The Expression Hub

“Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.”

Voltaire

First of all, wishing everyone a very happy and a prosperous Ganesh Chaturthi. This is a festival which celebrates Lord Ganesha over a period of 10 days. For those who are not familiar with Lord Ganesha, he is a God with an elephant head and is considered as an epitome of intelligence and wisdom.Not only is he an intelligent and wise, but he is also known to be the God who is worshiped first as well as the remover of all obstacles. He is considered to be a favorite of all because of all the fine qualities possessed by him.

Since the festival is about to conclude and the festive spirit is still in the air, I thought I must share something related to the God. After all, he is everyone’s favorite apart from Lord Shiva. So, it does make sense to know more about the God that brings positivity and helps us to undertake each of our works without much difficulty. So, sharing with you below a compilation of facts borrowed from various sources related to our beloved Elephant headed Lord.

1. It is a well-known fact that Lord Ganesha is worshiped first before the other Gods in every holy procession as it is said that he removes all the obstacles related to whatever work has been undertaken. But did you know that there is a festival when the entire family of Lord Ganesha is worshiped? During Durga Pooja, which falls on the sixth day of Navratri , the entire family of Lord Ganesha is worshiped.
2. According to the Ganesh Purana, the muladhar chakra or the root chakra is known as Ganesha.
3. Did you know that Tulsi cursed Lord Ganesha?This is an interesting story from the Brahmavart Purana. The story goes like the Lord was meditating on the banks of Ganga. Tulsi happened to pass by and was smitten by the Lord’s beauty. She asked him to marry her. The lord refused thus leading to Tulsi cursing him that he will marry soon . In return, the lord too cursed her that she will be a plant forever.
4. During Durga Pooja, a banana tree is wrapped in a saree and adorned with vermilion as the Lord’s wife. The reason behind this was to quash the doubts Goddess Durga had in her mind about her son’s hunger.
5. Lord Ganesha is not only worshiped by the Hindus but also by Buddhists and Jains.He is worshiped in countries like Tibet, China and Japan.
6. According to the Shiva Purana, the body color of Lord Ganesha is green and red.
7. What does the word Ganapati exactly mean?The word means one who is the lord of categories or the origin of the whole creation.
8. In the Mahayana Buddhism, Lord Ganesha is known as Vinayaka and is often seen dancing. Also, the earliest stone statue of the elephant Lord dates back to as early as AD 531.
9. Indonesia prints Lord Ganesha on its 20,000 Rupiah note because it has strong cultural ties with India and Hinduism.
10. Lord Ganesha is often seen wearing red and yellow clothes where red symbolizes shakti and material reality while yellow represents purity, peace and truthfulness.

The more you read about something, the more interesting a thing becomes. This became applicable to me while getting to know my Bappa even more better. Hope you will enjoy this small piece of informational content just the same way as I did enjoy undertaking the research for the same. As the festival nears its end, I do hope that Bappa blesses everyone with lots of health, wealth and happiness. Once again wishing everyone a very happy Ganesh Chaturthi. And yes, if you would love to share something interesting related to the same, you are free to do so in the comments section. Would love to hear from you. Till then lots of love and care.