The ten-day festival of Vinayaka Chaturthi commenced from Monday, September 5. The younger son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, Ganesha is the Lord of arts and sciences, and is also known as the God of wisdom. He is known by 108 different names. Hindu mythology pins two different versions of Lord Ganesha's birth.
The more popular version is of how Parvati created Ganesha out of her body:
Goddess Parvati was preparing for a bath one day, and asked Nandi to guard the door and let no one pass as she did not wish to be disturbed. Faithfully taking his post, Nandi however had to let Shiva in, as her loyalty lied with Shiva first. While this irked Parvati, she was more piqued with the fact that she had no one as loyal to herself.
This was when Parvati took turmeric paste from her body and breathed life into it. The next time Parvati wished to bathe, she posted Ganesha on guard at the door. In due time, Lord Shiva came, only to be stopped by a stranger boy from entering his own house. Furious, Shiva commanded his army to take the boy down. However, all of them failed, as Ganesha possessed Parvati's shakti. A surprised Shiva saw that the boy was not ordinary, and decided to fight him himself. In his divine fury, Shiva ended up severing Ganesha's head.
Furious on hearing the news, a temperamental Parvati decided to destroy the entire universe, when Lord Brahma- the Creator, approached her and coaxed her to change her mind. She put down two conditions: one, that Ganesha be brought back to life, and the second, that he be worshipped forvever before all gods. Lord Shiva had cooled down by then, and on realising his mistake, complied to his wife's demands. He sent Brahma with orders to bring back the head of the first creature he crosses that is laying with its head facing North. He soon returned with the head of an elephant. Shiva placed the head on Ganesha's body, breathed new life into him, and declared him to be his own son as well.
Lord Shiva gave him the status of being foremost among all gods, and leader of the ganas.
The other legend says that Ganesha was created by both, Shiva and Parvati at the request of the Devas, to create obstavles in the path of the rakshasas (vighnakartaa), and to help the Devas, (vighnahartaa).
Hindu myth also has several anecdotes on how he broke off one of his tusks. One of them, taken from the Mahabharata, talks of how sage Vyasa asked Ganesha to transcribe a poem as he dictated. Ganesh agreed on the condition that the poem be recited uninterrupted, and the sage put forth his own condition that it would need to be understood and not merely written down. The dictation soon began and as Ganesha began to write down a difficult verse which he could not follow, his pen broke. In the rush to not miss the words, he broke off one of his tusks and used it as a pen.
Widely accepted is the story of Parashurama breaking the tusk off. Recounted in an excerpt from the Upodghata Pada of Brahmanda Purana, it is said that one of Lord Vishnu's reincarnations, Parashurama wanted to meet with Shiva after defeating his enemy Kartavirya Arjuna. He was however, stopped by Ganesha who said his father and mother were sleeping and he could not disturb them. Adamant on not letting him in, Ganesha faced the wrath of the brahmin who pursued a fight with him. While he could not be defeated, Parashurama threw his axe at Ganesha who knew it was a gift from Shiva and let it cut his tusk.
Ganesh Chaturthi is traditionally celebrated on Shukla Chaturthi in the month of Bhadrapada. The celebrations of the festival are defined by four major rituals: the Pranapratishtha, when Lord Ganesha is brought home, Shhodashopachara, when there are 16 forms of paying tribute to Ganesha, Uttarpuja, the last puja after which the idol will be shifted, and the Ganesh Visarjan, when the idol is immersed in the river.
While the festival is celebrated across India, it holds special importance in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. Other than India, Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated in Nepal, and the Hindus living in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Mauritius.
Preparations for the festivities begin months in advance. Pandals are created which, over the years, have gained a competitive spirit. Ganesha idols are brought to them, installed, and decorated with lights, flowers, food offerings. The priest performs the pranapratishtha, which is followed by the shhodashopachara ritual when coconut, jaggery, modaks, durva grass and red hibiscus flowers are offered to the God. A long ceremony is conducted where hymns are recited, aartis are performed, and crowds of people gather to take Ganesha's blessings.
The festivities end with the visarjan, where the idol is immersed in a river.
