Ganesha- Hindu GodDeity"Lord of Beginnings"

The Birth and Beheading

The Shiva Purana tells how Parvati, desiring to bathe, created a boy from the turmeric paste she used on her skin. She breathed life into him, declared him her son, and stationed him to guard her privacy. When Shiva returned from his meditations on Mount Kailash, the boy did not recognize his father and refused him entry. Shiva's ganas attempted to force past and were repelled; even the great warriors among Shiva's retinue could not overcome this child created from the Goddess's own substance. Enraged at being denied access to his own home, Shiva beheaded the boy with his trident.

Parvati's grief and fury threatened cosmic destruction. To appease her, Shiva sent his ganas to bring the head of the first creature they found sleeping with its head pointing north. They returned with an elephant's head, which Shiva affixed to the boy's body, restoring him to life. Shiva adopted Ganesha as his own son and gave him lordship over the ganas. Brahma granted him the title Ganapati and declared that he would be worshipped before any venture to ensure its success.

The Broken Tusk

Ganesha's single tusk has several origin stories. The most celebrated connects to the writing of the Mahabharata. The sage Vyasa sought a scribe who could write as fast as he could dictate the epic's hundred thousand verses. Brahma recommended Ganesha, who agreed on condition that Vyasa never pause in his recitation. Vyasa countered that Ganesha must understand each verse before writing it. When Vyasa composed especially complex verses, Ganesha's need to comprehend them gave the sage time to compose the next.

When his pen broke during the marathon dictation, Ganesha snapped off his own tusk to continue writing without missing a syllable.

Another tradition attributes the broken tusk to battle. In the Brahmanda Purana, Parashurama came to visit Shiva and found the god in meditation. Ganesha blocked Parashurama's entry. The enraged sage threw his axe at Ganesha. Recognizing the axe as a gift from his father, Ganesha refused to dodge and received the blow on his tusk out of respect for Shiva's boon.

Racing Around the World

When a divine fruit was offered to Shiva's household with the stipulation that only one person could eat it, Narada suggested a contest: whichever of Shiva's two sons first circumnavigated the world three times would receive the prize. Kartikeya mounted his peacock and flew off at tremendous speed, his divine wings carrying him across continents and oceans. Ganesha, heavy-bellied and riding a mouse, simply walked around Shiva and Parvati three times, hands folded in reverence.

When Kartikeya returned from his global circuit, he found that Ganesha had already been awarded the fruit. One's parents encompass the entire universe, Ganesha told him, and one who circumambulates them gains the merit of circumambulating all the worlds.

Ganesha and the Moon

After a feast of modakas, Ganesha's pot belly was enormously distended. While riding his mouse home, the mouse stumbled upon a snake, and Ganesha fell. His stomach burst open, scattering sweets everywhere. Unperturbed, he gathered the sweets, stuffed them back in, and used the snake as a belt to hold his belly together.

The moon, watching from above, laughed. Furious at the mockery, Ganesha cursed it: anyone who looked at the moon would suffer false accusations. The moon begged forgiveness, and Ganesha modified the curse to apply only on Ganesha Chaturthi. To this day, devotees avoid looking at the moon on that night, and those who accidentally glimpse it recite verses from the Syamantaka story in the Bhagavata Purana to neutralize the curse.

Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesh Chaturthi, celebrating Ganesha's birthday, runs ten days, primarily in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. Families and communities install clay images of Ganesha in homes and public pandals. Daily worship involves offerings of modakas, durva grass, and red flowers.

On the final day, the images are carried in procession to rivers, lakes, or the sea for immersion. Crowds line the routes, chanting "Ganpati Bappa Morya, Purchya Varshi Laukariya": Praise Lord Ganesha, come back soon next year. In Mumbai alone, over 150,000 images are immersed each year. Then the clay dissolves, and the god departs until the next celebration.