Lord Ganesha saved this boy-devotee called Ballala who was beaten by the local villagers and his father for having single minded devotion towards him. The temple originally ismade out of wood by was reconstructed into a stone temple by Nana Phadanavis in the year 1760. There are two beautiful artificial lakes on the two sides of the temple and out of this one is reserved for the worship of the deity. The temple has two sanctums and is facing the east. The idol is in the inner sanctum and has the Vahana ( Ganesha’s vehicle) with modaka in front paws in front of it. The beautiful looking hall is supported by eight well carved pillars and the pillars are as attractive as the idol. The eight pillars represent eight directions. The inner sanctum is 15 feet in height and the outer sanctum is 12 feet in height.
The construction of the temple is very well planned even though it was built centuries ago. After winter (dakshinayan, southern movement of the sun) solstice the sun rays fall directly on the idol of Ganesha during sunrise. The temple is constructed with stones stuck together tight using melted lead. The trunk of Ganesha is pointing to the left and diamonds are fixed in the eyes and navel. Here the Prasad given is not modak like in all other Ganesha temples, but instead Besan Laddu is given as Prasad. There is a mountain in the backdrop of the temple and the idol resembles the shape of this mountain. The temple is located off the Mumbai-Pune highway in the town of Pali. The nearest railway station is Karjat which is 30 kilometres away. It is located 11 kilometres before Nagothane on the Mumbai- Goa highway. Pune-Lonavla-Khopoli-Pali is 111 kilometre sin distance and Mumbai-Panvel-Khopoli-Pali is 124 kilometres in distance.
