Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!

Today is “Ganesh Chaturthi” – birthday of BhagwAn Shri Ganesh (celebrated on the 4th day of Bhadrapada – usually Aug/Sept in Julian calendar). Ganesh-ji is widely revered as the remover of obstacles (“VidhnhartA”) and is usually invoked when beginning something new (I usually begin my day with the “VakratunDa MahAkAya…” shloka).

Ganesh Chaturthi is (one of the) most popular (festivals) in Maharashtra and heralds 10days of celebrations that end with the “Visarjan” on Anant Chaturdashi (or Anant Chaudas).

As many of you would know, the public celebration of Ganesh Utsav (SArvajanik Ganeshotsav) is an important chapter in the freedom movement of India. This “festival” was started by Lokmanya Tilak in 1894 when when Tilak himself placed an idol of Ganesh-ji in Vinchurkar Wada in Maharashtra.
Tilak transformed the birth anniversary from a private, family affair into an occassion to bring people together against the opressive British Raj. Because of Ganesh-ji’s widespread appeal amongst the masses, the celebrations proved to be very useful in breaking bariers within Hindu society at that time.

Let us not forget this motivation of Lokmanya Tilak as we celebrate the day today.

On the auspicious occassion of Ganesh Chaturthi, let us take a vow to treat all Hindus as equals and work towards strengthening the ties that bring us together.

May Bhagwaan Shree Ganesha shower his blessings on you and your loved ones, today and always.
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|| गनपति बप्पा मोरिया ||

For those of you who may have forgotten the story of Shri Ganesh’s birth, here it is:

Once upon a time, the Goddess Gauri (consort of Lord Shiva), while bathing, created Ganesha as a pure white being out of the mud of Her Body and placed Him at the entrance of the house. She told Him not to allow anyone to enter while she went inside for a bath. Lord Shiva Himself was returning home quite thirsty and was stopped by Ganesha at the gate. Shiva became angry and cut off Ganesha’s head as He thought Ganesha was an outsider.

When Gauri came to know of this she was sorely grieved. To console her grief, Shiva ordered His servants to cut off and bring to Him the head of any creature that might be sleeping with its head facing north. The servants went on their mission and found only an elephant in that position. The sacrifice was thus made and the elephant’s head was brought before Shiva. The Lord then joined the elephant’s head onto the body of Ganesha.

Lord Shiva made His son worthy of worship at the beginning of all undertakings, marriages, expeditions, studies, etc. He ordained that the annual worship of Ganesha should take place on the 4th day of the bright half of Bhadrapada.

Without the Grace of Sri Ganesha and His help nothing whatsoever can be achieved. No action can be undertaken without His support, Grace or blessing.

In his first lesson in the alphabet a Maharashtrian child is initiated into the Mantra of Lord Ganesha, Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah. Only then is the alphabet taught.

The following are some of the common Names of Lord Ganesha: Dhoomraketu, Sumukha, Ekadantha, Gajakarnaka, Lambodara, Vignaraja, Ganadhyaksha, Phalachandra, Gajanana, Vinayaka, Vakratunda, Siddhivinayaka, Surpakarna, Heramba, Skandapurvaja, Kapila and Vigneshwara. He is also known by many as Maha-Ganapathi.

Here is another version of the birth of Shri Ganesh:

The Brahma vaivarta Purana narrates a different story regarding the origin of Ganapati. Shiva instructed Parvati, who wanted to have a son, to observe the puNyaka vrata for a year to propitiate Vishnu.

harer ArAdhanaM kR^itvA vrataM kuru varAngane |
vrataM cha puNyakam nAma varshhamekaM karishhyasi ||

O Beautiful Goddess! Perform the worship of Hari by observing the punyaka vrata for a year.

vratasyAsya prabhAveNa svayaM gopAnganeshvaraH |
IshvaraH sarvabhUtAnAM tava putro bhavishhyati ||

The Lord of Gopikas, the Lord of all beings, Krishna Himself will be born as your son, as a result of the vrata.

On completion of the vrata by Parvati, it was announced that Krishna would incarnate Himself as Her son in every kalpa. Accordingly, Krishna was born as a charming infant, delighting Parvati who celebrated the event with great enthusiasm. All the Gods arrived to have a look at the baby. But Shani, the son of Surya, did not look at him and stared at the ground instead. Upon Parvati’s questioning regarding his behavior, Shani said that his look would harm the baby. Parvati, however, insisted that he should look at the baby. In deference to Her wish Shani cast his eyes on the baby. Due to his malevolent glance, the baby’s head was severed and flew to Goloka, the abode of Krishna. Parvati and all the Gods assembled there, including Shiva, were grief-stricken. Thereupon, Vishnu mounted Garuda and rushed to the banks of the Pushpa-bhadra river and brought back the head of a young elephant. The head of the elephant was joined with the headless body of Parvati’s son, reviving him. All the Gods blessed Ganesha and wished Him power and prosperity.

Further Reading:

Ganesha chaturthi, legends, and prayers

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Adjacent post: Of Monkey Gods and Elephant Heads

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