Its the festival time of Ganesh Chaturti also knowns as ‘Vinayak Chaturthi’ or ‘Vinayaka Chavithi’ . Lord Ganesh one of the most popular Hindu God is considered God of knowledge and the remover of obstacles. Lord Ganesha also called Vinayak ( knowledgeable ) or Vighneshwer (god to remove obstacles) is worshipped and his blessings sought in the beginning of any auspicious performance and ventures.
Ganesh is also artist’s delight as he is inarguably the most creatively adaptable God. He is sketched , sculpted in innumerable forms and makes a collectible for many. I love the way he is given creative touch by artists and none objects to the creative liberty when it comes to Lord Ganesh.
From simple lines ..
to whacky creative strokes ..
to divine traditional paintings..
to creative collages..
to various creative forms ..
to being creatively adapted to pendant ..
Lord Ganesh is interpreted in various creative forms and shapes !
Symbolism of Lord Ganesh :
Since Childhood Ganesh Chaturthi is one of my favourite festival. On the day of the festival we used to keep an idol of Ganeshji adorn it with flowers , aruham pul (a particular type of grass , the juice of which is good for health) and offer fruits ,special dishes as offerings and do puja.
The special dishes made for this festivals are : Modak , Kozhukottai , Sundal , kheer.
Modak is a steam cooked rice dumplings filled with jaggery and moong dal.
Kozhukattai again a dish made of rice flour , could be either sweet dish or salted dish.
Sundal sautéed cooked channa dal , slightly spicy .
Kheer a sweet dish.
A Community festival :
Ganesh Chaturthi which was earlier a festival within homes and temples have become a huge community event now with people from all walks of life participating. Bal Gangadhar Lokmanya Tilak transformed the festival into a large , well organized festival during 1890’s . His whole intention was to break the caste based barriers and bring together people of all communities and castes under one platform and bring unity among them. This was also aimed to bring them together and rouse a nationalistic fervor among people to revolt against British rule of that time.
The festival has got bigger and bigger since Lokmanya tilak days . Now it has become an event displaying huge Ganesh idols ( The size of these statues may vary from 3/4th of an inch to over 25 feet ) Every streets, colonies have their own decorated pandals (mostly temporary structures) where the Ganesh idols are kept with much fanfare. Prayers , bhajans , aartis , pujas are done for the idol. The 10 day celebration culminates with the immersion of the idols in ponds , lakes or ocean. Due to convenience and time factor , some idols are immersed within 3rd , 5th or 7th day also. The pandals at some place are so popular that they have even sponsorships !
Ganapati bappa morya
Mangal murthy morya !
Let the slogan fill the air ! Let Lord Ganesh destroy all the obstacles in our way ! Let Him bless our life , our nation and universe ! Let peace , health , wealth shine !
God bless everyone !
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Namasthe Lakshmi:
What you wrote about Ganesh is very true…As you wrote he is indeed an ” artist’s delight as he is inarguably the most creatively adaptable God.”
When I was writing my book AM I A HINDU? [www.amiahindu.com] the whole concept of Ganesh intrigued me as well as made me laugh reading all the little things he did.
Even his cursing of the moon, his funny fights with his brother Subramaniayan and his demands & strict conditions to sage Veda Vyasa for writing epic Mahabharata make one laugh.
Thanks for your interesting blog.
@ Vishwanathan
I always feel the stories in Hindu mythology are a symbolic of a larger meaning … in due course of time , the stories remained , the sympbolism forgotten and end result was many superstitious beliefs..