Shri Idagunji Maha Ganapati Temple

The Shri Idagunji Maha Ganapati Temple is a Hindu shrine dedicated to Ganesha at Idagunji in Karnataka on India's west coast, near the Sharavathi river. It is one of six celebrated temples on the Ganesha Coast.

A local legend tells how the sage Valakhilya, his penance beset by obstacles, was advised by Narada to invoke Vighneshwara, the remover of hindrances. Ganesha left Kailasha to dwell in the Sharavathi valley, the divine architect Vishwakarma carved his icon, and devotees raised a temple around it in the 400s or 500s CE.

The stone image is unusual: Ganesha has two tusks and only two arms, with a granite bell at his waist and no serpent around his belly. The icon is popularly reckoned to be more than two thousand years old, and pilgrims meditate before its serene face.