In Hindu culture, Ganesha Chaturthi / Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the most auspicious festivals. The festival is also widely known as Vinaya Chavithi. The festival is celebrated for straight 10 days. It is mainly celebrated on the birthday of the god of wealth Ganesha.
Ganesh Chaturthi is mainly observed as per the Hindu calendar. Every year in the Hindu month of Bhadra, the festival is celebrated. Usually, Bhadra falls between the month of August and September. The residents of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Telengana, Goa mainly observe the festival grandly. A small celebration in a different part of India is also noticeable. The festival is so grand, that the TV channels including the news channels highlight the puja rituals
Lord Ganesh has special significance in the life of the Indians. Apart from being the symbolic deity of wealth, he is also known as the lord of wisdom, knowledge, and prosperity. Thus, Hindus obey him a lot. So, Hindus observe the festival heartily offering the deity everything that they could afford.
The history of Ganesha Chaturthi
Indian mythology is full of interesting tales. One of the Ganesh Chaturthi is impressive as well. Lord Ganesha is the son of Parvati and Lord Shiva. There are several stories regarding the birth of the deity.
Among all, the most popular one includes the story of the elephant head. The tale states that Ganesha was formed by Parvati from the dirt particle of her body. The main purpose of creating Ganesha is to protect Parvati when Lord Shiva is not around. One day when Parvati went to take a shower, she assigned Ganesha the task to guard the door of her bathroom. Meanwhile, Shiva came home. Ganesha had no clue about the identity of Shiva, so he stopped Lord Shiva from entering. Shiva lost his temper and punished him. He blew away his head into two different sections.
On returning from shower Parvati got to know everything and got angry. To calm her down, Lord Shiva promised her to bring back Lord Ganesha’s life. Lord Shiva allotted all the deities to find a child’s head. But they failed in finding. They could only find an elephant head. On the very day, Lord Shiva fixed the body of Ganesha with the elephant body and this is how the present shape of Ganesha was formed. Thus, every year the devoted Hindus celebrate this special occasion like Ganesh Chaturthi.
Another popular story regarding the birth of Lord Ganesha is the Vighnakarta story. Once upon a time, demons were creating many more obstacles for the deities. So, they put forward their request for creating Ganesha. According to their request, Lord Shiva created Ganesha. He became the Vighnakarta against the demons. Because of his helping nature, deities deeply loved Lord Ganesha. This is another reason for celebrating his birthday grandly.
The customs of Ganesha Chaturthi
Ganesha Chaturthi runs for 10 days straight. The festival is mainly observed in four different traditions. These four traditions include respectively Pranapratishhtha, Shhodashopachara, Uttarpuja, and Ganpati Visarjan. The arrangements for the festival begin earlier from the first day. The whole city celebrates the grand festival with great excitement. Medium to big sized Ganesha idols is placed inside the stunningly decorated idols.
On the first day of worship, the statue of the deity is garlanded. After that, the priest chants some mantras before the statue to call upon life in it. This ritual is known as the Pranapratishhtha.
The next ritual of worshipping Lord Ganesha on the special occasion of Ganesha Chaturthi is known as Shhodaashopachara. In this custom, the Ganesha murti is offered prayers in 16 distinct manners. During this ritual, people make merry by beating drums and lighting crackers.
After Shhodashopachara, comes the ritual of Uttarpuja. In this ritual, the worshipper makes arrangements of bidding goodbye to Lord Ganesha. It is the most emotional moment for the worshipers. It is followed by the last ritual of the festival known as the Ganpati Visarjan. In this custom, the idol is to immerse in the river. Before the ceremony, devotes offer lord Ganesha his favorite modak and other sweet items. The visarjan ceremony is worth to witness. While carrying out the idol for emerging, the devotes cry out loudly ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya’.
Along with observing Ganesha Chaturthi in the puja pandal, some people observe it at home too. The rituals remain the same in both the case.
Fasting guideline of Ganesha Chaturthi
The fasting guideline of Ganesha Chaturthi is extremely simple. Devotees who intended to keep fast can opt for two individual choices. Either they can go for nirjal fasting or they can feed themselves on sabudana. The thing to keep in mind is during the rituals is that devotes must keep themselves from consuming non-vegetarian. The devotees have to take a shower and wear new clothes before offering their prayers.
Those who intend to keep the fast at home can follow the same rules. Devotes mainly keep the fast and chant some mantras such as ‘Mam Sarvakarmisuddaye’.
Significance of Ganesha Chaturthi
Devotes believe that observing Ganesha Chaturthi can bring positivity in their life. People worship Lord Ganesha in order to fulfill their wishes. Moreover, they believe that if they can make the Lord happy, he will bless them with knowledge and wisdom. On the other hand, as Lord Ganesha is considered as the deity of wealth, devotees offer their prayers in order to enhance their financial condition.
The celebration of Ganesha Chaturthi is not new. The festival traces its existence since the rule of Chhatrapati Shivaji. But at that moment, the festival was grandly known to be promoted by Lokmanya Tilak. The festival continues till now as the worshipers successfully attain the blessings of the Lord. When the festival first started during the era of Shivaji, it was confined at the homely celebration. Later, the festival is turned to grand public celebration during the time of freedom struggle. Since the period of the king Shivaji, Ganesha Chaturthi still receives the same vibe from the worshippers. In the upcoming days, the celebration will become even bigger and better.
