Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Vinayak Chaturthi and Ganesh Chauth, is a festival dedicated to Lord Ganesha. The day is celebrated as his birthday on the fourth day of the waxing moon in the month of Bhadrapada (August-September), according to the Hindu calendar. The main highlight of the festival is that it lasts for ten days and its ends in Ganesh Visarjan when people bid their goodbye to Ganesha and pray him to come visit them again the next year. This festival is of prime importance for the people living in Maharashtra.
It is believed
that one should not see the moon on Ganesha Chaturthi as it results in a
fault in one’s stars because of which he can be falsely accused of
stealing something. Thus according to the astronomical calculations,
avoid sighting the moon in between 20:01 to 20:13 on 16th September 2015
and in between 09:20 to 20:50 on 17th September 2015.
Legend
There
are two legends that are related with the birth of Ganesha. According
to the most believed one, Ganesha was created by Parvati to keep herself
company as Shiva was out of the house for most of the times. She
created a son for herself out of sandalwood paste. Once she was going to
take a bath when she asked Ganesha to guard the door. She asked him not
to allow entrance to anyone. When she went inside, Shiva arrived and
asked Ganesha to let him in but he denied his request. Shiva became
furious, and he asked his followers to teach him some manners. They
tried to fight with Ganesha but as he was created by Shakti herself, he
was very powerful and defeated the army of Shiva. Other deities also
tried but failed to appease him. Finally, Indra tried to teach him a
lesson with his huge army but with no results. Finally, Shiva took it as
a matter of his pride and severed his head.
When
Parvati came out of her arena, she was filled with anger witnessing her
beheaded son. Shiva knew Parvati’s anger could result into the end of
the universe. Thus, he promised to bring back Ganesha. He asked his
troop to find a head of a dead being facing in the North direction, and
they could only find a head of an elephant. Shiva fixated the head on
the child’s body, thus bringing him back to life. Since then he is being
called Ganesha.
According to a less known and
talked about a legend, Ganesha was brought to life by both Shiva and
Parvati after listening to numerous requests from Gods. They wanted
someone who could solve all their problems but at the same time create
hurdles in the path of the demons. Thus, he is known as Vighnaharta
(obstacle-remover), as well as Vighnakartaa (obstacle creator).
Rituals
As
Parvati made Ganesha with sand, similarly devotees prepare or buy an
idol of Ganesha made up of clay. The size of these idols may range from a
small miniature to a 75 feet statue. The celebrations take place at two
levels. People either worship him by placing a small pandal at their
home, or a raised platform is placed in societies and people from
various houses come to worship the God. These pandals are beautifully
decorated with paintings and flowers. Lights are used to highlight the
specific arena. People wear beautiful clothes at the time of Puja, and
if one appoints a priest, then he can be offered red and white
traditional clothes for performing the ceremonies.
The
priest chant mantras and the most repeated one is “Vakratunda Mahakaya
Suryakoti Sama Prabha Nirvighnam Kuru Mey Deva Sarva Kaaryeshu Sarvadaa”
which is a pleading to the Lord with a huge body, curved trunk and
brightness equivalent to the brightness of million suns to remove the
hurdles from one’s life. It is believed that by chanting many other
mantras, Priests try to invoke life in the idols and this ritual is
known as ‘Prana Pratishtha’. Thus in many houses, these idols are
considered like family members who are woken, bathed, fed and made to
sleep at appropriate timings.
As the festival is
celebrated for ten days, those worshippers placing an idol at home
should follow the below-mentioned routine. Devotees first clean their
bodies and while taking bath ask Ganesha to clean their souls of all the
sins. Then offerings of white flowers are made as they are Ganesha’s
favorite. A special type of three blade grass call Durva is kept in the
worshipping arena. People may also offer vermillion that symbolizes good
fortune and incense sticks representing fame. A special type of sweet
called Modak is then prepared for the Lord as he loves eating them and
can consume them in infinite numbers. Usually, the items like Modak and
durva grass that are placed next to the Lord are 21 in number. Family
members should also meditate on Ganesha’s legends and chant ‘Om Gam
Ganapataye Namaha’, 108 times a day.
On the last
day, a huge number of processions are taken out on the roads and people
sing and dance along the troops. They shower colors and flowers on each
other. They finally reach near different water bodies and submerge the
idols in them.
Regional Celebration
Apart
from Ganapati Puja and Visarjan that takes place in Maharashtra,
celebrations of other southern states are famous too. In Karnataka also
people install idols at their home and can continue to worship them even
for 21 days. In Telangana, apart from clay, the idols of Ganesha are
prepared using turmeric. On the day of submergence, the people stay
vigil at night and celebrate the festivity till the sunrise.
In
Tamil Nadu, the idols are decorated with special kind of garlands made
up of bermuda grass. The people of Tamil Nadu prefer making
environmental friendly idols and use coconut shells and other organic
items only. They believe that the nature is also a part of the Lord and
should not be destroyed in any manner. In Kerala, people offer milk to
the idols and break thousands of coconuts on the doorsteps of temples to
gain liberation from their sins. In Goa, elaborate Puja ceremonies take
place and Gauri and Shiva are also worshiped along with Ganesha.
Displaying fireworks at night is also a part of the ritual. Though,
people of Goa widely consume fishes and other sea foods, they refrain
themselves from eating non-vegetarian items on Ganesha Chaturthi... Read More
