Lord Ganesha This section is meant for informing the browsers about various poojas that are performed according to the Hindu culture and tradition. Our aim is to inform fellow tradition lovers about the details of worshipping a God including the importance of the God, pooja vidhi or the method of worship and the material required for performing the pooja. The details provided are general and that are based on the basic rules of worship. Watch out for more information on the basic pillar of the Indian tradition, God in these columns.
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"Om Sri Gam Ganapathaye Namaha"
This is the Lord Ganesha’s mantra.
Maha Ganapati Mool Mantra:
"Om Shreem Hreem Kleem Klowm Gum Ganapathaye Vara Varatha Sarvajanamay Vasamaanaya Swaha"
According to the Vaidic literature, Ganesha is the eldest son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi and he is the head of Pramadhaganas, hence Ganapathi. His brother is Kumaraswamy.
Hindus worship Lord Ganesha with several other names like Vinayaka, Vighneswara, Gajanana andGanapathi.
Lord Ganapathi is said to be the form of Omkara. Om, which is written in Devanagari (script) is also considered as the pranava. In Om, the upper arc is said to be the head or the face of Gajanana. The Lower arc is his belly. The twisted arc, which is on the right side of Om is the trunk.Thus Omkara represents the complete physical form of Lord Ganesha.
Every year, the fourth day after the no-moon day (Amaavasya) in the month of Bhadrapada (September according to the English calendar) is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Ganesha. This day is known as Vinayaka Chaturdhi or Vinayaka Chavithi.
On this day, Lord Ganesha was born in Hasthami Nakshatra and Kanya Raasi. The Lord of Kanaya Raasi is Budha (Mercury). Green coloured jewel or Emerald represents Mercury. Owing to this, we worship LordGanesha with grass, which is of green in colour.
As Ganesha was born in the zodiac Mercury, he is intelligent like Budha. Similarly, who ever prays him will also attain the intelligence. The Raasi in which Ganesha was born (Hasthami) has the shape of an elephant trunk and rises before dawn on the day of Vinayaka Chavithi.
In the zodiac, Kanya Raasi is in the sixth position. This place indicates the debts and diseases. Owing to this, by worshiping the Lord, the devotees will get rid of the problems related to debt and ill health.Ganesha is also considered to be the Lord of agriculture. Bhadrapada, the month in which Ganesha was born, falls in rainy season. Being the Lord of agriculture, even the body parts of Ganesha have relevance to various agricultural implements. His trunk resembles the plough. Ears are compared to dust pans. His belly is compared to granary. His vehicle, the rat, indicates the abundant availability of grain. The goad he holds is used for driving the bullock carts, which carry the grain to the granary. A fruit in the other hand is indication of bountiful yield. All these indicate that Lord Ganesha symbolises prosperity.
“Aakaashasyaadhipo Vishnuhu Agneshchaiva maheshvari
Vaayoh Sooryaha Kshiterishaha Jeevanasya Ganaadhipaha”
This indicates Lord Ganesha to be the Lord of water as well. Basing on this, his idols are immersed in water after worshiping them for nine days during the Vinayaka navaratri.
Lord Ganesha inspires all Lords related to the Karmendriyas (mouth, hands, legs, rectum and genitals), five Gnanendriyas (eyes, nose, ears, tongue and skin), four antahkaranas (Manas,Buddhi,Ahankara and Chittam).
As every recital starts with an Omkara, all the rituals too start only after praying Lord Ganesha. Otherwise, it is believed, the rituals will not reach their logical end.
“Sumukhaschaikadanthascha kapilo gajakarnikaha
Lambodarascha vikato vighnaraajo ganaadhipaha
Dhoomaketurganaadhyakshaha phalachandro gajaananaha
Vakratundaha shoorpakarno herambaha skandhapoorvajaha”
Whoever recites all these 16 names of Lord Ganesha will avoid various starting troubles during any activity.
There is a mention about Lord Ganesha and his importance in Padma Purana, Linga Purana, Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Skaanda Purana, Siva Purana, Ganesha Purana, Mudgala Purana, Ganapatyadharva Sheersham and Ganapatyupanishad.
Lord Ganesha is described to be having an elephant face, large ears, one tusk, four arms, large belly and the rat as his vehicle. Noose, goad, tusk and an open palm assuring protection…is the description about his four arms. His colour is mentioned to be blood red and sports the same coloured clothes.
Devotees worship him with 21 blades of grass (Darbha) and 21 varieties of flowers. He is known as Modakapriya. Hence is offered 21 Modakas (round cakes or balls made of rice flour). Lord Vinayaka also likes Wood apple, coconut, black plum, plum and other varieties of fruits. Green gram and Bengal gram are soaked in water and offered.
While reciting Ganapathi Stotra or Shata or Sahasra Naama, every name starts with four beejaaksharas—Om, Shreem Glaum Gam and ends with Namaha.
Wednesday is the prominent day for Lord Ganesha. Gam is the beejaakshara for Ganapathi. According to Shiva Purana, 21 forms of ganesha are worshipped. However, this number is put at 32 according to another theory. Ganesha likes music and dance.
“Shuklaambaradharam vishnum shashi varnam chaturbhujam
Prasanna vadanam dhyaayet sarva vighnopa shaantaye
Agajaanana padmaarkam gajaananamaharnisham
Aneka damtam bhakataanaam ekadanta mupaasmahe!”
Both these slokas are recited during every ritual.
Ganapathi pancharatnas and Ganaasthakam are also recited by devotees.
The son of Shiva and Parvati, Ganesha has an elephantine countenance with a curved trunk and big ears, and a huge pot-bellied body of a human being. He is the Lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles. He is also worshipped as the god of education, knowledge, wisdom and wealth. In fact, Ganesha is one of the five prime Hindu deities (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Durga being the other four) whose idolatry is glorified as the panchayatana puja.
Significance of the Ganesha Form
Ganesha's head symbolizes the Atman or the soul, which is the ultimate supreme reality of human existence, and his human body signifies Maya or the earthly existence of human beings. The elephant head denotes wisdom and its trunk represents Om, the sound symbol of cosmic reality. In his upper right hand Ganesha holds a goad, which helps him propel mankind forward on the eternal path and remove obstacles from the way. The noose in Ganesha's left hand is a gentle implement to capture all difficulties.
The broken tusk that Ganesha holds like a pen in his lower right hand is a symbol of sacrifice, which he broke for writing the Mahabharata. The rosary in his other hand suggests that the pursuit of knowledge should be continuous. The laddoo (sweet) he holds in his trunk indicates that one must discover the sweetness of the Atman. His fan-like ears convey that he is all ears to our petition. The snake that runs round his waist represents energy in all forms. And he is humble enough to ride the lowest of creatures, a mouse.
The story of the birth of this zoomorphic deity, as depicted in the Shiva Purana, goes like this: Once goddess Parvati, while bathing, created a boy out of the dirt of her body and assigned him the task of guarding the entrance to her bathroom. When Shiva, her husband returned, he was surprised to find a stranger denying him access, and struck off the boy's head in rage. Parvati broke down in utter grief and to soothe her, Shiva sent out his squad (gana) to fetch the head of any sleeping being who was facing the north. The company found a sleeping elephant and brought back its severed head, which was then attached to the body of the boy. Shiva restored its life and made him the leader (pati) of his troops. Hence his name 'Ganapati'. Shiva also bestowed a boon that people would worship him and invoke his name before undertaking any venture.
However, there's another less popular story of his origin, found in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana: Shiva asked Parvati to observe the punyaka vrata for a year to appease Vishnu in order to have a son. When a son was born to her, all the gods and goddesses assembled to rejoice on its birth. Lord Shani, the son of Surya (Sun-God), was also present but he refused to look at the infant. Perturbed at this behaviour, Parvati asked him the reason, and Shani replied that his looking at baby would harm the newborn. However, on Parvati's insistence when Shani eyed the baby, the child's head was severed instantly. All the gods started to bemoan, whereupon Vishnu hurried to the bank of river Pushpabhadra and brought back the head of a young elephant, and joined it to the baby's body, thus reviving it.
Ganesha, the Destroyer of Pride
Ganesha is also the destroyer of vanity, selfishness and pride. He is the personification of material universe in all its various magnificent manifestations. "All Hindus worship Ganesha regardless of their sectarian belief," says D N Singh in A Study of Hinduism. "He is both the beginning of the religion and the meeting ground for all Hindus."
Sankata Hara Chathurthi - an auspicious day to propitiate Lord Ganesha with an aim to remove obstacles in life. Every fourth day after the full moon day is known as Sankastha Chaturthi. Devotees observe fast on the day till dawn and worship Lord Ganesha before having their meal. This practice is known as Sankashta chaturthi vratham. The ritual performed on Bhaadrapada Shudha Chaviti is known as Varasidhi Vinayaka vratham.A round areca/betel nut and raw turmeric are worshipped as the forms of Lord Ganesha.When the 4th lunar thithi of the dark phase falls in the evening of a day, sankata hara chathurthi vrattam is observed. Chanting hymns like "sankashta Naashana GAnesha Sthothram" (from Naarada Puraanam), Ganesha Atharvaseersha Upanishad, etc. will be very auspicious today. The proper procedure for observing this vrattam is to keep a fast throughout the day, do pooja to Lord Ganesha in the evening and break the fast after sighting the Moon.
After taking a vow to celebrate the vrattam for 1 year continuously on all sankata hara chathurthis, one can end the period by performing a "Vaancha Kalpa GAnapathy Homam" or "Mahaa Ganapathy HOmam" in the evening at the end of 1 year. By this performance, even difficult tasks can be accomplished in 1 year.
By the Grace of Lord Ganapathy, all your obstacles will turn into opportunities if you observe this vrattam religiously.
The Chaturthi, which falls on Tuesday, is called Angaraki. Angaraki means the planet Mangal (Mars) or the earth (bhumi). Ganapati is the presiding deity of Mangal just as He is of the earth. Ganapati and Mangal both have the same complexion. On the day of Angaraki Ganesh frequencies reach the earth in greater quantities. The Ganesh frequencies from Mangal too reach the earth. Consequently most of the frequencies coming from the moon are destroyed. Hence the benefit obtained by performing ‘Angarika Vinayaki’ and ‘Angarika Sankashti’ is equivalent to a series of Vinayaki’s and Sankashti’s performed in a year.
Angaraki is not a vowed religious observance like others performed throughout the day and night. It is an observance composed of five prahars (one prahar is a period of about three hours), four during the day and one at night. The ritualistic worship on this day does not include viewing the moon and worship unlike Sankashti. On the day of vinayaki one fasts the whole day through and ends the fast the next day. The deity of this vowed religious observance is ‘Shri Siddhivinayak’. Vinayaki is performed for well-being and prosperity.
Procedure to observe Sankashti Chaturthi
Devotees observe Sankashti Chaturti by a complete fast which is broken after sighting the moon and performing puja. Some devotees observe partial fast. Food that can be eaten by those observing Partial Fasting are Sabudhana Khichadi or fruits. You can fast the whole day . In the evening do Puja to Lord Ganesha. You can chant Sri Ganesh Sahasranama. offer naivedyam and eat the prasad. Don't eat salt on this day. Don't eat garlic, onions , Non Veg food on this day.
Sankashti Chaturti Morning
Take a bath and offer prayers to Lord Ganesha by lighting a lamp preferably of Ghee and chant the , 108 names of Ganesha and Sankatahara Ganapathy Stotra three times. Number 3 is the very dear to Lord Ganesha. Hence, it is desirable to chant this thrice if possible.The fasting begins after the puja.
The puja is usually performed after sighting the moon. If moon is not sighted, the puja is performed as per the moonrise time given in the Panchang or calendar.
In the evening after a bath one should make preparations for ritualistic worship of Shri Ganapati. After sighting the moon, prepare the mandap or place an idol or painting or photo of Lord Ganesh or a betelnut placed on a mound of consecrated rice (akshata) symbolic of Ganapati should be worshipped with shodashopachar puja . In a small plate, separately, place another Ganesh made of Turmeric. Light diyas using ghee or coconut oil. A coconut, banana and flowers are offered to Lord Ganesh. Offer the Durva Grass (21 is preffered) if you dont find the durva grass not to worry.
Material required for worshipping Lord Ganesha
Turmeric powder, Saffron , Gulvaalu , Bukka , Camphor , Coconut , Incense sticks , Oil or ghee lamp , 21 grass blades (Darbha) , 21 varieties of flowers , Wood apple, Plum , Black plum , Guava , Pomegranate , Bananas, Panchaamrutam (a mixture of milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar), Holy water collected from near by river, Turmeric , Round betel nuts (2 numbers) , Unbroken rice, Sandal powder, New piece of cloth , Yagnopaveetham (Sacred thread) , Betel leaves Dates, 21 varieties of leaves, Dakshina (offering in the form of currency or coins), Lord Ganesha’s idol or a photograph, A book or a cassette which details the mantras and process of worshipping.
“Om ganaanaam tva ganapathigm havaamahe
Kavim kaveena mupamashravasthamam
Jyeshtha raajam brahmanaam brahmanaspatha
Aanashrunvannuutibhi sseedasaadanam”
This vaidic hymn is chanted before starting Ganapathi pooja.
Omkara/ Pranava:
Omkara is a combination of the basic syllables A (as pronounced in Other),
U (as pronounced in USHA) and Ma (as pronounced in MOTHER).
