Chintaman Ganesh: A temple in Indore where lord listens to prayers through phone, letters

Indore: While Ganesh Chaturthi is observed with great devotion across the country, one temple in Indore continues to fascinate devotees with a tradition that blends faith and modern communication.

The 1200-year-old Chintaman Ganesh Temple, situated in the Juni Indore, is believed to be one of the oldest shrines in the region and holds a special place in the hearts of thousands of devotees across India and abroad.What makes this temple truly unique is the belief that Lord Ganesh listens to the concerns of his devotees over phone calls and even letters. According to the temple's head priest, Manohar Lal Pathak, people from across the country and overseas call during the daily aarti. At that moment, the priests place the phone before the idol, allowing the devotees' words to be offered directly to the deity. "Lord Ganesh hears their concerns and fulfils their wishes," said Pathak on this tradition that has endured for years. "Earlier, people used to write letters and we placed them below the feet of Lord Ganesha. Now, with the changing technology, devotees in Indore bring their mobile phones as their relatives and family members living abroad wish to pray to Lord Ganesh," added the 90-year-old priest, Pathak, who is the 13th generation of his family serving the temple.

Along with phone calls, letters remain another powerful medium through which devotees reach out. For more than five decades, followers settled abroad have been writing letters to the temple, expressing their wishes, prayers, and challenges. This practice has become a defining feature of the temple, making it perhaps the only shrine in India where such traditions are observed.Another priest from Hansdas Math, Jaideep Dubey, who is a regular visitor to the temple, said that many of the devotees he offers prayers for have deep faith in this temple. "My clients from Canada, Germany, Malaysia, and other cities in India ask me to get them connected with the shrine with their prayers. On their behalf, I go there and let them convey their prayers through my phone," Dubey said.Every day, the temple witnesses long queues of worshippers arriving from various parts of India, while countless others continue to connect through modern means of communication. During Ganesh Chaturthi, the footfall swells, with devotees thronging the shrine in hopes of having their prayers heard. The sight of priests attending not only to visiting devotees but also to ringing phones and carefully handled letters is a reminder of how faith evolves with time while retaining its essence.