Do we really know the story behind Ganesh Chaturthi?
Recently my family and I realised that Ganesh Chaturthi was just around the corner and we hadn’t even started the preparations. No ‘murti’ has been ordered, no caterers have been organised, no priest has been fixed, nothing has been done for the ‘visarjan’.
The situation was- an utter state of chaos and bad management!
While I was running around in a mad frenzy, trying to get everything organised, my youngest child asked me, “Mom, we celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi every year, but I don’t know the history behind it. Does it have a story like Diwali and Dussehra? And why does it come on different dates every year? Who celebrated this first?”
I thought I had all the answers but then I realised I was missing all the details.
I was blurry on lots of history and rituals and origin.
This got me thinking…
Have I totally ignored the history behind the festival I wait for throughout the year?
While I taught my kids about aarti, visarjan, prayers, bringing in the Ganpati, did I forget to teach them reason behind this?
Well, never too late to learn!
I opened google, called my grandmother, called the priest (not necessarily in the same order) and gathered all details.
And here I am penning them all down.
About
Ganesh Chaturthi is the birth anniversary of the Lord Ganesha or ‘Bappa‘ and is celebrated on the fourth day of the Hindu calendar month of Bhadrapada. Ganesha is the younger son of Lord Shiva and Parvati and he is worshipped before we start anything new. He is also supposed to remove obstacles and hence is called ‘Vighnaharta‘
Ganesha’s birth
There are three stories about Lord Ganesha’s birth.
One says that Goddess Parvati created him out of dirt from her body while bathing and asked him to guard her door. Lord Shiva, who had gone out, returned at that time, but as Ganesha didn’t know him, he stopped him from entering. Lord Shiva got very angry and cut Lord Ganesha’s head. When Goddess Parvati saw this, she was furious. Lord Shiva promised her that he would bring her son back to life. Lord Shiva asked all his followers to immediately go and find a child whose mother had her back towards her child and bring his head. The first child seen by the followers was that of an elephant and, as ordered, they cut his head and brought to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva immediately placed the head on Ganesha’s body and brought him back to life.
The second story says that Ganesha was created by Shiva and Parvati on request of the Devas, to be a vighnakartaa (obstacle maker) in the path of rakshasas and vighnahartaa (obstacle remover) to help the Devas.
The third story is a lesser known version, according to which, Parvati fasted for a year to get Lord Vishnu’s blessing, for him to grant her a son. Lord Vishnu was pleased by her prayers and announced that he would reincarnate himself as her child. A son was born to Goddess Parvati and to celebrate his birth lot of Gods and Goddesses came. Among the guests were Shani the son of Surya (sun), who avoided the baby since Shani was cursed with the gaze of destruction. But Parvati insisted that he look at the baby and when he followed her wish, the baby’s head fell off from his body. However, Lord Vishnu brought back the head of an elephant from the banks of the Pushpa-Bhadra river and attached it to the headless body of the baby. The child came back to life and was named Ganesha.
History- Origin of the festival
No one clearly knows when this festival was first celebrated, but it is believed that Maratha Empire Chhatrapati Shivaji first started celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi to promote culture and nationalism. It has continued ever since as Lord Ganesha was also the Kuladevata (family god) of the ‘Peshwas’. The festival was reinvented as a symbol of the nationalistic movement by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, one of the leaders of the Indian freedom movement. In 1892, the streets of Mumbai and Pune were filled with people wanting to celebrate this festival. They were so filled with feeling of patriotism and devotion that the British who did not allow such gathering, had no choice but to watch in helplessness. From a domestic festival, where it was celebrated just with family, it became a community festival, where people got together, planned the whole festival together and celebrated it together.
Although Ganesh Chaturthi is a national festival, its in Maharashtra is where it is celebrated on the grandest scale.
Lord Ganesha is also worshiped in Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Nepal and China
Rituals
Weeks before the festival starts, the streets are full of pandals where artists make idols of Lord Ganesha. People book their idols days in advance.
Initially, idols were made of mud but later Plaster of Paris and chemical paints were being used. But we have realised the harm all this is causing and we have gone back to organic idols. In fact, not just mud, now we have so many varieties of organic idols- Ganpati made of chocolate, Laddoo, seeds, and so on… Even the color used are all chemical free colors that are harmless. Some people even get metal Ganpati, which they reuse every year.
The idols are kept in homes, localities, temples and societies and are decorated beautifully, the pandals are colourful and full of music, mantras are chanted continuously and sweets are distributed.
There are 4 main rituals:
- Pranapratishhtha– infusing life in the deity, done on the first day.
- Shhodashopachara – 16 forms of paying tribute to Ganesha
- Uttarpuja – Puja after which the idol could be shifted after it’s infusion.
- Ganpati Visarjan – immersion of the Idol in the water, done on the last day.
‘Ganpati Bappa Morya‘, a common chanting that fills our ears and brings us so much joy. Those 10 days, esp. in Maharashtra, almost everyone is totally involved in the festivities and all other issues are forgotten.
Everday, morning and evening arti is done and house/pandal is full of visitors who come for darshan.
This festival not only involves prayers, but also cultural activities like dancing, singing, plays and other performances. A lot of community activities are also a part of the celebrations.
Ganesh Visarjan is the day to say goodbye to our Bappa, with a promise to meet again next year.
Some people keep Lord Ganesha in their homes for a day and a half, some 3 days, some 5 days and some all 10 days, depending on what suits them the best. The visarjan is done accordingly.
