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Celebrating Ganesha - The Elephant God
"O Lord Ganesha who has a curved trunk, large body and brilliance of a million suns, please make all my work free of all obstacles always."
Lord Ganesha, the symbol of Hinduism worldwide, is also possibly the most recognized Hindu God, thanks largely to his elephant head. Be it a wedding, a housewarming, the launch of a new business or any other task, it is common to find most Indians invoking the blessings of Lord Ganesha. The tale behind Ganesha worship for good fortune is rather interesting.
Ganesha Gets His Elephant Head
The story as stated in the Shiva Purana has it that Ganesha was created by the Goddess Parvati from the dirt on her body to stand guard outside her house while she bathed. Lord Shiva was away fighting wars. Ganesha had strict instructions to allow no one to enter while Goddess Parvati bathed.
When Lord Shiva returned, Ganesha failed to recognize him and denied him entry. In a fit of anger lord Shiva beheaded Ganesha.
When Goddess Parvati saw her son's plight she was extremely unhappy. To alleviate her distress, Lord Shiva promised to set things right. He instructed his gana (men) to bring the head of the first animal they came across who was sleeping facing North. That animal happened to be an elephant. Lord Shiva transplanted the elephant head on to Ganesha and breathed life into him.
However, Goddess Parvati was not entirely happy with her son's new avatar. To appease her further, Lord Shiva declared Ganesha the pati (leader) of his people and gave him the power to bring good fortune to people and to answer their prayers. Subsequently Ganesha became popular as the deity who answers prayers and brings fortune to all. Thus, a Ganesha vandana or Ganesha puja marks the beginning of any auspicious occasion in Hindu households.
This is the more popular tale of why Lord Ganesha is worshipped before any mangal karya. However, another version found in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana is slightly different. Parvati observed the punyaka vrata for a year to appease Vishnu and was rewarded with a son. When all the Gods and Goddesses assembled to rejoice, Shani - the son of Surya, refused to look at the boy because he believed that it would harm the baby. Parvati insisted that Shani see the boy and as soon as Shani glanced at the boy he was beheaded. As all the Lords started to bemoan this tragedy, Vishnu hurried to the banks of the Pushpabhadra River and brought back the head of a young elephant and planted it on the beheaded body. Subsequently, Shani or negative never came close to Ganesha and hence Ganesha is invoked at the beginning of any mangal karya to ensure that no negative events can obstruct the undertaking.
Celebrating Ganesha Chaturthi
Ganesha Chaturthi celebrates the birthday of Lord Ganesha. The special sweet consumed on this day is modak or the laddoo most loved by Ganesha. Many believe that it is inauspicious to look at the moon on Ganesha Chaturthi. There is a tale behind this as well!
Mythology has it that on his birthday Ganesha went around collecting modaks and sweets from all the villagers. He had lots of sweets all day and at night mounted his mouse and set of for home. On the way home, the mouse saw a snake and reared up in fright. Ganesha was thrown off his vehicle. When he fell on his stomach it burst open and all the sweets came tumbling out. However, Ganesha simply stuff all the modaks back into his stomach and tied it with the snake itself. This is why Ganesha statues often have a snake around the belly. When Chandra or the moon saw this scene he laughed uproariously. This annoyed Ganesha and he cursed the moon that no one would look at him on Ganesha Chaturthi else they would be inviting bad luck.
Ganesha Stories
The stories surrounding Ganesha abound and each is more entertaining than the other. In fact, when Indian women fast they often tell each other stories about the fast. Tradition has it that one never says just one story related to the fast. It is always accompanied by another story about Ganesha and his supreme deity status.
Quick Ganesha Facts:
- Ganesha is the elder son of Shiva and Parvati. The younger son is Kartikeya.
- He has four hands, an elephant head and a big belly.
- His vehicle is a tiny mouse.
- He is revered by 108 different names. Vinayak or 'the knowledgeable one' and 'Vighneshwara' or 'the remover of obstacles' are two of the more popular names.
- In his four hands he carries a noose to carry worshipers towards honesty and truth, a goad to separate them from worldly attachments, a modak to reward them for spiritual acts and the fourth hand is always extended in blessing.
- Devotees of Ganesha are called Ganpatyas.
- Riddhi and Siddhi are Ganesha's wives. One means fortune and the other prosperity.
- Shubh and Labh are Ganesha's adopted sons. They mean goodness and benefit.
- Ganesha awarded Goddess Laxmi the status of his mother. Hence the two are often worshipped together, especially on Diwali. Goddess Laxmi always sits on the right of Ganesha. The left is reserved for a man's wife.
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Pooja Mittal-Aggarwal
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