If you haven't Checked out the stories preceding this Post then Please do so :)
Ganeshotsav is the Hindu festival that is celebrated in commemoration of the Hindu deity Ganesha. Ganesha is the elephant God in Hindu Mythology.
The festival is celebrated both publicly and privately at home. The modern day version of public celebrations involves installing clay images of Ganesha in public pandals (temporary shrines) and worshipped together for ten days. The private celebration involves installing a appropriate sized clay image at home and worshipping with family and friends. In both cases, at the end of the festival the idols are immersed in a body of water such as a lake or a pond.
Elephant Headed God? Are you intrigued by that phase? Well you would love to hear the story about the elephant headed God definitely. Why was his head of an elephant? Why is he so popular amongst the innumerable gods in Hindu Mythology.
There is considerable confusion about the birth of Ganesha. There are various reports about how Ganesha came into existence. These include versions in which he is created by Shiva,[8] by Parvati, by Shiva and Parvati, or in a mysterious manner that is later discovered by Shiva and Parvati.
However he is the son of the all powerful gods namely Shiva and his wife Parvati.
Again here there are several stories regarding the Elephant head of Ganesha.
One such story states that Loddess Parvati was having a bath. She instructed their loyal follower Nandi to guard the house and not let anyone inside the house. Nandi ever loyal to Shiva and Parvati took up a position outside the house. He did not let anyone inside. However in sometime when Lord shiva himself came, Nandi could not afford to deny his lord entry into his own house. He gladly allowed Lord Shiva to pass. Parvati was enraged when she realised that Nandi was loyal to Lord Shiva first. Now here comes the mythical part. Its said that Parvati took off the turmeric past ( also called Haldi )from her body , which she used for bathing and created a statue of a young boy. She breathed life into it. She named him Ganesha. Ganesha was loyal to her and only her. He would not ever deny any of her wishes. However she loved him as a son and she did not think anything else about him.
Now remember, till now Ganesha was just a normal boy. He did not have the head of an elephant. He was just like a normal kid with 2 hands, 2 legs :D etc etc.
So once, while Parvati was having a bath, She asked Ganesha to guard the house and not let anyone inside. Ganesha ever loyal to his mother stood guard outside the house. In sometime, Lord Shiva came home with his entourage. However Ganesha did not allow anyone inside. He stood guard and refused to allow any of the huge entourage accompanying Lord Shiva inside. He did not even allow Lord Shiva inside. Lord Shiva became enraged. He decided to remove this boy for enraging him. He ordered his army to kill the boy. However the boy created by Goddess Parvati herself was way too powerful. He defeated all of them. Lord Shiva was surprised. There were very few that could ever defeat his entourage with such ease. He decided to kill the boy himself. Enraged with anger, The usually peaceful Lord Shiva was a scary sight indeed.
The destroyer of the world ( Shiva) is a scary sight to behold when he is angry. No one can withstand his anger and that is the universal truth.
That day he decided that the boy should die. He beheaded ganesha and walked inside. On reaching inside, when Parvati saw him she was confused. She asked him how did he enter inside. Now Shiva said, " This is my house, Why cant I enter ".
Parvati : Yes my lord, it is your house. However I had asked my son Ganesha to guard the house and let no one inside.
On hearing this Shiva was confused. He told her the whole story. The anger of Parvati knew no bounds now. She was enraged beyond imagination. She summoning all of her ferocious multi-armed forms, the Yoginis arose from her body and threatened to destroy all. Lord Brahma and other Lords in the universe quickly came to try to pacify her. The world was a creation that they all cherished and they did not wish to see their children ( humans ) perish in this manner. They pleaded and begged Parvati to try to reconsider her stance.
By now, Shiva also had calmed down. He realised what a grave mistake he had done. He decided to try to re compensate his wife by amending his mistakes. He asked his followers to go north and find the first creature who was sleeping facing North.
They waited for a long time. His followers had to travel very long distances. Shiva lived in the mountains and it was a lonely place obviously. There was not much habitation around him. The silence was eerie sometimes. But it was also what was really pacifying when he used to meditate. After a long, wait his followers came back. They were holding the head of an elephant. It was the first creature that they found sleeping facing north.
Lord Shiva Promptly took the head and put it on top of the headless body of Ganesha. He did his magic and the head was fixed to the body. Lord ganesha's body was back. He blew life into the body once again. Ganesha came back to life with a startle. Seeing his mother he was extremely happy. He quickly ran to her and hugged her.
And thus the Elephant God was born.
There are several stories about Lord Ganesha. I will write about one of them in the next post :)
If you like to read such stuff, please follow me :)
Ganeshotsav is the Hindu festival that is celebrated in commemoration of the Hindu deity Ganesha. Ganesha is the elephant God in Hindu Mythology.
The festival is celebrated both publicly and privately at home. The modern day version of public celebrations involves installing clay images of Ganesha in public pandals (temporary shrines) and worshipped together for ten days. The private celebration involves installing a appropriate sized clay image at home and worshipping with family and friends. In both cases, at the end of the festival the idols are immersed in a body of water such as a lake or a pond.
Elephant Headed God? Are you intrigued by that phase? Well you would love to hear the story about the elephant headed God definitely. Why was his head of an elephant? Why is he so popular amongst the innumerable gods in Hindu Mythology.
Story of Ganesha
There is considerable confusion about the birth of Ganesha. There are various reports about how Ganesha came into existence. These include versions in which he is created by Shiva,[8] by Parvati, by Shiva and Parvati, or in a mysterious manner that is later discovered by Shiva and Parvati.
However he is the son of the all powerful gods namely Shiva and his wife Parvati.
Again here there are several stories regarding the Elephant head of Ganesha.
One such story states that Loddess Parvati was having a bath. She instructed their loyal follower Nandi to guard the house and not let anyone inside the house. Nandi ever loyal to Shiva and Parvati took up a position outside the house. He did not let anyone inside. However in sometime when Lord shiva himself came, Nandi could not afford to deny his lord entry into his own house. He gladly allowed Lord Shiva to pass. Parvati was enraged when she realised that Nandi was loyal to Lord Shiva first. Now here comes the mythical part. Its said that Parvati took off the turmeric past ( also called Haldi )from her body , which she used for bathing and created a statue of a young boy. She breathed life into it. She named him Ganesha. Ganesha was loyal to her and only her. He would not ever deny any of her wishes. However she loved him as a son and she did not think anything else about him.
Now remember, till now Ganesha was just a normal boy. He did not have the head of an elephant. He was just like a normal kid with 2 hands, 2 legs :D etc etc.
So once, while Parvati was having a bath, She asked Ganesha to guard the house and not let anyone inside. Ganesha ever loyal to his mother stood guard outside the house. In sometime, Lord Shiva came home with his entourage. However Ganesha did not allow anyone inside. He stood guard and refused to allow any of the huge entourage accompanying Lord Shiva inside. He did not even allow Lord Shiva inside. Lord Shiva became enraged. He decided to remove this boy for enraging him. He ordered his army to kill the boy. However the boy created by Goddess Parvati herself was way too powerful. He defeated all of them. Lord Shiva was surprised. There were very few that could ever defeat his entourage with such ease. He decided to kill the boy himself. Enraged with anger, The usually peaceful Lord Shiva was a scary sight indeed.
The destroyer of the world ( Shiva) is a scary sight to behold when he is angry. No one can withstand his anger and that is the universal truth.
That day he decided that the boy should die. He beheaded ganesha and walked inside. On reaching inside, when Parvati saw him she was confused. She asked him how did he enter inside. Now Shiva said, " This is my house, Why cant I enter ".
Parvati : Yes my lord, it is your house. However I had asked my son Ganesha to guard the house and let no one inside.
On hearing this Shiva was confused. He told her the whole story. The anger of Parvati knew no bounds now. She was enraged beyond imagination. She summoning all of her ferocious multi-armed forms, the Yoginis arose from her body and threatened to destroy all. Lord Brahma and other Lords in the universe quickly came to try to pacify her. The world was a creation that they all cherished and they did not wish to see their children ( humans ) perish in this manner. They pleaded and begged Parvati to try to reconsider her stance.
By now, Shiva also had calmed down. He realised what a grave mistake he had done. He decided to try to re compensate his wife by amending his mistakes. He asked his followers to go north and find the first creature who was sleeping facing North.
They waited for a long time. His followers had to travel very long distances. Shiva lived in the mountains and it was a lonely place obviously. There was not much habitation around him. The silence was eerie sometimes. But it was also what was really pacifying when he used to meditate. After a long, wait his followers came back. They were holding the head of an elephant. It was the first creature that they found sleeping facing north.
Lord Shiva Promptly took the head and put it on top of the headless body of Ganesha. He did his magic and the head was fixed to the body. Lord ganesha's body was back. He blew life into the body once again. Ganesha came back to life with a startle. Seeing his mother he was extremely happy. He quickly ran to her and hugged her.
And thus the Elephant God was born.
There are several stories about Lord Ganesha. I will write about one of them in the next post :)
If you like to read such stuff, please follow me :)
No comments:
Post a Comment