Sectarian Hindus who worship the god Ganesh as their major deity are known as Ganpatya.
Ganesh is revered by
most Hindus, in part because his role as "Lord of Obstacles"
(Vighneshvar) gives him the ability to aid or impede human activities.
He is frequently worshiped as a secondary divinity, however.
The Ganpatyas, on the other hand, revere Ganesh as their
principal deity and do not worship any other gods.
The Ganpatyas are mostly found in Maharashtra, where a
network of temples centered around Pune and the surrounding town of Chinchvad
serves as its holy center.
The Ganpatya sect was formed by Moraya Gosavi in the
sixteenth century, who received spiritual initiation via a series of visions of
Ganesh.
One of his visions stated that for seven generations, half
incarnations of Ganesh will be born in Moraya's household.
See Paul Courtright's Ganesa, 1985, for further details.
Garbhadhana Samskara (Garbhadhana Samskara) is a Sanskrit word
that means " The first of sixteen traditional life-cycle rituals
(samskaras) held at significant times in one's life.
The Garbhadhana Samskara was done in order to assure a
child's conception.
Although various traditions state different days, this
ceremony was performed on a specified day after the commencement of the wife's
menstrual cycle.
Although there was clearly sexual contact between husband and wife as part of this ceremony, it was intended to provide a holy framework for the act of reproduction as a whole.
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