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Thursday, 10 September 2015

Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesha Chaturthi- Birthday of Lord Ganesha
17th September 2015 (Thursday)
Ganesha Chaturthi Tithi
On 16th, tithi time = 20:01 
On 17th, tithi time = 22:20  

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

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