Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated on the 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 continue 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.
Ganesha is the god of wisdom and prosperity and is invoked before the beginning
of any auspicious work by the Hindus. It is believed that for the fulfillment of
one's desires, his blessing is absolutely necessary. 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, 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. Shiva cut off the head
of an elephant and fixed it on the body of Ganesha. Another tale tells of how one
day 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 pervade the whole
universe and going around them, is more than going round the earth." Everybody was
pleasantly surprised to hear Ganesha's logic 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 the cosmic 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.
The Celebrations
The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated the states of Maharashtra, Tamil
Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and many other parts of India. Started by Chatrapati
Shivaji Maharaja, the great Maratha ruler, to promote culture and nationalism, the
festival was revived by Lokmanya Tilak (a freedom fighter) to spread the
message of freedom struggle and to defy the British who had banned public assemblies.
The festival gave the Indians a feeling of unity and revived their patriotic spirit
and faith. This public festival formed the background for political leaders who
delivered speeches to inspire people against the Western rule. The festival is so
popular that the preparations begin months in advance. 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 and 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 the sea after one, three, five, seven
and ten days. Thousands of processions converge on the beaches to immerse the holy
idols in the sea. This procession and immersion is accompanied by drum- beats, devotional
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.
- Anita Ramchandani
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