Tirtha Atlas

The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.

2271 sites15 countries4 traditions30 centuries
Late medieval · Hindu · India

Maha Ganapathi Mahamaya Temple

Shirali, Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka · 14.0321°, 74.5239°

Mahaganapati (Ganesha) and Mahamaya (Shantadurga)Undetermined
Sacred since
1600 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
c. 400 years old; renovated 1904
Undetermined

History & significance

The kuladevata shrine of about 125 Goud Saraswat Brahmin families at Shirali, housing Ganesha as Mahaganapati together with the goddess Mahamaya. Built roughly four centuries ago and renovated in 1904, it is the final home of images carried out of Goa during successive upheavals.

Sthala katha — the legend

The deities are said to have been moved from Ella in Goa to Divar Island in the 13th century, and when Portuguese rule threatened them around 1560 devotees invoked their presence into a silver elephant trunk and a mask of Mahamaya and carried them north to Shirali.

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Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-27 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Undetermined