. Ganesh granted him his wish. Vishnu then created a four-door temple on the hillock and installed the statue of Gajanan. Since Vishnu achieved siddhi here Ganesh was called the Siddhivinayak and the place was called Siddhtek or Siddhshetra.

God Brahma got the energy to create Nature with Lord Ganesha's boon. Lord Ganesha accepted the two daughters of Lord Brahma as his wives.

In time the temple created by Lord Vishnu perished. It is believed that a shepherd saw Lord Ganesh here and started worshipping him. He then found a priest to conduct the worship and ultimately it was during the rule of the Peshwas sometime that this temple was erected.