The Story of Shri Ganesh

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Detail of the standing Ganesh, taken from a large sculpture of the goddess

Parvati as Lalita, flanked by Ganesh (on her right) and Kartikeya. Eastern

India. 11th century. Schist. Courtesy British Museum, London.

 

 

Dancing Ganesh, Tibet. 18th century. Bronze, partially gilt, with semi-precious

stones. Courtesy The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.

Ganesh is the eldest son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. He is one of the

most popular and most worshiped Indian gods. His image is one of the most

widely drawn, painted and sculptured. He is the elephant headed god.

Elephants are very wise animals this indicates that Lord Ganesha is an

embodiment of wisdom. He has a snake tied around his big stomach and sits on

his vehicle - the rat. He is usually depicted with 4 hands. One has a trishul,

or a trident, the second, an ankush, or goad made from his very own broken

tooth, the third hand elegantly holds a lotus and the fourth a rosary, which is

sometimes replaced by modaks - his favorite sweet. His trunk is usually turned

towards the left, rarely do we find images of Ganesha with the trunk turned

towards the right.

The Story of Shri Ganesh Many many centuries ago, it has been said that during a

war between the Gods and the Demons, Lord Shiva was away for a long time. His

wife, Goddess Parvati, afraid of being alone for an extended period used her

divine powers and created a son, Ganesh, and gave him the responsibility of

protecting the house. When Lord Shiva and his army, returned victorious to his

home, Parvati was in her bath, and Ganesh had been strictly instructed not to

allow anyone in. Angered by Ganesh's refusal to allow him into the house, Lord

Shiva and his army chopped off the boy's head. When Parvati came out of her

bath, she was shocked and grieved to see her son dead.Lord Shiva, to pacify,

her proclaimed that the head of Ganesh would be replaced by that of the first

creature that

came up the hill. The first visitor to the hill was an elephant and his head was

promptly cut off and placed on that of the boy Ganesh. His life was restored by

Lord Shiva who also bestowed upon Ganesh the powers of a God and blessed him

such that henceforth no activity will begin without invoking his name and

blessings.Since then, it is said, no new venture - the inauguration of a

company, the opening of a shop, the foundation of a building, entering a new

home - is deemed complete by Hindus without performing a Ganesh puja. He is

always honored first in most worship services and rituals. He is known as the

god who removes all obstacles, one who gives you success in your ventures.

Another Version

In myths, the birth of Ganesha is celebrated as a divine twist of fate. The most

popular myth brings alive the story about the elephant head. It all began when

Parvati, wanted to bathe. She needed privacy and since there was no one at

hand, she created a guard with the sweat and oils from her body. She brought

the figure of a young man to life and told him to stand guard while she bathed.

When Shiva, her husband returned and strode towards their home, he found his way

blocked by an unknown soldier. The soldier blocked Shiva’s entry. Shiva was

furious, a duel began. The soldier fought well, but was no match against the

might of Shiva, who killed him. Parvati came out and saw the dead body, she

demanded he be brought back to life.

Shiva sent his hordes to collect the head of the first living being, who was

sleeping with head facing north. The north was associated with wisdom, and was

also the direction from which the Aryans had invaded.

Airavat, Indra’s white elephant paid the price for Shiva’s blunder. While

Airavat slept facing the north, Shiva’s hordes beheaded him. His elephant head

was carried away for the dead body. An incensed Parvati demanded that her child

be promoted to the status of a primary god. Shiva and all the other gods knew

this was the only way they could placate her and Ganesha took his place before

all the gods.

All rituals (samskaras), begin with the worship of Ganesha. His image invokes

the universe, his head signifies wisdom and his body is globular, Vishwaroopa.

Ganesha represents the majesty of the animal kingdom with his head and his

vehicle the mouse shows subjugation of pestilent rats. .

His trunk is twisted into an embodiment of ‘Om’, the syllable that created the

world. To combat evil, he carries weapons the discus, trident, sword and

shield. A broken tusk is a reminder of his battle with a demon, and the fight

with the forces of evil. Yet, the same tusk is used by him in the writing of

the epic, the Mahabharata. When Vyasa wanted to compose the Mahabharata, Brahma

suggested Ganesha be his scribe. Vyasa agreed and Ganesha brought his broken

tusk to writing quill. Vyasa dictated the entire epic in verse. Ganesha

recorded every word for Gods and men alike.

He carries a modak (sweet dumpling) in one hand, for his appetite is insatiable,

and conscious of his role the other hand shows in the ‘abhaya mudra’(do not

fear, I am here to protect).

Another legend, explains Ganesha’s role in changing astronomy. In the month of

Shravan/Bhadrapad, after a feast of modaks. Ganesha was on his way home. He was

riding his mouse, a snake slithered into their path, the mouse tripped and

Ganesha took a tumble. His stomach split, and the modaks fell out, Chandra (the

moon) was watching and he began to laugh. Ganesha picked up the snake and used

it as a belt to hold his stomach together. He looked up, cursed Chandra and

banned him from the night skies.

Soon the gods and humankind were dazed glare of the relentless sun. There was no

respite of darkness when the moon was banished from the sky. The gods took a

delegation to Ganesha and pleaded their case. Ganesha gave in, but made an

astronomic condition. The moon would never shine like before. Full moon would

be just once a month (earlier every day was a full moon). On other days the

Chandra as a reminder of his misdemeanor would wax or wane!

Ganesha straddles the divide between the believers of Shiva and Vishnu. Ganesh

idols are worshipped both by Shaivites and Vaishnavites. Ganesha temples are

seen in almost every village in India. Chubby and gleeful and elephant headed,

Ganesha easily finds his place in the hearts of Gods and people.

Ganapati Sholka

Vakratunda mahakaya suryakoti samaprabhaNirvighne kuru me deva sarva karaye shu sarvada

How to chant:

This sholka or verse is said to bring good luck if chanted everyday. Chant the

above shloka with your full devotion. Sit in a quiet place, cross legged in a

comfortable manner, close your eyes for better concentration. It is considered

auspicious to chant a mantra 11 times, or 108 times or in multiples of 108.

Once you have determined the number you should stick with it. It is said that

once you have fixed upon the number of times you are going to recite the

shloka, you can increase it but cannot decrease it.

Ganesh Chathurthi Ganesh Chaturthi is the celebration of the birth of Lord

Ganesh. Lord Ganesh is remembered on chauth or chaturthi which is the 4th day

of every month of the Hindu calendar, but most of all on Ganesh Chaturthi which

is celebrated as his birthday. The Ganesh festival is celebrated on the fourth

day of the month of Bhadrapad in the Hindu calendar. This ten-day celebration

is observed in nearly every home.Sarvajanik Ganapati Utsav Celebrations

Ganapati Utsav is celebrated all across the country and is one of the the

biggest festival's in the state of Maharashtra.

Though the Ganesh Chathurthi festival had largely been a private one, it was

1894, when the Maratha politician - Bal Gangadharva Tilak - also known as

"Lokamanya Tilak" introduced a new way of celebrating the Ganapati festival as

- collective community worship. He called it 'Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav' or Public

Ganesh festival.

One of Tilak's strongest movements to evoke nationalism through religious

passions was the organisation of Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharasthra, which not

only inspired feelings of Hindu unity in Maharashtra, but gave freedom fighters

an opportunity to meet, when the British government made it illegal to hold any

political gatherings, writings and slogans. Tilak also sought to have all the

immersions take place on the tenth and final day. Since then this festival just

like the many other Indian festivals that are celebrated with pomp and show, is

an extraordinary testimony to the public place of religion in Indian life.This

form of community celebration became a norm. And today many communities gather

subscriptions from a group like a neighborhood puja committee or on behalf

of a residential area, market, or organization for the purchase of large idols

of Ganesh. These large Ganesh idols are then placed on pavilions or "mandaps"

and amidst much fanfare and revelry, the priest installs the idol of Ganesha by

chanting shlokas or sanskrit holy verses. These huge idols of Ganesh are then

made the object of collective worship for the rest of the festival days.

 

For several months prior to the celebration, sculptors in Mumbai and the nearby

cities and villages of Pune and Pen work overtime to create hundreds of

thousands of clay idols of Ganesh. They paint and decorate them to make them

look surreal. Idols in every size, pose and color are brought into Mumbai to be

sold to homes, stores and businesses. Some devotees select and buy their Ganesh

on the same day and others place their orders months in advance. The larger

idols are often very large, standing several feet high.

Celebrations at homes

At individual homes, after the Ganesh idol is bought, it isceremoniously

installed by the head of the house hold in the "home mandir" or "Pooja Ghaar" -

temple. The home temple is cleaned, and "rangoli" decorations are done. The

various rituals that take place are the ceremonious decoration of the idol with

ornaments, flowers and lights, chanting of the sanskrit verses, and the offering

of a special prasad. A twenty-one "Modak" prasad - a type of Indian sweet -is

offered during this pooja."Puja" and "aarti" are performed every morning and

evening using usually red flowers like the red hibiscus, or any other red

flower, rice, supari - betel nuts and leaves, haldi- turmeric, kumkum - red

powder, milk, incense and oil lamps. Most people rush home from work to take

part in the festivities and gather around the

brightly-lit Ganesha. Everyone joins in to sing the "bhajans" - hymns. Everyone

present is given a few flowers and rice in their hands. These are later

showered on Ganesha. The most common offerings of prasad to Ganapati are

modaks, pedhas and coconut. The prasad can be bought from the local sweet

stores all over town. The blessed offerings or prasad are then distributed

amongst the devotees.According to individual family traditions, Ganapati

celebrations are held for one and a half, five, seven, or ten days. The idols

are immersed into the river, sea or wells on the second, fifth, seventh or

eleventh day of the festival on - Ananta Chaturdashi very ceremoniously. From

small family processions to huge community processions on foot accompany the

idol of Ganesh that has been worshipped, to the immersion site chanting loudly

"GANPATI BAPPA MORYA, PHOOD CHYA VARSHI LUVKAAR YAA" or "Oh My Lord Ganpati,

come again soon next year". Along with the big immersion ceremony, there are

music performances on beautifully decorated stages called pandaals, cart races

and wrestling matches. It is also forbidden to look at the moon on that day as

the moon had laughed at Ganesha when he fell from his vehicle, the rat.Foods

made during this Festival

Lord Ganesh's favorite sweet is the Ukadee che modak. These are like sweet

steamed rice (flour) dumplings. It is customary to make these during this

festival. They are very delicate and tender. The shape above is called a modak

shape. Many pedhas too are shaped like this and sold at this time in many

Indian sweet stores. It does take practice to make this delicate dessert. The

inside is filled with a coconut and jaggery filling.

Some of the other Indian sweets made at this festival are Rice Kheer, Besan ke

ladoo and Boondi ladoo.

Fasting during this festival is not very common practice. The few who do keep a

fast are allowed to eat various sweets like "til ladoo" - a round Indian sweet

made of sesame seeds and jagery, "rewari" or sweets made of jaggery and nuts,

along with tea and coffee.

With Sai love from Sai brothers - ''

Courtesy: http://www.cuisinecuisine.com/

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