_/\_ Happy Ganesh Chaturthi _/\_ Ganpati Bappa Morya !!

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Shivangi.

@caffeineaddict

Trailblazer

+ 6

Posted: 10 years ago

!! Ganpati Bappa Morya !!
As the month of September arrives, it brings the pious Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi.Known for it's extravagance and valour, this festival is one of the most celebrated festivals of India. Celebrated over a span of 10 days, this is one of those festivals where the entire community comes together to pray to Ganpati Bappa and seek his blessings.

Ganesh Chaturthi is a Hindu Festival celebrated lavishly around India with devotion and love for Lord Ganesha. Lord Ganesh is known for being the god of knowledge, affluence and good fortune. The festival can also be called as Vinayaka Chaturthi and the festival continues to be celebrated for ten days beginning from Shukhla Chathurthi and ending on Anant Chaturdashi. Lord Ganesh or Vinayak is the son of the Goddess Parvati, wife of Lord Shiva. Goddess Parvati created Vinayak out of sandalwood which she was going to use for her bath and put life into the figure. She asked him to guard the door while she took a bath. Being an obedient son, Vinayak stood at the door guarding his mother. Lord Shiva, who was unaware of Vinayak returned and saw a boy guarding his wife's place. He asked to let him go in but Vinayak protested that she must not be disturbed. Vinayak couldn't recognize his father. Infuriated by his behavior, Lord Shiva grew furious, he sent Ganas (his followers) to stop the boy. Vinayak defeated them.
After that, Narada Muni and Indra Dev tried to defeat the boy but he was just too strong. Lord Shiva finally entered into a battle with his own son and severed his head. When Goddess Parvati came to know of this, she grew furious and enraged. She urged her husband to return her son to him. Guilty as he was, Lord Shiva replaced Vinayak's severed head with that of an elephant's. He was pronounced as the leader of the Ganas who were Lord Shiva's followers living with Him in Mount Kailash. As a result, Vinayak came to be known as Ganesh (Gana-Esh: Lord of the Ganas)

The earliest records of it's celebrations dates back to the times of Satvahana, Rashtrakuta and the Chalukya dynasties. Lord Ganesha was born on the fourth day of the fortnight of month Magh, hence the day chaturthi is always associated with Lord Ganesha. In Maharashtra, this festival was first celebrated by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaja...to promote unity and nationalism because of it's nature. Even to this day, Maharashtra happens to be the hub of celebrations of this festival. The tradition of Ganesh Chaturthi was continued during the Peshwa Rule because Lord Ganesh was the family deity of the Peshwa Family. As the Peshwa Rule fell, in the 1800s...the celebrations became conspicuous and scarce.
During the Revolt of 1857, Lokmanya Tilak observed that Lord Ganesha was the only deity who was equally regarded by all the castes of Hindu Religion. He thought that if he popularized this festival again, people of all caste and class would come together to celebrate...and this might finally instil feelings of unity in the Hindus. Hence, he started promoting the festival and its significance through as many means as he could. He wrote about it in his newspaper, Kesari. The conversion of Ganesh Chaturthi into a full-fledges National Festival is credited to the efforts of Lokmanya Tilak because the rise in it's popularity due to his efforts was something India had never seen. As Independence dawned in 1947, this festival was declared as the National Festival of India.

Edited by caffeineaddict. - 10 years ago

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Arpita

@unitatoxo.

Rocker

+ 3

Posted: 10 years ago

The beginnings of the Ganesh festival can be traced back to a time when most of the populations of India lived by a source of water. Towards the end of the month- Jyeshta (Hindu Calendar), we begin to see the first signs of the rains. Then, a series of festivals respecting the Earth begin to be celebrated. The first of them is the festival of Bendur, following this comesNaag Panchami, when we worship the snake. Finally, in the month of Bhadrapada, on the fourth day arrives Ganesh Chaturthi.

In the monsoon season, the waters of the rivers are fresh and clean and the banks of the river are rich with freshly deposited fertile soil. In the ancient days, people would take these fresh water sediment and worship it. This wet fresh and fertile soil was given the form of Lord Ganesha by each devotee themselves. This is from where the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi began.

Every year, people bring Lord Ganesha Idols and worship them. This festival lasts for 10 days. Huge clay models of Lord Ganesha put up in huge pandals where people who cannot bring idols home can go and worship them. Special sweets are made during this festival like the modak. Aartis are organized at home as well as in the pandals where society actively takes part.

On the 11th day, the image is taken through the streets in a procession accompanied with singing and dancing to dhols and nagadas, to be immersed in a river or sea. The immersion of the Ganesha clay model or murti is done with people shouting "Ganapati Bappa Morya, Purcha Varshi Laukariya" which means "Our dear Ganpati Bappa, please come again sooner, next year"

Festivals in India are often loud and celebrated in a huge crowd. It has also been a necessity to break free from the monotonous life and have fun with your loved ones. But when the day comes to an end, no one ever considers the serious impact the celebrations has on environment.
In the celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi, the idols which are immersed into the river during Ganesh Visarjan pollutes the water bodies. The Plaster of Paris, chemical paints, heavy metals and the decorative materials not only dirties the water but also causes disturbance in the aquatic life. Also, the noise level during the celebration is excessive. The traffic congestion and the the impurity in air is high too.
These days, people have realized their error and rather opts to celebrate it in environmental friendly way. People use clay or mud idols of the idols made up of Plaster of Paris or they reuse the same idol every year by placing it under water symbolically. Natural colors are used instead of chemical paints. Decorative items are removed before the idol is immersed in water.
In addition to the above mentioned precautions, here are some of the ways to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi in eco-friendly way:
1) The beaches are littered with plastics and decorative in the morning after the celebrations. People must be conscious of this and try to redeem themselves.
2) The loudspeakers that are used for the celebration can be avoided.
3) The plastics and clothes used to decorate the idol can be substituted with bio-degradable substances.

With the hope that Ganpati Bappa lights up your lives and fills it with joy, here's the Crazy Creatives signing off.
Ganpati Bappa Morya!