Mythology
Centuries
ago during a war between the Gods
and the Demons, Lord Shiva was away
for a long time. His wife, Goddess
Parvati, afraid of being alone for
an extended period used her divine
powers and created a son, Ganesh,
and gave him the responsibility of
protecting the house. When Lord Shiva
and his army, returned victorious
to his home, Parvati was in her bath,
and Ganesh had been strictly instructed
not to allow anyone in. Angered by
Ganesh's refusal to allow him in to
the house, Lord Shiva and his army
chopped off the boy's head. When Parvati
came out of her bath, she was shocked
and grieved to see her son dead. Lord
Shiva, to pacify, her proclaimed that
the head of Ganesh would be replaced
by that of the first creature that
came up the hill. As luck would have
it the first visitor to the hill was
an elephant and his head was promptly
cut off and placed on that of Lord
Ganesh, and life was restored to the
son of Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati.
To pacify his wife further and compensate
for the act of killins own son, Lord
Shiva bestowed upon Ganesh the powers
of a God and blessed him that henceforth
no activity will begin without invoking
your name and blessings. Since then,
it is said, no new venture - the inauguration
of accompany, the opening of a shop,
the foundation of a building, entering
a new home - is deemed complete by
Hindus without a Ganesh puja.
Ancient Hindu texts
are filled with tales about Lord Ganesh,
his powers, wisdom and goodness, one
of the most delightful being the one
about a contest between him and his
brother, Kartikeya. Kartikeya was
very proud of his mount, the peacock,
and his own speed and efficiency,
challenged lord Ganesh to a race around
the world 7 times. While Kartikeya
made a tour of the world thrice, Ganesh
just encircled lord Shiva and goddess
Parvati, his parents 7 times, and
claimed victory. The story is often
related to inculcate in children the
importance of God and their parents.
The
Festival
Ganesh is remembered
on chauth or chaturthi, the 4th day
of every month of the Hindu calendered,
but most of all on Ganesh Chaturthi
which is celebrated as his birthday.
Ladoos are distributed on the day-by
tradition ladoos were placed in different
corners of the house and eaten before
the meal. Milk is offered to idols
of lord Ganesh at home and at temples,
and Ganesh puja is performed at all
temples and hi-house prayer rooms.
Fasting, feasting and distribution
of sweets offered to Lord Ganesh are
important aspects of Ganesh chaturthi
rituals in India. Hindus pray to images
of Lord Ganesha, large and small,
many of them made specially for the
occasion by cottage industries and
street side artisans, and those that
do not wish to keep the idols alive
by daily prayers, offerings and lighting
oil lamps, immerse them in the nearest
water body (all rivers, lakes and
the sea which are sacred to Hindus).
Tilak's
Contribution
Ganesh chaturthi
was further promoted by Lokmanya Bal
Gangadhar Tilak, who brought to the
cause of independence a fire of religious
revivalism. Tilak (1856-1920) was
a Maharashtrian Brahmin from Poona,
who believed that self government
could not be achieved by co-operating
with the British. His slogan, Swaraj
(Home Rule) is My Birthright, was
echoed for miles on every side, and
when he wrote articles in the Kesari,
applauding the action of terrorist
and the death of 2 British women in
a bomb blast in Bengal, he was promptly
brought to trial and sentenced to
6 years imprisonment, resulting in
a 6 day long riot in Bombay. He was
the first Indian freedom fighter to
be given the kind of hero-worship,
later acquired by Mahatma Gandhi,
Jawaharlal Nehru , Netaji Subhash
Chandra Bose and Sardar Patel, by
millions of people. After his release,
he rose to become an all-India leader,
working with the likes of Anne Besant
for home rule, and was always respected
as an intellectual.
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