The elephant carried the woman and the baby on its back, left them at their home and then disappeared instantly …!

A woman, in her advanced stage of pregnancy, was picking up dry twigs at the Kollimalai forest. She was totally dependent on the income she got through selling the twigs for her food. One day, when she was in the middle of her job, labor pain started. She prayed to Lord Vinayaka for help and swooned. A miracle happened. Lord Vinayaka came in the form of a woman and took care of her delivery. The woman delivered a beautiful male baby. When she was perplexed as to how to reach her home with the baby at that midnight when the place was plunged in darkness, an elephant came and lifted the woman and her baby. Seating them on its back, the elephant carried them to her house and after leaving them safely at their place, disappeared instantly!

The woman named the child Ganapathydasan as Lord Vinayaka Himself attended to the delivery. When the boy was eight years old, he suddenly thought of the forest and the benevolent face of Lord Vinayaka. And, without informing anyone, he left for the forest. He did penance for many years in the forest. With the grace of Lord Vinayaka, he attained ‘Gyana upadesam’. And, he came to be called Vinayaka Siddha after his penance for thirty years. He left the forest and entered the hamlet with the aim of helping people with his Siddha power. People rushed to him due to the radiation and the benevolent look on his face. His soothing and kind words made people look upon him as their lovable savior. News spread that all diseases were cured by the very touch of his hand and daily, thousands of people thronged his place. The physicians at the hamlet started revolting against the Siddha, branding him as a ‘tantric’, who should be driven away or imprisoned. But, as the crowd continued to swell day by day despite the revolt, the physicians set ablaze the place where the Siddha was staying. But strangely, the fire chased only those who did the mischief and didn’t affect the Siddha or his hut. Then, the physicians twisted the story and convinced the king. The king charged the Siddha with cheating and arrested him. And, he ordered that he be killed by an elephant in the presence of the villagers. The Siddha prayed to God to forgive the king as the king was committing a sin without knowing the truth. The Siddha was ready to accept the punishment and the elephant was brought in. But, it attacked only those who instigated the king against the Siddha. The physicians, panicked, begged the Siddha to save them. Vinayaka Siddha pardoned the king and the physicians and blessed them all.

From that day onward, Vinayaka Siddha was looked upon as the God. He lived for four hundred years, curing diseases of the people with his knowledge of herbs. Even today, it is believed that on the Full Moon day, all the Siddhas assemble at the forest to receive the blessings of Vinayaka Siddha. People strongly believe that if we earnestly pray to Vinayaka Siddha for help, he’ll surely come to our rescue and help us in removing hurdles, in attaining success and in recovering from dangerous viral fevers.