Ganesh Chathurthi
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The Festival
This is one of the most popular festivals celebrated across India.Ganesh Chathurthi also known as 'Vinayak Chaturthi' or 'Vinayaka Chavithi' is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Ganesha on chauth or chaturthi, the 4th day of the month of Bhadrapada (mid Aug - mid Sep) of the Hindu calendar. The celebration continues till Anantha Chaturdasi i.e for 10 days. Lord Ganesha is also described as the Supreme Leader ( Vinayaka). Ganapathy is said to have had two spouses. Buddhi(intellect) and Siddhi(achievement). Thus he is the master of knowledge and achievement.
Ganesha is the god of wisdom and prosperity and is worshipped at the beginning of any auspicious performance or undertakings .The Hindus believe that Lord Ganesha would fulfill the wishes and dreams and will bring good luck and prosperity for the family. In addition to this Lord Ganesh is known to be a deity who protects people from obstacles in their lives and hence is also known as "Vignahartha".
The Grand Celebration
The celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi continue for one and a half,five, seven, or ten days.In India feasting, fasting and sweet distribution are important elements of Ganesh chaturthi rituals. On the day of the festival, the Ganesh idol is placed on raised platforms in homes for people to view and pay their homage. The priest then invokes life into the idol amidst the chanting of mantras.Throughout the ceremony, Vedic hymns from the Rig Veda and Ganapati Atharva Shirsha Upanishad, and Ganesha stotra from the Narada Purana are chanted.
For 10 days, Ganesha is worshipped. On the 11th day, the idols are carried in grand procession for 'Ganesh Visarjan' accompanied with devotional songs and dancing, fireworks.The idols would be immersed in a river or the sea symbolizing a ritual see-off of the Lord in his journey towards his abode in Kailash while taking away with him the misfortunes of all man. All join in this final procession shouting "Ganapathi Bappa Morya, Purchya Varshi Laukariya" (O Lord Ganesha, come again early next year).
The Origin
The story goes as follows- Lord Shiva,was away from Kailash fighting for the gods. As Parvati was alone at home, she felt the necessity of some one to guard the door to her house while she bathed. Since she didn't have anyone ,she conceived of the idea of creating a son who could guard her. She then created Ganesha out of her sandalwood paste and breathed life into the idol. She asked him to keep stric vigial at the entrance and not allow any body enter until she came out. n the meantime Lord Shiva returned happy after a glorious victory for the gods. As, Ganesha didn't recognize him, he stopped Shiva from entering as per his mother's advice. This badly enraged Lord Shiva, who cut off Ganesha's head by his trident. When Parvati saw her beheaded son Ganesha, she took on the form of the Goddess Kali and threatened to destruct all the three worlds.
The earth, the heaven, the nether world, all was shaken and every body ran to Shiva for solution. In order to appease Parvati and save the world from destruction, Lord Shiva sent out his followers to find a child whose mother is facing another direction in negligence, cut off his head and bring it quickly. The first such child the came across was an elephant who was facing north (the auspicious direction associated with wisdom), so they brought the head of this elephant and Shiva placed it on the trunk of Parvati's son and gave life into him. Parvati was the overwhelmed with happiness and embraced her son. They named her Ganesha i.e the Lord of all Ganas (followers).
There is yet another popular legend associated with Ganesh Chaturthi, arising from Skanda Purana. It goes that once Ganesha was invited for a feast in Chandralok. He ate many Ladoos and later, as he got up to walk after the meal, he could not balance himself, because of his huge stomach, and slipped. His stomach burst and all the laddoos came rolling out. Seeing this, the moon could not control himself and began laughing. Ganesha got angry and cursed the moon that it will vanish from the universe.Because of moon's absence, the whole world began to wane. The gods asked Lord Shiva to get Ganesha to change his mind. The moon also apologized for his misbehavior. Finally, Ganesha modified his curse saying that the moon would be invisible on only one day of a month and would be partially seen on Ganesha Chaturthi. He also added that anyone who watches moon on Ganesha Chaturthi would face a false accusation. This is the reason why, even today, it is considered inauspicious to look at the moon on Ganesh Chaturthi.
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.
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