Ganesh Chaturthi is
celebrated every year. When compared to South India, it is celebrated in a very
grand manner in North India. Will any of us know what is Ganesh Chaturthi and
why is it celebrated?
What is Ganesh Chaturthi and why its
celebrated?
Ganesh Chaturthi
commonly known as Vinyakar Chathurthi is one of the most famous Hindu festival
to celebrate the birthday of Lord Ganesha. Lord Ganesha is the first son of
Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi.
Ganesha is considered
as the Lord of Arts & Sciences and Deva of Wisdom. In all ceremonies and
rituals, Ganesha is honoured.
Birth of Lord Ganesha
Birth of Ganesha is
said in two different varieties based on the history. We can look into the
first history now. Goddess Parvathi created Ganesha with her dirt to guard
until she completes her bath. Lord Shiva returned to the place at the time. But
Ganesha, who was unknown of Lord Shiva stopped him from entering. Shiva became
angry and separated the head of Ganesha.
Goddess Paravathi
who came out of bathing became angry after seeing dead Ganesha. Shiva promoised
Parvathi to make Ganesha alive. The devas who were asked to get any dead
person’s head facing north returned only with dead elephant’s head. Shiva
joined the head of elephant with Ganesha and he came alive.
The other history
says that Lord Ganesha is created by Shiva and Parvathi on the request of Devas
to be an obstacle creator for Rakshasas and obstacle averter to Devas.
Facts of Ganesh Chaturthi
Ganesh Chaturthi is
celebrated on 5th September 2016 in this year. Grand celebrations of
Ganesh Chaturthi will be taking place in Maharashtra.
Colorful statues of
Lord Ganesha are setup and is being worshipped for ten days. During this
festival, there are four main rituals
·
Pranapratishtha – the process of infusing deity into
an idol or murti
·
Shodashopachara – 16 forms of paying tribute to Lord
Ganesha
·
Uttarpuja – Puja after the idol has been shifted
after its infusion
·
Ganpati Visarjan – Immersion of idol in the river
Modak, a sweet dish
prepared from rice or flour stuffed with coconuts, dry fruits and jaggery with
twenty one pieces is offered to Ganesha.
From the time of
Maratha king Shivaji, the festival was celebrated as public event but Ganeshidol was first installed by Bhausaheb Laxman Javale. Lokmanya Tilak changed
this festival from private celebration to grand public event in order to bridge
the gap between Bramins and non-Bramins.
Lord Ganesha is also
being worshipped by the peoples of Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal,
Afghanistan and China.
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