Morya Gosavi

Morya Gosavi
Morya Gosavi lithograph
Personal
Born	AD 1375 Morgaon, Maharashtra, India
Died	AD 1561 Chinchwad, Maharashtra
Religion	Hinduism
Organization
Philosophy	Ganapatya
Religious career
Literary works	devotional poetry devoted Ganesha
Honors	Venerated as the chief spiritual progenitor of the Ganapatyas

Morya Gosavi or Moraya Gosavi (Morayā Gosāvi) alias Moroba Gosavi was a prominent saint of the Hindu Ganapatya sect, which considers Ganesha as the Supreme God. Morya Gosavi is considered the chief spiritual progenitor of the Ganapatyas and has been described as the "most famous devotee" of Ganesha.^[1]

The lifetime of Morya Gosavi is speculated between the 13th to 17th century. Numerous legends recall his life. Morya became devoted to Ganesha when he started visiting the Morgaon temple of Ganesha. It is believed that due to the hindrance in Morya's services to the god in the popular Ganesha shrine, Ganesha told Morya that he would appear in Chinchwad for Morya to worship, so Morya moved from Morgaon to Chinchwad, where Morya built a Ganesha temple. Consequently, Morya took sanjeevan samadhi by burying himself alive in his tomb.

Morya had a son called Chintamani, venerated as a living incarnation of Ganesha and addressed as Dev (god). Chintamani was succeeded by six more Devs. The tomb of Morya Gosavi and the Ganesha temple at Chinchwad still attract many Ganesha devotees.