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LordGanesha who possesses the brilliance of a crore of suns has a twisted trunk and a huge body. His legendary appearance which has
undergone through ages numerous changes and modifications has, as his regular attributes and features an elephant head with a single tusk and a twisted trunk sometimes to the left and sometimes to the right a
protuberant abdomen, hands usually four but also eight and sixteen, two snakes , one used as his belt and other as his yaghopavita a short stature and fatty built complexion yellow or red with a tray of modakas and a
mouse attending on it.
"O lord let all I do be without obstructions". In our country it is believed by the hindus that success is 
assured if the forces that impede is eliminated. Ganesha is the god of success because he commands and
eliminates such forces and thereby causing success .His agra pooja the prime worship aims at invoking him to contain detrimental forces that usually associate the course of action. Ganesh Chaturthi the fourth
day of the moons bright fortnight, or period from new moon in the lunar month of Bhadrapada.
Birthday of Lord Ganesh (Ganesha), the god of wisdom and prosperity on the fourth day of the moons bright
fortnight, or period from new moon in the lunar month of Bhadrapada. The celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi continues for five, seven, or ten days. Some even stretch it to twenty one days, but ten the most popularly
celebrated. In the tradition of the right hand path the first day is the most important. In the left hand path tradition the final day is most important.
Lord Ganesha is the god of wisdom and prosperity and his blessings are invoked before the beginning of any auspicious work by the Hindus. It is
believed that for the fulfillment of one's desires,one needs his blessing is absolutely compulsorily, Ganesha or Vigneshwara as he is more commonly reffered to is the remover of all obstacles and by seeking his
blessings no hindrance comes in ones way.
According to the mythology, he is the son of Shiva and Parvati, brother of Kartikeya - the general of the gods, Lakshmi - the goddess of wealth and
Saraswati-the goddess of learning. There are numerous stories in Hindu mythology, associated with the birth of this elephant-headed god, (Gajananand) whose vehicle is the Mooshak or rat and who loves Modaks
(droplet shaped Indian sweet).
Legend has it that Parvati created Ganesha out of the sandalwood dough that she used for her bath and breathed life into him. Letting him stand
guard at the door she went to have her bath. When her husband, Shiva returned, the child who had
never seen him stopped him. Shiva severed the head of the child and entered his house. Parvati, learning that her son was dead, was distraught and asked Shiva to revive him. ( again legend has it
that Shiva orders his attendants to cut the had of what ever they see first on their way and when the attender sights the elephant cuts his head off and brings it to shiva. Shiva fixed the head on the childs
torso and resurrected him. He admired the childs valour and devotion, put him in charge of his ganas and called him the name Ganapathi- Ganesha. He proclaimed that the child would thence forth
command not merely all vighnas but also all elements that constituted the cosmos.
One more story is associated with shani or the planet saturn as described
in the Brahma Vaihita Purana as to his getting his elephant head.One day parvati suddenly got up from her sleep to find as if in a dream, a beautiful
child crying for milk. Parvathi who had been undergoing holy fasts and other austerities for a son was so overwhelmed with motherly joy that she ran to shiva to give him the news. Alike raptured Shiva told Parvathi the
child she had got was a result of her great austerities. A festival was organized for celebrating the childs birth and was attended by Vishnu, Brahma,Dharma, Indra, surya, Gandharvas, other gods, dieties and
brahmins. All of them admired the childs appearance and other attribute he was endowed with. He was blessed with immence power, valour,and strength unfathomable intellectual calibre, generosity and kindness,
impassionate character, ocean like depth, godly glow, heavenly energy and as conqueror of passions, weakness, desires, ambitions and greed. Lord Vishnu worshipped him and blessed that he would be worshipped before all
gods and all acts. When the ceremony was still on Shani, the ominous and tumultuous planet entered the audience with his eyes closed. Under a curse shani burnt whoever he saw and as such had his eyes closed lest
his ominous glance harm the child. Thinking that Shani was neglectful or envious of her child Parvathi expressed her displeasure to him.Shani explained how his wife cursed him and in case he opened his eyes and
saw the child he might harm him.
Parvathi proud of her son and of her husbands influence with a sarcastic comment insisted Shani to open his eyes and see the child.Afraid of
Parvathis displeasure Shani opened his eyes  but no sooner had his glance on the child the childs head blew and disapeared. Filled with grief Parvathi moaned and fainted. Perceiving her in such plight Lord Vishnu
immediately proceeded to north-ward direction in his vehicle the garuda. When he reached river Pushpa Bhadra, he saw an elephant . Lord 963.*-Vishnu
beheaded the elephant and brought the head with him,planted the head on the childs torso and breathed life into his being.
The gods decided to choose their leader and a race was to be held
between the brothers- Kartikeya and Ganesh. Whoever took three rounds of the earth first would be made the Ganaadhipati or the leader. Kartikeya seated on a peacock as his vehicle, started off for the test. Ganesh was
given a rat, which moved swiftly. Ganesh realised that the test was not easy, but he would not disobey his father. He reverently paid obeisance to his parents and went around them three times and thus completed the test
before Kartikeya. He said, " my parents represent the whole universe and going around them, is more than going round the earth." Everybody was
pleasantly surprised to hear Ganesha's parental dedication and intelligence and hence he came to be known as the Ganaadhipati or leader, now referred to as Ganpati. There is also a story behind the symbolic snake, rat
and the singular tusk.
During one of his birthdays, His mother, Parvati, cooked for him twenty-one types of delicious food and a lot of sweet porridge. Ganesha ate so much
that even his big belly could not contain it. Mounting his little mouse, he embarked on his nightly rounds. His mouse suddenly stumbled upon seeing a huge snake. To adjust His belly, Ganesha put the snake on as a
belt around his stomach. All of a sudden, he heard laughter emanating form the sky. He looked up and saw the moon mocking him. Ganesha infuriated, broke off one of his tusks and hurled it at the moon. Parvati,
seeing this, immediately cursed the moon that whoever looks at it on Ganesh Chaturthi will be accused of a wrong doing.
The symbology behind the mouse and snake and Ganesha's big belly and
its relationship to the moon on his birthday is highly philosophic. The whole cosmos is known to be the belly of Ganesha. Parvati is the primordial energy. The seven realms above, seven realms below and seven oceans,
are inside thecosmic belly of Ganesha, held together by the cosmic energy (kundalini) symbolized as a huge snake which Ganesha ties around Him. The mouse
is nothing but our ego. Ganesha, using the mouse as a vehicle, exemplifies the need to control our ego. One who has controlled the ego has Ganesha consciousness or God-consciousness. 
Ganesha is also connected with the writing of the Great epic Mahabharata. Rishi Ved Vyasa who
is supposed to have dictated the great epic to Ganesha and he was writing the same on palm leaves with his pen( Kalam) as there was no one else who could keep up with the speed of ved vyasa's dictation , it so
happened that Ganehas pen nip broke and to continue the speed ho broke his tusk and dipped in the ink and used it as a pen to save time.
The Celebrations : The festival of
Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated in almost all parts of the country . More grandeur can be seen in Maharastra where huge Ganesha idols are decorated with various mythology themes. In Bangalore too tents are put
up in various nooks and corners of the streets and groups of small children and adults have their own Ganeha deities installed some big some small, some plain mud ones and
some big mighty ones with a dash of rich colours.Ganesha is accompanied by plantain leaves and mango leaves tied as torans outside shops and houses, sweets and fruits are offered as prasad along with puffed rice (kalle
pori). Ganesha statues installed in street corners and in homes and elaborate arrangements are made for lighting, decoration, mirrors and the most common of flowers. Poojas (prayer services) are performed daily.
The artists who make the idols of Ganesh compete with each other to make bigger, more magnificent and elegant idols. The relevantly larger ones are anything from 10 meters to 30 meters in height. These statues
are then carried on decorated floats to be immersed in lakes or sea. This procession and immersion is accompanied by drum-beats, bursting of crackers, spiritual songs and dancing. It is still forbidden to look at the
moon on that day as the moon had laughed at Ganesha when he fell from his vehicle, the rat. With the immersion of the idol amidst the chanting of
"Ganesh Maharaj Ki Jai!"(Hail Lord Ganesh). The festival ends with pleas to Ganesha to return the next year with chants of "Ganpati bappa morya,
pudcha varshi laukar ya" (Hail Lord Ganesh, return again soon next year). The people of Karnataka on Ganesha festival sings the following lines
"Ganesha Banda Kai Kadabu Tinda
Chikka Kaveyalli bidda
Dodda Kaveyalli yedda"
which means Ganesha comes and savours delecious food, fell in a small
tank and came out from a bigger one.
Lord Ganesha is called by various names. The various 108 names are listed here with their meanings.
Click Here To visit the next page with the 108 names of Lord Ganesha.
Article Contributed By
Kavita Thakur |
