| Ganesh, the elephant-headed
god is the younger son of Shiva and Parvati according to Hindu
mythology. After his birth, all gods came to bless the new-born child.
Shani, the god of fate hesitated to cast his eyes on his new-born
nephew for the fear of bringing bad luck to the child. However, he was
finally persuaded to visit Ganesh by Narad, the heavenly ambassador.
On doing so, Ganesh was decapitated just as Shani had feared. Vishnu,
the Preserver of life advised Shani to replace Ganesh's head with the
head of the first living creature he came across in order to save
Ganesh's life. Shani set out from Shiva and Parvati's abode and came
across Oirabath, the milk-white elephant of Indra, the king of gods.
This is how Ganesh became the elephant-headed god. Vishnu also saved
Oirabath's life with his special powers in order to please
Indra. |
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Ganesh Chaturthi. On the fourth day of Bhadra (August / September).
Ganesha the god of wisdom and prosperity , son of Siva and Parvati
, brother of Kartikeya -the general of the gods, Lakshmi -the goddess
of wealth and Saraswati-the goddess of learning is one of the most
popular gods in Hindu mythology. The elephant-headed god , whose
vehicle is the Mooshak or rat and who loves Modaks is associated with
several humourous tales and lores. Tales of how he beat his brother
Kartikeya, in a race which involved going around the world thrice ,
without even moving out of his house , of how he lost one of his tusks
are known to children all over India
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Ganesh or Ganapati is a
popular god and is worshipped extensively by Hindus, especially by
traders. Every ritual or ceremony is begun by invoking his name like
Janus, the Roman god. This is a custom which has another story behind
it. Ganesh, the faithful son was once guarding the chamber of Shiva
and Parvati with orders from his parents that nobody were to disturb
them while they made love. Parshuram, Shiva's earthly son came to seek
an audience with Shiva at that time but Ganesh would not let him in.
They fought a duel in which Parshuram broke one of Ganesh's tusks.
Later, as a consolation, Shiva made Ganesh special among gods by
ordering that every auspicious activity would only begin after
worshipping Ganesh. |
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The Ganapati Mahotsav or the Grand Festival of Ganesha
is the principle festival in Bombay , the financial capital of India.
In Bombay the largest of the 6000 or so Ganeshas are commissioned
collectively by factories. Each of these idols can be upto 10 metres
in height and are paraded on lorries decorated with multi-coloured
lights. At the other end of the scale, little Ganeshas are placed in
nukkads or street corners and in homes, and pujas are performed daily.
The festival was started by Shivaji , the great Maratha ruler, to
promote culture and a feeling of nationalism amongst his subjects who
were fighting against the Mughals. After his death the festival was
celebrated but on a smaller scale. In 1894 when the British banned
public assemblies the festival was revived by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar
Tilak who felt that this was way of spreading the freedom message
through a legitimate religious festival. On full moon day every idol
is taken down to the Chowpatty beach accompanied by hordes of people
singing and dancing. |
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