Ganesh Chaturthi
Ganesha Chaturthi is the Hindu festival celebrated on the birthday (rebirth)
of the lord Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati.
It is believed that Lord Ganesh bestows his presence on earth for all his
devotees during this festival. It is the day when Ganesha was born. Ganesha
is widely worshiped as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune and
traditionally invoked at the beginning of any new venture or at the start of
travel. The festival, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi ("festival of Ganesha")
is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Bhaadrapada, starting on the
shukla chaturthi (fourth day of the waxing moon period). The date usually
falls between 19 August and 20 September.
The festival lasts for 10 days, ending on Anant Chaturdashi (fourteenth day
of the waxing moon period). While celebrated all over India, it is most
elaborate in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. Outside India, it is celebrated widely
in Nepal and by Hindus in the United States, Canada, Mauritius, Singapore,
Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Fiji, Trinidad & Tobago, and Guyana.
History
It is not known when and how Ganesh Chaturthi was first celebrated. Ganesh
Chaturthi was being celebrated as a public event in Pune since the times of
Shivaji (1630-1680), the founder of the Maratha Empire. The Peshwas, the de
facto hereditary administrators of the Empire from 1749 till its end in
1818, encouraged the celebrations in their administrative seat Pune as
Ganesha was their family deity (Kuladevata). With the fall of the Peshwas,
Ganesh Chaturthi lost state patronage and became a private family
celebration again till its revival by Indian freedom fighter and social
reformer Lokmanya Tilak.
In 1893, Lokmanya Tilak transformed the annual domestic festival into a
large, well-organized public event. Tilak recognized the wide appeal of the
deity Ganesha as "the god for everybody", and popularized Ganesh Chaturthi
as a national festival in order "to bridge the gap between Brahmins and
'non-Brahmins' and find a context in which to build a new grassroots unity
between them", and generate nationalistic fervour among people in
Maharashtra against the British colonial rule. Tilak was the first to
install large public images of Ganesh in pavilions, and also established the
practice of submerging in rivers, sea, or other pools of water all public
images of the deity on the tenth day after Ganesh Chaturthi.
Under Tilak's encouragement, the festival facilitated community
participation and involvement in the form of intellectual discourses, poetry
recitals, performances of plays, musical concerts, and folk dances. It
served as a meeting ground for people of all castes and communities in times
when, in order to exercise control over the population, the British
discouraged social and political gatherings.
Legend
Traditional Ganesha Hindu stories tell that Lord Ganesha,son of goddess
Parvati consort of Shiva. Parvati created Ganesha out of sandalwood paste
that she used for her bath and breathed life into the figure. She then set
him to stand guard at her door while she bathed. Lord Shiva, who had gone
out, returned and as Ganesha didn't know him, didn't allow him to enter.
Lord Shiva became enraged by this and asked his follower Ganas to teach the
child some manners. Ganesha who was very powerful, being born of Parvati,
the embodiment of Shakti, defeated Shiva's followers and declared that
nobody was allowed to enter while his mother was bathing.
The sage of heavens, Narada along with the Saptarishis sensed the growing
turmoil and went to appease the boy with no results. Angered, the king of
Gods, Indra attacked the boy with his entire heavenly army but even they
didn't stand a chance. By then, this issue had become a matter of pride for
Parvati and Shiva. Angry Shiva severed the head of the child. Parvati seeing
this became enraged. Seeing Parvati in anger Shiva promised that her son
will be alive again. The devas searched for the head of dead person facing
North, but they found only the head of a dead elephant. They brought the
head of the elephant and Shiva fixed it on the child's body and brought him
back to life. Lord Shiva also declared that from this day the boy would be
called Ganesha (Gana Isha : Lord of Ganas).
According to the Linga Purana, Ganesha was created by Lord Shiva and Goddess
Parvati at the request of the Devas for being a Vighnakartaa
(obstacle-creator) in the path of Rakshasas, and a Vighnahartaa
(obstacle-averter) to help the Devas achieve fruits of their hard work.
Date
The festival is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Bhaadrapada,
starting on the shukla chaturthi (fourth day of the waxing moon). The date
usually falls between 20 August and 20 September. The festival lasts for 10
or 12 days, ending on Anant Chaturdashi. This festival is observed in the
lunar month of bhadrapada shukla paksha chathurthi madhyahana vyapini
purvabhadra. If Chaturthi prevails on both days, the first day should be
observed. Even if chaturthi prevails for the complete duration of madhyahana
on the second day, if it prevails on the previous day's madhyahana period
even for one ghatika (24 minutes), the previous day should be observed.
Celebration, Rituals and Tradition
Two to three weeks before Ganesh Chaturthi, artistic clay models of Lord
Ganesha are made for sale by specially skilled artisans. They are
beautifully decorated and depict Lord Ganesh in vivid poses. The size of
these statues may vary from 3/4 of an inch to over 70 feet. The tallest
Ganesha Idol made which stood 117 feet tall was situated in the city of
Visakhapatnam in 2012.
Ganesh Chaturthi starts with the installation of these Ganesh statues in
colorfully decorated homes and specially erected temporary structures
mandapas (pandals) in every locality.
The pandals are erected by the people or a specific society or locality or
group by collecting monetary contributions. The pandals are decorated
specially for the festival, either by using decorative items like flower
garlands, lights, etc. or are theme based decorations, which depict
religious themes or current events. The priest, usually clad in red or white
dhoti and uttariyam (Shawl), then with the chanting of mantras invokes the
presence of Ganesha using the statue as a channel, or body for his energy.
This ritual is the Pranapratishhtha. After this the ritual called as
Shhodashopachara (16 ways of paying tribute) follows. Coconut, jaggery,
modaks, durva (trefoil) blades of grass and red flowers are offered. The
statue is anointed with red unguent, typically made of kumkum and sandalwood
paste.
Throughout the ceremony, Vedic hymns from the Rig Veda, the Ganapati Atharva
Shirsha Upanishad, and the Ganesha stotra from the Narada Purana are
chanted. Some homes buy their own small clay statue, and after 1,3,5,7 or 11
days immerse it in a bucket or tub at home, so as not to pollute public
lakes or rivers. After a few days the clay is used in the home garden.
The main sweet dish during the festival is the modak (modak in Marathi,
modakam/kudumu in Telugu, modaka/kadubu in Kannada and modagam in Tamil). A
modak is a dumpling made from rice flour/wheat flour with a stuffing of
fresh or dry-grated coconut, jaggery, dry fruits and some other condiments.
It is either steam-cooked or fried. Another popular sweet dish is the
karanji (karjikai in Kannada) which is similar to the modak in composition
and taste but has a semicircular shape.
In Andhra Pradesh, kudumu (rice flour dumplings stuffed with coconut and
jaggery mixture), Vundrallu (steamed coarsely grounded rice flour balls),
Panakam (jaggery, black pepper and cardamom flavored drink), Vadapappu
(soaked and moong lentils), Chalividi (cooked rice flour and jaggery
mixture), etc., are offered to Ganesha along with Modakams. These offerings
to god are called Naivedyam in Telugu.
In Andhra Pradesh, Clay Ganesh (Matti Vinayakudu in Telugu) and Turmeric
Ganesh (Siddhi Vinayakudu in Telugu) is usually worshipped at homes along
with plaster of paris Ganesha.
Public celebrations of the festival are hugely popular, with local
communities (mandalas) vying with each other to put up the biggest statue
and the best pandal. The festival is also the time for cultural activities
like singing and theater performances, orchestra and community activities
like free medical checkup, blood donation camps, charity for the poor, etc.
Today, the Ganesh Festival is not only a popular festival, it has become a
very critical and important economic activity for Mumbai, Visakhapatnam,
Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. Many artists, industries, and businesses
survive on this mega-event. Ganesh Festival also provides a stage for
budding artists to present their art to the public. In Maharashtra, not only
Hindus but many other religions also participate in the celebration like
Muslims, Jains, Christian and others. In Mangalore, there is a belief that
the eldest son of the home should be present during pooja.
Outside India
Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated in the UK by the migrant Hindu population as
well as the large number of Indians residing there. The Hindu culture and
Heritage Society, UK - a Southall based organisation celebrated Ganesh
Chaturthi for the first time in London in 2005 at The Vishwa Hindu Temple.
The Idol was immersed in the river Thames at Putney Pier. Another
celebration organised by an Gujarati group has been celebrated in the
Southend-on-Sea which attracts over 18000 devotees. Annual celebrations also
take place on the River Mersey at Liverpool.
The festival is similarly celebrated in many locations across the world. The
Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA, an organisation of Hindus based in the US
organises many such events to mark the Hindu festivals.
In USA, Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated by various associations of people
from India. (Various Indian Associations of North America and in Temples
across USA.)
The Philadelphia Ganesh popularly known as PGF is the largest Sarvajanik
(fully contributed by public funds) Hindu festival in North America. Since
2005 the festival is conducted every year in Bharatiya Temple, Chalfont,
Pennsylvania. The 10 days are marked by processions, devotional programs,
cultural events, India filmi-orchestra and a weekend carnival. While the
Marathi community plays a big role in organising the festival, participation
from all communities such as Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, North Indian, Bengali
etc. is seen as the reason for its success and uniqueness.
In Canada, Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated by associations of
Marathi-speaking people. (MBM in Toronto, MSBC in Vancouver, etc.)
Celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi in Mauritius dates back to 1896. The first
Ganesh Chaturthi Puja was held in the 7 Cascades Valley next to Henrietta
village by the Bhiwajee family who is still celebrating this pious festival
for more than a century. Over the years the festivah gained such popularity
on the island that Mauritian government has attributed a public holiday for
that day.
In Malaysia and Singapore, the festival is more commonly known as Vinayagar
Chakurthi because of the relatively larger Tamil-speaking Hindu minority
among the other South Asian ethnic groups. It is very common to see pictures
or statues of Lord Ganesha at the entrance of homes, business premises and
schools. These idols are usually decorated with flower garlands alongside
offerings of fruits and sweets. Most Ganesha temples mark Vinayagar
Chaturthi with morning prayers, abhishegam (ritual bathing of the deity) and
free vegetarian lunch for devotees and the poor. Chariot processions
organised by Ganesha temples in the evenings often attract huge crowds of
devotees and tourists.
Sources: Wikipedia
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