Sangli is a city and the district headquarters of Sangli District in the state of Maharashtra, in western India. It is known as the Turmeric City of Maharashtra due to its production and trade of the spice. Sangli is situated on the banks of river Krishna and houses many sugar factories. The Ganesha Temple of Sangli is a historical landmark of the city and is visited by thousands of pilgrims.
Climate
Sangli has a semi-arid climate with three seasons, a hot, dry summer from the middle of February to the middle of June, a monsoon from the middle of June to late October and a mild cool season from early November to early February. The total rainfall is about 22 inches (580 mm). sangli has a chill climate all around winter.summers are dry but not so much dry like in the big metropolitan cities.rain is within its limits.
Ganapati Temple
Ganesh temple is the greatest religious attraction in Sangli. It is the Kuldaivat of Patwardhans. Besides the main temple of Ganesh there are four more, but smaller ones, of Suryanarayan, Cintamanesvar, Laksmi-Narayan and Chinta?manesvari, which together with the chief deity forms the Ganapati panchayatan.
The construction of the temple was started by the late Sri Appasaheb Patwardhan. The basalt stone blocks used for the construction were brought from the Jyotiba hills near Kolhapur.
The whole structure stands on a fairly large quadrangular court. The Princely residence is close by and facing the river, on which side there is a wall flanked by two bastions and loopholed for musketry. Sri Chintamanrav Appahaheb Patvardhan built the mandap at a later date. The stone used is of the same type as that employed for the construction of the original temple and the sculptural work and the designs are also befitting the original shrine. It was completed in 1952 and was inaugurated by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
A huge and massive gate of red sand?stone, recently constructed, leads into the spacious courtyard. The gate has grandeur of its own and is the work of skilled architects and artisans of great repute. It is composed of three arches for entry. The central arch is bigger than the side ones. In the courtyard two lotus shaped fountains can be seen.
A mandap hall is supported on eight polished and ornamented pillars supporting galleries on both sides. The ceiling of the mandap bears beautiful designs, a huge chandelier hanging from the centre of the ceiling. In addition to the main entrance there are four more doors, two on either side. On the wall are reproduced sacred hymns from the Bhagavad Gita. On the right side of the hall, the sandalwood-crafted chariot with the images of Arjuna and Krushna can be seen. It delineates Krishna preaching Bhagvadgita to Arjuna when he refused to right ihe Kauravas on the historic battle?field of Kuruksetra.
The 1.16 sq. m pedestal of black stone supports white marble idol of Ganesh, with Riddhi and Siddhi idols. This part is approached by steps fixed at both the extreme ends. The Garbhagriha is crowned by a shikhar with a brass spire plated with gold. It bears various designs and carvings and figure?filled niches, In the corners there are smaller replicas of the main Shikhara.
The shrine as a whole is an one of the excellent specimen of stone carvings and polished stone?work. Of the remaining four temples of the panchayatan, two, viz., Chintamanesvar and Suryanarayan are on the right side, arranged one behind the other, placing one of the fountains mentioned above in the middle. The other two, viz., Lakshmi?Narayan and Chintamanesvari are on the left also arranged in the same manner. Behind the temple of Suryanarayan there is the stone sculpture of a baby elephant trampling a tiger.
Ganapati Panchayatan Trust maintains the temple. The trust receives grants from Patvardhans,as a part of tradition which continues till the present day. In the backyard of the Ganesha temple court there is a small black stone idol of Kuranesvari housed in a small arch of stone.
