Wishing u A Happy & Prosperous

Ganesh Chaturthi- 2012

Shree Ganesha…

Ganapati bappa Morya. !!!!!!!

Ohm Vighneswaraya Namah !
Vinayakaya Namah ! Ganapathaye Namah !

Gajamughaya Namah ! Parvati nandanaya Namah ! Mushika vahanaya Namah ! Kailasa Putraya Namah !

Om Shri Vigneshwaraya Namaha !

About Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesh
Chaturthi is celebrated on the birthday of Lord Ganesh (Ganesha), the
god of wisdom and prosperity on the fourth day of the moons bright
fortnight, or period from new moon in the lunar month of Bhadrapada.
The celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi continue for five, seven, or ten
days. Some even stretch it to twenty one days, but ten the most
popularly celebrated. In the tradition of the right hand path the first
day is the most important. In the left hand path tradition the final
day is most important.

Ganesha
is the god of wisdom and prosperity and is invoked before the beginning
of any auspicious work by the Hindus. It is believed that for the
fulfillment of one’s desires, his blessing is absolutely necessary.
According to the mythology, he is the son of Shiva and Parvati, brother
of Kartikeya - the general of the gods, Lakshmi - the goddess of wealth
and Saraswati-the goddess of learning. There are numerous stories in
Hindu mythology, associated with the birth of this elephant-headed god,
whose vehicle is the Mooshak or rat and who loves Modaks (droplet
shaped Indian sweet).

Legend
has it that Parvati created Ganesha out of the sandalwood dough that
she used for her bath and breathed life into him. Letting him stand
guard at the door she went to have her bath. When her husband, Shiva
returned, the child who had never seen him stopped him. Shiva severed
the head of the child and entered his house. Parvati, learning that her
son was dead, was distraught and asked Shiva to revive him. Shiva cut
off the head of an elephant and fixed it on the body of Ganesha.

Another
tale tells of how one day the Gods decided to choose their leader and a
race was to be held between the brothers- Kartikeya and Ganesh. Whoever
took three rounds of the earth first would be made the Ganaadhipati or
the leader. Kartikeya seated on a peacock as his vehicle, started off
for the test. Ganesh was given a rat, which moved swiftly. Ganesh
realised that the test was not easy, but he would not disobey his
father. He reverently paid obeisance to his parents and went around
them three times and thus completed the test before Kartikeya. He said,
” my parents pervade the whole universe and going around them, is more
than going round the earth.” Everybody was pleasantly surprised to hear
Ganesha’s logic and intelligence and hence he came to be known as the
Ganaadhipati or leader, now referred to as Ganpati.

There
is also a story behind the symbolic snake, rat and the singular tusk.
During one of his birthdays, His mother, Parvati, cooked for him
twenty-one types of delicious food and a lot of sweet porridge. Ganesha
ate so much that even his big belly could not contain it. Mounting his
little mouse, he embarked on his nightly rounds. His mouse suddenly
stumbled upon seeing a huge snake. To adjust His belly, Ganesha put the
snake on as a belt around his stomach. All of a sudden, he heard
laughter emanating form the sky.

He
looked up and saw the moon mocking him. Ganesha infuriated, broke off
one of his tusks and hurled it at the moon. Parvati, seeing this,
immediately cursed the moon that whoever looks at it on Ganesh
Chaturthi will be accused of a wrong doing. The symbology behind the
mouse and snake and Ganesha’s big belly and its relationship to the
moon on his birthday is highly philosophic. The whole cosmos is known
to be the belly of Ganesha. Parvati is the primordial energy. The seven
realms above, seven realms below and seven oceans, are inside the
cosmic belly of Ganesha, held together by the cosmic energy (kundalini
) symbolized as a huge snake which Ganesha ties around Him. The mouse
is nothing but our ego… Ganesha, using the mouse as a vehicle,
exemplifies the need to control our ego. One who has controlled the ego
has Ganesha consciousness or
God-consciousness.

Ganesh
Chaturthi Celebrations

The
festival of Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated the states of Maharashtra,
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and many other parts of India.
Started by Chatrapati Shiva Maharaja, the great Maratha ruler, to
promote culture and nationalism, the festival was revived by Lokmanya
Tilak (a freedom fighter) to spread the message of freedom struggle and
to defy the British who had banned public assemblies. The festival gave
the Indians a feeling of unity and revived their patriotic spirit and
faith. This public festival formed the background for political leaders
who delivered speeches to inspire people against the Western rule. The
festival is so popular that the preparations begin months in advance.

Ganesha
statues installed in street corners and in homes, and elaborate
arrangements are made for lighting, decoration, mirrors and the most
common of flowers. Poojas (prayer services) are performed daily. The
artists who make the idols of Ganesh compete with each other to make
bigger and more magnificent and elegant idols. The relevantly larger
ones are anything from 10 meters to 30 meters in height. These statues
are then carried on decorated floats to be immersed in the sea after
one, three, five, seven and ten days. Thousands of processions converge
on the beaches to immerse the holy idols in the sea. This procession
and immersion is accompanied by drum- beats, devotional songs and
dancing.

It
is still forbidden to look at the moon on that day as the moon had
laughed at Ganesha when he fell from his vehicle, the rat. With the
immersion of the idol amidst the chanting of “Ganesh Maharaja Ki Jai!”
(Hail Lord Ganesh). The festival ends with pleas to Ganesha to return
the next year with chants of “Ganpati bappa morya, pudcha varshi laukar
ya” (Hail Lord Ganesh, return again soon next year.

Below is given lord Ganesh’s
Aarthi.

Jai
Ganesh Jai Ganesh, Jai Ganesh deva

Mata jaki Parvati, Pita Mahadeva.

Ek dant dayavant, char bhuja dhari

Mathe sindur sohai, muse ki savari, Jai
Ganesh…

Andhan ko ankh det, kodhin ko kaya

Banjhan ko putra det, nirdhan ko maya, Jai Ganesh….

Pan chadhe, phul chadhe, aur chadhe meva

Ladduan ka bhog lage, saht kare seva, ,Jai Ganesh….

Jai Ganesh, Jai Ganesh, Jai Ganesh deva,

Mata jaki Parvati, Pita Mahadeva

Translation

Salutations
to you , O Lord Ganesha, born of Parvati, the daughter of the Mountain
King, Himalaya, and the great Lord Shiva. O Lord of compassion, you
have a single tusk, four arms, a bright mark of vermilion on your
forehead, and for conveyance the mouse. Glory, glory, all glory to you
O Lord Ganesha You bestow vision on the blind, chastened bodies on the
leprous, sons on barren women and wealth on the impecunious. Glory,
glory, all glory to you O Lord Ganesha People offer you betel leaves,
blossoms, dry fruits and laddus, while throngs of saints and seers
attend you. Glory, glory, all glory to you O Lord Ganesha.