Lord Shree Ganesha
Faith in the divine is the essence of Bhakti Marg, one needs to trust the lord and follow the path of spirituality. There are various sects of Hinduism dedicated to a different God, people praise the dedicated God, and follow the philosophy and teaching related. But one such god praised by all sects before starting any new work or venture, how can we forget the Pratham Poojya Bhagwan Shree Ganeshji, the most celebrated and loved God? Let’s dive into the details of the elephant-faced god who is the favorite of all and is denoted as Hindu God Ganpati Bappa.
Why is Lord Ganesh Pratham Pujya, And His Birth
Well, the term Pratham Poojya means the God who is prayed before anyone else, Lord Ganesh was blessed to be praised before any God or at the beginning of any work by his father Lord Shiva. When we say Ganpati Bappa a cute smiling elephant face with a chubby body eating ‘modak’ and sitting on his rat appears in front of us, but that has stories behind it. The original name of Ganeshji is Vinayak, meaning wisdom full, there are many such names he is known by, even his elephant head was not since his birth. The religious story states that God Ganesh was not born but created by Goddess Parvati breathing life into child form she created by clay and body sandalwood to accompany her and protect her during the absence of Lord Shiv.
Even so, when Mahadev returned they had a tiff, and unknown to the fact that it was his son, he cut off Vinayak’s head. When Parvati witnessed this she became furious and threaten to end the creation if her son was not back to life, later he was attached elephant’s head, known as ‘Gaja’s’ hence one of his names is ‘Gajanana’. Because he faced such a terrifying experience and the Goddess feared her son would be mocked, and hence he was blessed to be Pratham Pujya by God Shiv and was given other blessings from all the Gods. Another story for the same is Lord Ganesh took part in a race of all Gods to circumferent the Earth, all though he would lose. Still, instead, he circumvented his parents and stated that ‘my whole world is my parents so I would, of course, circulate them’ This statement made all think and impressed all gaining him the right to be praised before all gods.
The name ‘Ganesh’ means ‘ish’ that is lord or master to ‘gan’ that are the devotees of Mahadev even the name ‘Ganpati’ means lord of ‘gan’. Another name of his is Ekadanta which means having one tooth. This follows with two popular stories one of which is related to Rishi Vyas, he approached lord Ganeshji to write the epic poem Mahabharat a renowned text in Hinduism that promotes life philosophy and is highly acclaimed in Bhakti Marg, albeit lord Ganapathi conditioned him he would not stop and recite the whole story at once. And in the counter, Rishi Vyas said that Ganesh Ji would only write the verse he understood, and Hindu God Ganesh being lord of wisdom did not take time to understand and continued writing until the pen fell short so he broke one of his tusks and continued writing until the end of the poem. Another story states that it was broken during a fight with Lord Parshuram an incarnation of Lord Vishnu carrying an axe gifted by Mahadev. He once visited Kailash to thank the lord for axe that helped his victory but Ganpati Ji stopped him stating his parents were resting and no one should disturb them. This angered the temperamental Lord and he fought with Ganesha to stop him. And since the axe was his father’s bestowing he respected it and did not counter and his tusk was cut into half.
He is named Vighnharta as Hindu God Ganesh is believed to end all sufferings and problems of his devotees, Mushakvahan since he travels on his tiny mouse friend who is his vehicle, then Siddhivinayak Ganesh Ji that is the bestower of success and hence praised before any new beginning to gain success in it. There are in total 108 names of the lord mentioned in Ganpati Asth Stotra Namavali which is reverberated on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.
Shree Ganeshji Mahima
- Lord Shree Ganesh is praised as Vighneshvar or Vignaharta who takes away all the evils and danger from his bhakt
- He is the lord of wisdom and is known to write Bhagavad Geeta and was the first person to write read and understand the whole meaning of it, hence he is called Buddhidata the lord of wisdom and intelligence
- Ganesha is denoted with the term Omkareshwar a personification of the primal sound as he is the first praised lord
- According to Kundalini Yoga, Lord Ganapati is residing in the Muladhara chakra which is the foundational chakra of human beings, he is said to govern and support all the chakras thereby governing the forces that propel the wheel of life
Stories of Lord Ganapathi
- The most famous folklore of Shree Ganesh Ji one related to the Moon, the story states that one day sitting on his Mushaka Ganpati Ji was returning with the sweets offered by his devotees and fell off as the tiny mouse could not bare his weight and he was embarrassed, the moon seeing this scene started laughing on him which infuriated Lord Ganpati. He cursed the moon stating ‘Anyone who looks at you on Ganesha Chaturthi would be blamed wrongly’ But after the moon asked for his forgiveness it could not be revoked albeit the lords reduced its effect and granted them relief
- In another one Ganesh Ji visited a fest arranged by lord Kubera to show off his wealth, Mahadev knowing his intention sent his son and asked Kubera to satiate his hunger. Lord Ganpati was welcomed, and he ate to his heart’s desire yet the food fell short and the confident Kuber was short of words when the lord started eating utensils and furniture to calm his hunger. Kubera realized his mistake and asked for assistance from Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati gave a cup of sweet rice to Lord Ganapathi and he calmed down.
- One interesting story is of Shree Ganesh Ji’s marriage, as he was round and chubby with an elephant head he was not approached for marriage. And all the other Gods and Demigods would get married he felt agitated about this and started creating problems in their wedding processions, fed up with his antics they complained to Bhramji and asked for help. So he created Riddhi (wealth and prosperity) and Siddhi (intelligence and spiritual power) and married them to Ganesha to solve the problem
Shree Ganesha Worship and Celebrated Festival
Ganesha among all Hindu Gods is most loved and called the Ladka Ganpati Bappa by his devotees, and celebrates Ganesh Jayanti on the occasion of Lord Ganesha’s birth and is celebrated, then there is Ganesh Chaturthi with great pomp and enthusiasm.
This was previously a personal celebration done at home later the respected ruler of Maharashtra Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj made it a public celebration which was followed as a tradition in the Maratha Empire. But later when British Raj expanded it was banned and was reinstated by Lokmanya Tilak during the freedom fight days. Under the guise of Ganesh Mohotsav, they could unite the general public and promote the battle for freedom against the English government, as public gatherings were banned at that point to restrict the revolution movement. So it can be said that Ganpati Bappa helped us during times of need and sheltered the fight for freedom. Small to big all sizes of Ganesh clay idols are instilled in the home or public spaces believing that God stays with us in our humble abode. All over Mumbai, you would find devotees visiting different pandals and enjoying mingling with all, the city does not sleep for those days, especially the ever-famous Siddhivinayak Mandir.
You would find numerous Ganpati Mandirs all around India some famous and renowned would be the Ashtavinayak Temple consisting of the Ganesh Temple situated in different parts of Maharashtra all having a story miraculous story behind its establishment. There is Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai famous for stories of devotees being blessed with prosperity and success, and people even line up overnight to attain the ‘Ganpati Bappa Ki Aarti’ on the auspicious days.
There are other places like Ganpatipule, and Dagadushet all famously known for Icchapurti Ganpati Temple, fulfilling devotees’ wishes. It’s considered luck if one gets Bhagwan Ganesh Ki Aarti in any of these temples it’s considered as the grace of Lord Ganesh himself.
