Why Modak is Ganesha's favourite?

    

       Ganesha is fond of a particular sweet called Modaka.  Modaka is a steamed dumpling made of rice flour dough containing jaggery and coconut and sesame.

       The shape and constitute of Modaka is very significant.  It looks like a bag of money, similar to one carried by Kuber, treasurer of the gods.  Thus, is it a symbol of wealth, and all the sweet pleasures that wealth gives man.  

       It is also shaped like an upward pointing triangle, which, in Tantrik art, represents spiritual reality, in contrast to the downward pointing triangle which represents material reality.  

       Thus the Modaka has the aesthetics and flavor of material reality but the geometry of spiritual reality.  

Source: Excerpts from the Book on "99 Thoughts on GANESHA" by Devdutt Pataanik

12 Forms of Ganesha

12 Forms of Ganesha explained

Maha Ganapati

1.  MAHA GANAPATI

       The Supreme Ganesha, blesses us with overall success and protection in all aspects of life.

Dwija Ganapati

2.  DWIJA GANESA

       The twice-born, blesses us with good health and prosperity.  He is depicted as having four heads and four hands with rosary beads, a book, a water vessel and a staff.

Heramba Ganapati

3.  HERAMBA GANAPATI

       The Mother's beloved son who is capable of protecting one's wealth, is depicted as five headed Ganesha with ten hands, riding on a lion.

Veera Ganapati

4.  VEERA GANAPATI

Veera Ganapati

       The Valiant warrior form of Ganesha with 16 arms holding 16 powerful weapons, can protect women from all female-related diseases.

Karpaga Vinayagar

5.  KARPA VINAYAGAR

       The two-handed wish-fulfilling Ganesha, seated in ardha padmasana [half-lotus posture], blesses us with wealth. 

Twin Ganapati

6.  TWIN GANAPATI

       The twin Ganeshas, help us remove obstacles, poverty and diseases, balance our dosha and blesses us with good relationship.

Adhi vinayagar

7.  NARAMUGA GANESA

       Also known as Adhi Vinayakar, is an ancient form of Ganesha with a human head rather than an elephant head.

Siddhi and Buddhi Ganapati

8.  SIDDHI AND BUDDHI GANAPATI

Siddhi and Buddhi Ganapati

       The Intelligent, has two consorts named Siddhi and Buddhi; Siddhi, who gives us intuitive intelligence, and Buddhi who gives us analytical intelligence.

Niruta Ganapati

9.  NIRUTA GANAPATI

       The Dancer, depicted dancing under the wish-granting tree, can help us receive the blessings of both the Divine and our ancestors.

Vigna Ganapati

10.  VIGNA GANAPATI

Vigna Ganapati

       The Obstacle Remover, is depicted as having eight hands with a conch shell and wheel, like archetype Vishnu, and is capable of removing all obstacles in life.

11.  SELVI SAITHA GANAPATI

       Selvi Saitha Ganapati, is a unique form of Ganesha who in Kali Yuga protects those who are punished despite their good deeds.

Kalinga Narthana Ganapati

12.  KALINGA NARTHANA GANAPATI

       Kalinga Narthana Ganapati, is a dancing form of Ganesha who is depicted dancing on the forehead of the snake named Kalinga.

Ganesha Stories

Image 1

       Image 1 looks like a family photograph: father, mother and two sons.  But this is no normal portrait.  This is the image of a God called Shiva, a mountain mendicant, his wife, the Goddess Parvati, who is a mountain princes, and their two children, Ganesha, who has the head of an elephant, and Kartikeya, who holds a spear.

       One day, when this family was sitting together, they were paid a visit by a sage called Narad, who loved to stir trouble wherever he went.

       'I have a mango,' said Narad, 'for your better son.'

       'How can I decide which one is better?' asked Shiva, turning to to his wife, Parvati.

       'Let them go on a race,' said Parvati.  'He who first goes around the world thrice shall get the mango.' 

       'Let it be so,' said Shiva.

Image 2

Image 2

       Kartikeya, shown in Image 2 immediately mounted his peacock and rose to the sky, determined to be the first to go around the world thrice.  Ganesha, however, did not  move.  He continued to sit beside his parents, playing with his rat.  Kartikeya went around the world once, then twice, wondering what Ganesha was up to.  Ganesha still showed no signs of moving.  As Kartikeya was about to complete his third and final round, ganesha got up, and as shown in Image 3, quickly ran around his parents thrice and declared, 'I have won!.

       'What do you mean, you won?' asked Kartikeya.  'It was I who went around the world thrice. You just went around our parents'.  'That's not true. You went around the world.  I went around my world.  Tell me, which world matters more?

       "How come?" asked Kartikeya and Ganesha replied, "You went around the world while I went around my world.  You went around the objective world while I went around my subjective world.  You went around the physical world around us while I went around an emotional world within me.  What matters more?"

       For Kartikeya the measurable rational logical world mattered more than the unmeasurable emotional world that mattered to Ganesha.  There are two aspects of Life.  Narada gave the mango to Ganesha.  Kartikeya did not agree with this decision, and moved to South.

       Every culture views the world through different lenses.  For some, there is one formless divine; for others, the divine has many forms.  Who is right?  For some, there is only one life with no rebirth; for others, this is just one of many lives.  Who is right?  Answers to these questions are never universal.  They are cultural.  They spawn beliefs.  From beliefs comes behavior that can make us either less tolerant or more accommodating.  That is why my world does matter.

2.  Valli's Marriage

       Kartikeya, the brother of Ganesha is also known as Muruga, especially in Tamil Nadu.  He lives in the mountains of Tamil Nadu and in one of the valleys, in the middle of a millet field, he saw a beautiful tribal girl called Valli.  He fell in love with her but no matter how hard he tried she refused to respond to his attentions.

       So finally he prayed to his brother, Ganesha, who took the form of a wild elephant and stormed into the millet field frightening Valli who ran into the arms of the handsome-god Muruga.  Muruga immediately offered protection to Valli and drove the elephant away much to her delight.  Thus with the help of his brother, Muruga was finally able to get the girl of his dreams.

3.  The Moon

       One day Lord Ganesha was travelling happily through the world on his vehicle, the rat.  He had eaten lots and lots of Modakas [his favourite sweet, made up of rice flour, buts, jaggery and coconut.]  His stomach was full and he was enjoying the ride.  Suddenly the rat saw a snake and stumbled.

       Lord Ganesha toppled and fell flat on the ground.  His stomach burst open and all the Modaks scattered around.  Lord Ganesha gathered all the Modaks and stuffed them back into his stomach.

       In the gust of anger and frustration he caught the snake that caused his rat to stumble and tied it around his belly.  Seeing this sight, the moon started laughing and made fun of Lord Ganesha's big belly.  The otherwise calm and cool Ganesha became furious and pulled out one of his tusks and threw it towards the moon with great force.

       Lord Ganesha cursed the moon and said that.  Your beauty is the cause of your arrogance and now your beauty will become the cause of your suffering.  Whoever sees you on the fourth day of Bhaadrapada month i.e., Ganesh chaturthi [the birthday of Lord Ganesha]  would receive bad repute and suffer bad luck.  That is why no one looks at the moon on Ganesh Chaturthi.

       Lisening to this curse the moon realized his mistake and begged for forgiveness.  Lord Ganesha calmed down and told the moon that the curse cannot be taken back.

       The moon that was proud of his appearance and laughed at Lord Ganesha just because of his big belly and his appearance also had to bow down to the Lord Ganesha.

4.  Parashuram

       Whenever there are problems on earth, Lord Vishnu descends from his heaven, Vaikuntha, and takes an appropriate animal or human form to set things right.  The sixth such form of Lord Vishnu is that of Parashurama who killed many unrighteous kings with his axe.

       According to Brahmananda Purna and Brahmavaivarata Purana, towards the end of his stay on earth, Parashurama decided to give his blood soaked axe to Shiva.  Ganesha stood guard at the foothills of Mount Kailas and would not let Parashurama in until he introduced himself.  But Parashurama was in too much of a hurry to do so.  So he pushed Ganesha away.  Ganesha refused to budge.  Irritated, Parashurama swung his axe and struck one of Ganesha's tusks.

       That is how it is said to have broken.  Ganesh's mother, Parvati was so angry when she saw this that she transformed into Durga, the fierce warrior goddess, and challenged Parashurama to a duel.  Parashurama realized he had acted harshly and apologized to the goddess.  She calmed down, but on condition that Parashurama give up his axe.  Parashurama did as instructed and gave the axe to Ganesha in whose hand it can still be seen in images today.  With the axe gonbe, Parashurama was no longer the angry warrior priest.  He became a sage and meditated on the foothills of Mount Kailas.

5.  Lord of Obstacles

       The gods once churned the ocean of milk for the nectar of immortality known as amrita. However, they forgot to propitiate Ganesha before this undertaking.  To teach them a lesson, Ganesha caused the serpent-king Vasugi who was being used as the churning rope to vomit venom. As the gods choked on the poison, they invoked Ganesha and begged him to remove this obstacle to their success.  Pleased with their worship, Ganesha requested his father Shiva to drink and digest the poison, thus clearing the air and enabling the gods to continue churning until the pot of elixir emerged from the ocean.

       Since then, every one worships Ganesha.  Without propitiating him, they say, Krishna could not have married Rukmini, Ram could not have killed Ravan, Kartikeya could not have killed Taraka, Shiva could not have killed the Tripura demons, Durga could not have killed Mahisha, and Rishis could not have attained wisdom.

       Ganesha name is chanted before any activity is started.  Those who forget to do so, do so at their own peril.

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Sources: 
1] Exceprts from the book on "7 Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art" by Devdutt Pattanaik
2] Excerpts from the book on "99 Thoughts on GANESHA" by Devdutt Pattnaik 

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Pillayar suzhi - Ganesha rituals

       In Tamil Nadu, Pillayar suzhi or Ganesha circle is drawn first before writing anything on paper. It is comprised of a circle, a curve, two lines and a dot.  Perhaps in earlier times, when there was no paper, scribes used palm leaves to write on.  Before they started writing, they checked the quality of leaf by making a circle, a curve, a line and a dot.  

       This came to symbolize Ganesha, the scribe who helped Vyasa write down the Mahabharata.  Since then the Pillayar Suzhi is supposed to make things auspicious and bring good luck.  In examinations, students draw this symbol at the beginning of their answer paper in the hope that the examinations go well.

       The 'pillayar suzhi' as shown in the above picture, contains all the basic shapes necessary to write down any letter in Tamil.  Namely, straight lines and curves.  Additionally people also add a dot in the bottom.

       This helped people identify good pal leaves to write on.  The ones on which they couldn't draw the 'pillayar suzhi' comfortably were discarded.  This habit persisted and is still followed as a tradition albeit without any particular use.

Symbolism behind Pillayar Suzhi

       naatham kodu vadivam.  Idu Sivam.

       Aduthuthu thondrum Vindhu pulli vadivam.  Idhu Shakthi

       Sivanum Sakthiyum sernthathu than Pillayar suzhi.  

       This is the prayer.

        In Pillyar suzhi , the Tamil Letter உ – begins with small circle, then semi circle expands and end with straight line.

       First small circle represents poornathvam - Brahman aspects, second the expanded semi circle presents - apoornathvam - represents the world.  It symbolically represents that from the poornam Brahman which represent small circle, this world - appornam [semi circle] came into existence.   Since this Brahman aspects is complete poornam and the world comes out of it from the same substance must also be Brahman only.   

SHRI

       This Pillayar Suzhi in Tamil Nadu serves the same functions as the mark of SHRI in North India.  Shri is also said to be another name for Ganesha.  By writing his name in the beginning, one is heralding auspiciousness and ensuring absence of obstacles in any activity.  

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Source:  Excerpts from the book on "99 Thoughts on Ganesha" written by Dr.Devdutt Pattanaik
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In Indian Culture..Why do we celebrate Ganesh chaturthi?

In Indian Cutlure...

Why do we celebrate Ganesh chaturthi?

As Indians, we are often asked how we worship an elephant-headed, pot-bellied, broken-tusked god who travels on a mouse. But as strange as it seems, every little peculiarity of Lord Ganesha's has a deep spiritual significance. As we go along in this article, we will look at the meaning of this symbolic representation of Lord Ganesha. Before we do, however, let's take a look at Lord Ganesha's mythological origin.

Mythological  anecdotes  of Lord Ganesha

Desiring to take a bath, Mother Parvati, Lord Shiva's consort, created a boy from dirt to guard Her home when She was bathing. As it happened, Lord Shiva returned while Mother Parvati was away. Surprised to see a stranger outside the home, the Lord demanded that He be allowed to enter His home. Much to His dismay, the boy refused to allow Him in. Infuriated at being barred from entering His home, the Lord cut off the boy's head. On returning, Mother Parvati was inconsolable when she found out what the Lord had done. To alleviate her suffering, Lord Shiva commanded his troops to get the head of the first living being they came across. The first living being they chanced upon happened to be an elephant calf. Finally, Lord Shiva, on receiving the head of the calf, placed it on the boy's body and restored life to him. Thus Lord Ganesha was created.

Lord Shiva represents the divine Self. Lord Ganesha, being His son, is symbolic of a person who has attained that state of Divinity. While representing the Divinity, Lord Ganesha also represents the way to attain that exalted state.

Elephant head

Lord Ganesha's elephant head symbolises the immense wisdom of a person of Perfection. Wisdom is something that comes out of manana, independent thinking and reflection. This manana can happen only when one has taken in spiritual knowledge i.e. the process of shravana has taken place. This process of shravana or intake of spiritual knowledge is portrayed as Lord Ganesha's large ears where one listens to a teacher. It also symbolises that even the wisest people are always open to hearing fresh ideas and opinions. In other words, the wise are those who always keep an open mind.

Broken tusk

Emerging from the Lord's head is the elephant trunk. This trunk visually depicts a well-developed intellect that arises out of wisdom, the elephant head. Our intellect is of two kinds, gross and subtle. The gross intellect is used to discriminate between pairs of opposites in the world; black and white, hard and soft, easy and difficult. The subtle intellect, on the other hand, discriminates between right and wrong; permanent and impermanent and is colloquially called the conscience.

In a person who has realised the Self, this intellect is extremely well-developed; both gross and subtle. Such people have clarity of thinking and a clear sense of right and wrong. At a relative level, even people who have made progress on the spiritual path experience this. Choices become clear and life becomes a lot simpler. Without clarity of thought, our worldview is bound to be confused and coloured by our own prejudices and preconceptions. Lord Ganesha's well-shaped trunk depicts a crystal clear intellect that a person of Perfection develops.

One of the key attributes of people who are Self-Realised is that they rise above their likes and dislikes and the pairs of opposites that world presents before them. Established in the permanent Divinity, they remain unperturbed by what the world has to offer; the joys and sorrows, the victories and losses. They understand the ways of the world and take to life as a sportsperson takes to sport. Giving their best at every juncture, yet understanding that, in the ultimate analysis, it is only a game. Relatively speaking, genuine seekers on the spiritual path also achieve this sense of peace to the extent that they have identified with the Self.

Two tusks

This transcendence over the pairs of opposites (two tusks) in a person of Perfection is indicated beautifully by Lord Ganesha's broken tusk. For it is only when we have risen above the play of opposites in the world that we can stomach the challenges that life throws at us. This idea is depicted by Lord Ganesha's large stomach. People who attained the supreme state have tremendous mental strength to brush aside the greatest setbacks while keeping their heads in the midst of immensely joyous experience.

Lord Ganesha's posture

The Lord's posture with one foot on the ground and the other folded up conveys to us that while we must operate in the world there must also be a constant alignment with Atman in and through all our experiences. In the relative, whatever we do, there must be an unwavering focus on our higher spiritual goal. Without this focus, it is impossible to make spiritual progress.

Food at the feet of Lord Ganesha

The food at the feet of Lord Ganesha symbolise material wealth and power. Through this, the Lord subtly indicates that the world rewards those live a life of truth. Those who turn spiritual acquire merit in their respective fields of activity and those with merit seldom go unacknowledged. They command respect and wealth even though they may not desire it.

Four arms which hold:-

ankush   - symbol for control over the mind.
ladu       - for happiness
pash      - axe to punish the indriyas and antakaran
ashirvad mudra - blessings for the well being of humanity.

Ganesha riding on his mount, mouse.

Mouse

The mouse as the Lord's mode of transport magnifies the challenge that a spiritual person faces when trying to communicate the knowledge of the infinite Self through the finite equipments of body, mind and intellect. Atman cannot be touched with the body, felt through emotion or understood with the intellect. One can only become It through spiritual practice.

Common four-armed form of Ganesha.
Miniature of Nurpur school (circa 1810).
 Museum of Chandigarh.

Symbolism behind Lord Ganesha's four hands

In his four hands, Lord Ganesha holds an axe, a rope, a modak (sweetened rice ball) and a lotus. The axe represents the annihilation of desire with the axe of spirituality. The rope is spiritual knowledge which helps us to remove ourselves from the samsara , material world, that we are entrenched in. The modak symbolises the happiness and joy a seeker derives from the spiritual pursuit. And the lotus stands for that Divine state of Self-Realisation that every human being aspires for, consciously or unconsciously. The lotus sustains itself in dirty ponds but yet is above it all. Similarly, a person of Perfection can live in the world, enjoy life and yet be above it all by identifying with the Self.

The occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi gives us, as spiritual aspirants, an opportunity to remember what Lord Ganesha stands for. A chance to reignite ourselves in our search for Divinity.

Ganapati vivah (Marriage)

      When Shiva and Parvati decided to have their sons, Kartikeya and Ganesh, married, they stipulated that he who circumambulated the earth first would be considered the best deity and would be married first. Kartikeya flew off on his vehicle - a peacock.  Poor Ganesh's vehicle was a mouse; no match for a peacock!

       Being a matrubhakta, Ganeshji performed pradakshina of his parents.  He then stated: 'One who offers pujan and performs pradakshina of his parents, receives the same merit as performing pradakshina of the earth.  Thus he was married first, and boosted the glory of the principle that by venerating Bhagwan and one's parents, one also becomes venerable in the world.

       Ganesh is invoked first in all auscipious events, rites and rituals, such as marriage, opening ceremonies, ground-breaking rituals and yagnas.  (Shiv Puran, Rudra Samhita, Kumarkhand - 19).  The phrase "Shri Ganesh" itself is a synonym for "auspicious beginning".

       The Shiv Puran cites another story.  Prajapati had two daughters, Siddhi (wealth) and Riddhi (intellect).  He approached Parvati and Shiva for the girls' marriage to Kartikeya and Ganesha.  However, both girls wished to marry only the latter.  Thus, they married him.  Siddhi gave birth to a son named Shubh (auspiciousness) and Riddhi to Labh (merit).  

      Therefore, when businessmen and merchants offer pujan to Ganeshji and Lakshmiji, they write Shubh and Labh inside their ledgers to invoke the two deities (Shiv Puran, Rudra Samhita, Kumarkhand -20).

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Source: 1]An Article by Smt. Jaya Rao.
2] Excerpts from the book "Hindu Festivals" by Sadhu Mukundcharandas

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