Ganesh Chaturthi- 10 days to cherish bappa’s presence in our lives

“Vakratunda mahakaya suryakoti samaprabha Nirvighnam kurumedeva, sarvakaaryeshu sarvada”

How could we begin his recital without inviting the God of Beginnings? Let’s begin the story, with his influencing glory.

Who is Ganesha? He is the god of intellect and wisdom who showers his treasure of knowledge to his children. He is the lord of fortune, blessing his followers with the wealth of achievement; he is the destroyer of evil and obstacles guarding his adorers from the worst situations and fills their lives with happiness. He is the mighty son of Lord Shiva and Parvati , worshipped in the entire world as Lord of Success

His divine presence
According to Hindu customs, an auspicious occasion calls for success when begun with the invocation of lord Ganesha. He is sent the very first invitation to be a part of the celebration and mark it a fortunate beginning. Be it an inauguration, a small celebration, start of a business or a lifetime event of wedding, Hindus use to sing Ganesh stuti or prayer to give him a prior invite. According to them any work bears the fruits of success with the holy blessings of lord Ganesha and is incomplete without his presence.

A deity with thousand names
He is called by many sweet names. He is Vighneshwar- who take away all the problems of his devotee, , Ekdanta- an elephant deity having one tusk, Ganraaj- the leader of a troop of semi-divine beings, Siddhidaata- the giver of success, bestowing wisdom and fulfills prayers of his child, Vighnharta, Vinayaka  and a long list of his names elucidates his supremacy and populism amongst his devotees.

God of wisdom
Ganesha is one of the five prime deities- Brahma, Vishnu, Shiv and Shakti being the other four, whose idolatry is exalted as- “Panchayatna pooja”. He is identified as the giver of education and knowledge which is depicted in two of his names- Buddhividhaata and Buddhipriya who praises wisdom and bestows knowledge to people.

The mythological story of Ganesha and his brother kartikeya in which he proves his intellect by completing the challenge of taking a round of the world through revolving around his parents- shiv and parvati, portrays his attribute to be highly intelligent, loving and a fount of wisdom.

Significance of the Ganesha form
Ganesha’s embodiment as a combination of human body and elephant signifies a deep meaning conveyed to the world. His head symbolizes the soul or aatma which is the supreme reality of human existence and the lower body signifies the earthly existence of human creature. His elephant head is the denotation of wisdom and his trunk symbolizes the Om an eternal sound symbol of reality. The goad in his upper hand helps him show the mankind a right path by removing the obstacles. The broken tusk in his lower hand symbolizes his sacrifice made to write the Mahabharata. The rosary defines the pursuit of knowledge and his big ears shows that he listens to every prayer of his follower.

Ganesh Chaturthi- An event to Rejoice
Ganesh chaturthi is an event to celebrate the greatness and divinity of the lord Ganesha -a destroyer of selfishness and pride. Dynamic and enthusiastic 10 days of the joyful merriment, the chanting of mantras, the aroma of modaks and laddus fills an aroma of divinity all over. It is a remarkable Hindu pantheon enjoyed with a great zeal by Hindus.

This year, let’s welcome lord Ganesha by bringing small eco- friendly idols and take a big step towards reducing water pollution. Let the expensive and harmful ways to celebration shrink to a way smaller and contribute to our motherland’s well- being in a way bigger St. Clair Capital Group.