Devotees of Lord Ganesha, celebrate the birth of their beloved deity every year in the Hindu month of Bhadrapada. The 10-day long festival lasts till Anant Chaturdashi when idols of Lord Ganesha are finally immersed in water. One can hear ‘Ganpati Bappa Morayya’ everywhere on the last day. There is a popular belief that Ganesha descends every year on Earth during these ten days to bless His devotees with wisdom, good health and prosperity. That is why; people worship Him with utmost devotion so that they can become successful in their endeavours with the help of Ganesha’s blessings.

Some ‘must know’ facts

  • The credit of the festivity that we feel around Ganesh Chaturthi goes to Lokmanya Tilak. In 1893, Lokmanya Tilak motivated the people to celebrate the festival with complete enthusiasm. He wanted the Indians to unite and show their patriotism to the British Rule.
  • If you want to see the biggest idol of Lord Ganesha, you can visit the 70 feet tall idol in Vishakhapatnam.
  • The favourite sweet of Lord Ganesha is Modak which is prepared especially for this festival.
  • Lord Ganesha removes the obstacles from the lives of His devotees and therefore He is called ‘Vignaharta’. There are in total 108 names of Lord Ganesha. The most popular ones are Ganesha and Ganpati.
  • It was on Ganesha Chaturthi that Lord Shiva had placed Lord Ganesha above all Hindu Gods (except Vishnu, Parvati, Shiva and Lakshmi).
  • Lord Ganesha is also addressed as ‘Ek Dant’ as he has only one tusk. It is said that during the ten days of Ganesh Chaturthi, one must never look straight at the Moon. The reason behind such a saying is an interesting story. Once, Lord Ganesha was riding on His mouse. Ganesha’s mouse suddenly saw a snake and out of fright, it accidentally dropped Lord Ganesha who fell on the ground. The belly of Lord Ganesha burst open due to the heavy fall, and all the food that he had eaten came out of it. Lord Ganesha immediately collected all the fallen sweets and put them back again in His belly. The snake who was responsible for the incident was tied by Lord Ganesha around his belly to hold it together. Chandra (Moon) was watching the entire incident, and He started laughing at Lord Ganesha. Offended Ganesha hurled His one tooth at the Moon and cursed him that he will never be illuminated again. After repeated pleas and requests, Ganesha forgave him, but it said that looking at Moon during the festival can bring bad luck to the person and hence it must be avoided.
  • Though there is no particular mention of Lord Ganesha’s marriage, it is said that Riddhi and Siddhi were his wives. They were created by Brahma as Lord Ganesha was distraught at the fact that all the deities had wives, but He had none. ‘Riddhi’ symbolises wealth and fortune while ‘Siddhi’ stands for ‘wisdom and intellect’. It is said that whoever worships Lord Ganesha with full devotion, gets the blessings of His wives too.
Have a Happy Ganesh Chaturthi