[nukkad] Ganesh Chaturthi.

[Vishwas Patil <>]

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By indicating to mankind the goal of human evolution
and the path to reach the same, Lord Ganesha occupies
a place of distinction. So as to further elaborate on
the philosophical interpretation of the popular God's
physical appearance. The large belly denotes a
perfect human being__ one who can "consume and digest"
life's experiences, both good and bad. A balance
between material and spiritual life is represented in
Ganpati's sitting posture, with one leg folded up and
the other leg resting on the ground. The leg on the
ground indicates that one aspect of his personality is
dealing with the world while the other is ever-rooted
in single-pointed concentration upon the supreme
reality. The Ganesh Festival occasion has grown in
acceptance and today, commands the respects of
millions of citizens all over India. Lokmanya Bal
Gangadhar Tilak's unique move, which he achieved with
the Ganpati visarjana or immersion procession, 
wherein the mass output of several Ganesh mandals is
taken out on a parade on the final day of the Ganesh
festival and taken to be immersed. This process was
started in 1892 and is now prevalent virtually all
over Maharashtra, with special emphasis on Mumbai and
Pune. Lokmanya Tilak attached this mass celebration to
increase national awareness about the Freedom
movement.
Herein, neighbourhood Ganeshas are worshipped and
brought to immersion sites, where huge crowds
gather to bid him an emotional farewell. In Pune, as
the sun sets over darkening rivers, the images are
taken out in boats and as each one is immersed, an
emotion is raised asking him to return the next year.
It is an emotional and public farewell to their
beloved god. Ganesh Chaturthi is a festival which
commences on the fourth day of the bright half of the
month of Bhadrapada, around August or September. It
can be celebrated for two, five, seven or 11 days.
The day commemorates certain events connected with
Ganesha. It is the day on which he
materialised as Mayureshwara, to kill the demon
Sindhu, who had acquired extraordinary powers
through the worship of Surya. Mayureshwara is also one
of the ashtavinayakas. This is also the
birth that Shiva has chosen to celebrate in Kailasa.
Special puja is performed for Ganesha. The
worship of the deity involves getting a corner ready
to receive the god. Sixteen orderly steps
have been planned out for the puja. Ganesha is invited
with a special phrase and with material
and verbal offerings, the puja begins. It involves the
panchamrut or 'five nectars', which
include milk, curd, ghee, honey and jaggery, with
which the god's icon is bathed, cleansing in
between with water. Each of the 'nectars' has an
origin in tradition. Thus, the milk is that of
Kamdhenu (the wish-fulfilling heavenly cow), the curd
represents the white, smooth and cool
lustre of the moon, the ghee is the food of the gods
themselves with a long Vedic past, 
honey - the extract of all herbs, is the essence of
life with herbal healing powers and
jaggery -extract of sugarcane, a representation and
the epitome of sweetness. Ganesha is then
given a red garment and the sacred thread - saying it
is silver. He is then smeared with red
sandal paste and offered red or yellow flowers. A lamp
is lit, bells chime and food is offered in
six symbolic mouthfuls - not to the god's body, but to
his five panchapranas or 'vital breaths'
and the one beyond - the absolute. During the
festival, puja is performed twice every day - once
in the morning and again in the evening. Ganesha is
offered special leaves and flowers, 21 of
each and white durva grass. The idol is formally
installed on the first day and given life in the
presence of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, and the Vedas.
Touching the idol with blades of durva
grass, he is brought to life step by step and made to
go through the 15 rites of passage that
each Hindu goes through in his lifetime. The sixteenth
one which is for death, is omitted. The
Ganesha mantra is chanted, followed by a Ganesha
prayer. The last puja done, the family or
congregation gathered around and rice grains are
placed on the head of the idol, which is moved,
symbolically unseating him. As a matter of interest
there are about 91 different figures of
Ganesha according to research done by several
scholars. The details of their make up may vary
from figure to figure, but with no change in the main
set-up. It is the enigma of certain
striking variations in details that the sublime in the
figures of Ganesha has to be sought for.
Some figures are seen sitting with their trunks turned
towards the left side, invariably
reaching a bowl of modaks (a sweet edible and festive
preparation), while in some figures, the
trunks are seen turning towards the right and in yet
others, the trunk is straight, hanging down,
with or without a pot of nectar in the curve of their
trunks. In some images, Ganesha is seen
standing, resting his right foot on a lion and his
left foot on a mouse (his chosen mode of
transport), while in some other images, his left foot
is found resting on a mouse and his right
foot lifted in an effort to touch the serpent girdle -
his mount carrying a jewel in its mouth.
In whatever form he comes, Ganesha has always been the
first-named by men, the son Shiva and
Parvati or the son of the Ganga, (or in one of his
many origins of legend). He has become the
beloved deity of Pune and should remain so for a long
time to come.
Ganesha is not restricted to the Indian sub-continent
only. While initially there were simpler
associations, Ganesh as a deity came to acquire
several outward manifestations which, in turn,
gave the devotee numerous avenues for introspection.
The symbolic journeys and extensions given
to Ganesha were repeated in actuality and Ganesha
travelled far and wide and today, the lord's
likenesses are seen and worshipped almost the world
over. While archaeological evidence points
out that Ganesha spread all over India around the 4th
century -in this context it should be
mentioned that scholarly speculations place the first
clues to Ganesh around the Dravidian
era - where a tribe had the elephant as a totem as
well as a Dravidian solar deity, with the
icon featuring an elephant as light, overpowering and
mounting a rat, depicting darkness. As a
matter of fact, even today, in Nepal, Ganesha is
depicted as 'Surya Ganpati', born of a ray of
sunshine. In Vedic times, there is a hymn to Dantin
(the 'tusked' or 'toothed' one) where
scholars provide an elephant face to the deity and a
tunda. One of Ganesha's names is Vakratunda.
The first definitive sculptural image of Ganesh as a
god is supposed to appear around the fifth
or sixth century, a small terracota bas-relief
discovered at Akra in the North West Frontier
Province and two stone statues at Bhumara in Central
India. Besides India, Ganesha is also
worshipped in many Asian countries. It's said that in
each assembly convention, convocation, 
congregation, confluence, construction or even on the
very first day on which Hindu children
begin their quest for knowledge (Vidyarambha), a
ceremony is usually performed to invoke the 
Lord of Lords, Ganesha, who is supreme. He, too, is
gracious enough to lead us, before we
venture to undertake any adventure. No action is
accomplished without his presence and grace,
such is his greatness
It is the biggest festival in honour of Lord Ganesha
and is widely celebrated all over the
country by the people. In the VishnuDharma Shastra,
there is a meticulous guideline given on how
to worship Ganesha. There the offering of blades of
Durva grass is mentioned. Where else, but 
in our large country, would one find such an extreme
combination of the protector and the
protected? Unity and continuity in India’s cultural
heritage have been sealed by our seers and
saints through, the ages, such that despite
desecration by vandals and invaders, the Indian
creative expression has survived without any
appreciable break for centuries.


















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