Vinayak Chaturthi

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Vinayak Chauturthi ... from -

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The festival of Ganesh or Vinayak Chaturthi, the day on which Ganesh

was born. It is the most joyous event of the year . Throughout India

the festival is celebrated with much enthusiasm and devotion. In

Andhra Pradesh, like Maharashtra, the festival is celebrated for ten

days. It is said that Ganesh was the creation of Goddess Parvati, who

breathed life into a doll which she made out of the dough she was

using for her bath.

 

 

THE LEGEND

 

There was a monster (Rakshasa) called Gajasura. He was all powerful

and an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. He underwent penance for many

years to receive special boons from Shiva. Lord Shiva, the god, who

is easily pleased by prayers, is deeply moved by Gajasura's devotion.

He blesses the monster and offers him a boon. But the devotee is not

as innocent as Shiva. He pleads with Shiva to reside in his belly.

Left with no option but to grant the boon, Shiva gets into Gajasura's

stomach.

 

Meanwhile on Mount Kailash, Parvati - Shiva's wife, becomes anxious

not knowing the whereabouts of her husband for a long time. She

searches through the whole universe but to no avail. Finally she

approaches Lord Vishnu - the preserver of the world.

 

Vishnu assures Parvati to find Shiva out. He disguises himself in the

form of a street player along with Nandi - the sacred bull of Shiva

and sets out in search of Shanker (another name for Shiva). They go

to Gajasura's kingdom and Nandi performs a dance to please the

monster. The monster is delighted to see the bull dancing in his

honor and wishes to reward the bull. The bull asks for Shiva as a

reward. Hearing this, the monster realises that the entertainer is

none but Lord Vishnu himself. He also realises that Shiva cannot be

made to live in his stomach forever because he has his role to play

in the world. He lets Shiva out of his stomach. But he prays to him,

that he be made immortal in the memories of people.

 

To fulfill this wish, Shiva severs Gajasura's head and frees him from

the cycle of birth and death. He carries the head along with him. On

Mount Kailash, in the Himalayas, Parvati comes to know of Vishnu's

victory and is very happy. She makes arrangements to receive her Lord

and goes to bedeck herself. She wants somebody to stand guard. So she

creates a doll out of the dough that she uses in her bath. She calls

him Vinayak - the one who puts off all obstacles. This boy having

never seen Shiva, prevents his entry into the palace. In a fit of

fury Shiva beheads the boy and enters the palace. Parvati is unaware

of the happenings and receives Shiva with warmth, for he had returned

after a long period. During the course of their conversation, Shiva

mentions the incident at the palace gates and tells her about

severing the child's head. Parvati is shocked to hear the news and

pleads with Shiva to bring the child back to life for he is like a

son to her.

 

Shiva who has with him the head of Gajasura, immediately puts it on

the torso of the dead child. Thus the child comes back to life. That

day is Bhadrapad Chaturthi. Shiva blesses him with a boon that the

entire world would worship him on that day and also would propitiate

him before any auspicious event.

 

At the same time, all the Gods approach Shiva and request for a

leader. Shiva and Parvati have a son called Kumarswami or Kartik. To

select the best one of them as a leader of all the Gods, Shiva

conducts a test between the two. He says that whoever makes three

rounds of the earth sooner than the other, will be made the

Ganaadhipati. Kumarswami seated on a peacock, his vahanam (vehicle),

starts off for the test.

 

Vinayak is given a rat which moves swiftly. Vinayak realises that the

test is not so easy but he cannot disobey his father. He reverently

pays obeisance to his parents and goes around them three times and

completes the test before Kumarswami. He says, " my parents pervade

the whole universe and going around them, is more than going round

the earth." Everybody is pleasantly surprised to hear Vinayak's logic

and intelligence. Meanwhile, Kartik is amazed to see Ganesh

completing the holy bath at each river that he reached at and ready

for another round of the universe.

 

When he comes back to Kailas, Shiva had already declared Vinayak as

the winner. He is blessed as the Supreme God of the universe. After

this, Vinayak is called as Ganaadhish, Ganapati and Ganesh. All the

gods worship him.

 

 

How powerful is the curse?

 

The curse is so powerful that even Lord Krishna could not escape

from it. He was accused of stealing the Samantak Mani, a very

precious gem of Satrajit. The possessor of this stone is said to

acquire tremendous prosperity and peace. The story goes like this -

Lord Shri Krishna was born and brought up as a cowherd. Once, on the

Bhadrapad Chaturthi day, while Krishna is milking his cow, he

accidentally catches the reflection of the moon in the vessel.

 

Krishna wonders as to what disaster awaited him and that he may be

blamed for a wrong doing. And indeed, he is accused of stealing the

Samantak Mani - worn by Prasen, the brother of Satrajit. Prasen wears

the Gem and goes for hunting. In the forest, a lion kills him. A bear

called Jambavant watches that attractive red gem lying on Prasen's

chest, which he mistakes it for a piece of flesh. He takes the gem to

his home. He has a daughter by name Jambavati, who is yet a child.

Jambavant, later realises that the object which he has brought is not

a piece of meat. So he ties it over the cradle of his daughter, as a

toy.

 

Here in Dwaraka, when Satrajit comes to know of his brother's death,

he accuses Krishna of the deed. Satrajit was aware of Krishna's wish

to possess the gem. His suspicion is strengthened by this knowledge.

 

However Krishna tries to convince Satrajit of his innocence, the

latter is not to be convinced. To prove his innocence, Krishna goes

in search of the Samantaka Mani, in the forest. There he finds the

gem hanging on the cradle of a child. Krishna takes it quickly and

comes out of the house. Jambavant has a governess to look after his

daughter. She screams aloud upon seeing Krishna. Hearing that,

Jambavant rushes to the place and challenges Krishna. A war breaks

out between the two for 10 days.

 

Jambavant cannot compete with a skilled warrior like Krishna. He gets

badly injured and bruised in the battle. At that moment he realises

that the enemy is not any ordinary person but Shri Rama, from the

Treta Yuga!

 

Lord Krishna returns the precious gem to Satrajit and Jambavant

offers his daughter in marriage to Krishna. From then on, to avoid

the evil effects of the curse, Parvathi declared that the curse will

not affect those who worship Lord Ganesha on the chaturthi day and

also listens to this story.

 

A SOCIAL FESTIVAL

 

During the days of freedom struggle, the festival acquired a new form

in Maharashtra. The entire country was going through a period of

turmoil under British rule. People needed to be assembled under one

banner against the British rule. It was also a period, when the

people of Maharashtra had become unduly religious. They had been

demoralised and had lost track of the bravery and the patriotic

spirit inculcated during Shivaji's period.

 

Repeatedly bruised by the encroachments of the Mughal rulers and

later subjugated by the British, people of Maharashtra had become

spiritless and directionless. The region was also torn by the civil

strife. A new atmosphere needed to be created for fighting the

foreign rule. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the extremist writer and an

advocate, took the lead to initiate a new wave of social awakening.

He made the Ganesh festival, a public festival.

 

Various Ganesh associations were formed throughout the city of Pune

and Maharashtra. On the background of religious festivity, political

leaders, delivered speeches to inspire people against the Western

rule. The movement picked up momentum and culminated into a social

consensus . It was the 18th century. Later the same tradition has

continued in independent India with the festival remaining a

community-based event.

 

Significance of Ganesh Chaturthi

 

An interesting story associated with Ganesh Chaturthi and its

significance is as follows. It so happens that Ganesh is worshipped

by all the Gods. Kuber, the wealthiest among the residents of

paradise hosts a feast in honor of their new lord. A joyous Ganesh

feasts himself to his heart's content. But he grows very restless and

feels that his stomach would burst out. In order to prevent the

stomach from bursting out, he ties one snake around it and goes to

pay obeisance to his parents. But his stomach has now acquired a huge

shape. With the tiny stature and a round belly, he is unable to

prostrate before his parents. When he tries to bend, he turns turtle.

The moon watches the scene from the sky and laughs at Ganesh. Parvati

detests this ridicule and curses the moon that whoever sees him on

Vinayak Chaturthi will be accused of a wrong doing. According to

another version of the story, Ganesh falls down from the rat much to

the amusement of the moon, who bursts out laughing and invites

Parvati's wrath.

 

Who is Jambavant?

 

The bear Jambavant is none else than the friendly bear that helped

Lord Shri Ram during Rama's battle with the Lord of Lanka, Ravanasura

to rescue Sita. The bear showed a deep sense of devotion towards Lord

Shri Rama and is impressed with his prowess as a great warrior. The

bear, Jambavant sought to be given a boon from Lord Rama that he be

given a chance to fight a single combat with Lord Rama. Since the

Lord promised to grant him that boon only in his next avatar,

Jambavant went on to wait from Treta Yuga until Dwapar Yuga at which

time Lord Rama, the incarnation of Vishnu would assume the avtar of

Krishna. It was then on the preordained day of Vinayaka Chaturthi

that Krishna is blamed of stealing the Samanthaka Mani. It was also

preordained that Jambavant should procure the precious gem and take

it to his cave for his child Jambavathi.

 

After a prolonged battle for several days and being grievously

wounded and with no definite resolution to the battle, Jambavant

realized that his opponent is none other than his Lord, Rama of Treta

Yuga. This retrospection of Jambavanta, makes him realise that his

wish has been fulfilled. Overwhelmed by the love and devotion towards

Ram, Jambavanta prostrates before Krishna and offers his daughter

Jambavati to him. Krishna returns to Dwaraka along with Jambavati and

the Samantaka Mani and returns it to Satrajit. Ashamed of his

accusation, Satrajit feels guilty. To refine the relationship, he

requests Krishna to marry his daughter Satyabhama. Thus Shri Krishna

gets wedded to Satyabhama.

 

All this happens due to Parvati's curse. Such is the importance of

Ganesh. The festival has its own importance. Every Hindu family

celebrates it with much gaiety and enthusiasm. For 10 days, from the

Bhadrapad Shudh Chaturthi, to the Ananta Chaturdashi, Vinayak is

worshipped. On the 11th day, Ganesh is immersed in a lake or in any

water body, to facilitate his journey to Kailasa.

 

THE CELEBRATIONS

 

Under the Nizam's rule, many Maharashtrians enjoyed high

administrative positions in the Nizam's state. The Ganesh festival

celebrated by them as a social ceremony thus got rooted in Andhra

Pradesh. And today, the tradition of Ganesh festival as a social

event continues.

 

The unique feature of this festival in Hyderabad is that, the artists

making the idols of Ganesh compete with each other to make

magnificent, tall and elegant idols. Every year, the largest Ganesh

idol is installed at Khairatabad in Hyderabad city which is more than

30 ft tall. The material that is used to make these idols varies.

Huge icons are mostly made of plaster of Paris. The idols are

splendidly decorated with various colors. Various Ganesh associations

organize entertainment programs in the night. The young and the

amateur artists get a chance to express their talents through such

programs.

 

On the 11th day, on Ananta Chaturdashi, processions of Ganesh, amidst

roaring music converge at the Hussain Sagar - the lake that connects

Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Lakhs of devotees participate in the

procession of the God of wisdom. The processions start with

jubilation right at 6 a.m., amidst tight security. The mammoth

procession is worth watching. The large and innumerable Ganesh idols

are decorated with flowers, pearls and coins. A few of them are also

made up of dryfruits like almonds, cashew nuts and raisins. The idols

move inch by inch in a serpentine path on the roads. Installed atop

flower bedecked trucks, tractors, vans, bullock carts and rickshaws,

various idols from different parts of the city join the main

procession and proceed towards the Hussain Sagar. Boisterous youth,

wearing saffron caps accompany the idols and sprinkle Gulal - (the

pink powder), while dancing to the tune of drums. The chanting

of "Ganesh Maharaj Ki Jai!", fills the air. The ten day-long Ganesh

festival concludes with the immersion of the idols.