Ganesh

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Ganesh, Ganapathy [Vighneswara]

***** Location: India
***** Season: Non-Seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Ganesh, Ganesha, Lord Of The Ganas

He is the divine elephant headed God [Gaja-aanana] of Hindu mysticism and Religion.
Yoga Tantra and Vedas and Puranas mention his deeds and Mantrams associated with him. He is Pranava Swaroopa [The Divine Form of Pranava Om] and Moolaadhara Kshethra Nivaasi {of Yoga and Tantra]. According to Puranic accounts Ganapathy is the Metaphysical son of Shiva and Paarvathi. He wards of all obstacles and hence called Vighneswara.
He is worshipped all over India and even outside.
Cracking a coconut to Ganapathy is a special ritual.

Narayanan Raghunathan

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One of the most popular Gods in India, lord Ganesh or Ganpati is considered a symbol of wisdom and a bringer of good luck. It is said that his elephant head epitomises everything related to wisdom-small shrewd eyes, long ears that miss nothing, a long nose that can smell out anything fight and his vehicle, a mouse, reflects how much importance a wise man gives to the smallest of life forms.

On the occasion of the Ganpati festival a large number of images are made of all possible sizes, and people buy them to keep in their houses as a divine guest for one and a half, five, seven, or ten days, after which the image is taken out ceremoniously and thrown into the river, sea or well for immersion or "visarjan". When he is immersed in the water, people sing,

"GANPATI BAPPA MORYA, AGLE BARAS TO JALDI AA,"

("father Ganpati, next year come again")

http://festivals.iloveindia.com/ganesh-chaturti/lord-ganesh.html

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Lord Ganesha: The mystery of His marital status
BY SATISH PUROHIT

A very long collection of many interresting episodes around Ganesh.
The most detailed you will find on the WWW.

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More Indian Art Photos with GANESH !


Five Headed Ganesha


http://www.exoticindiaart.com/product/WE64/


Sculptures of Ganesha
Paintings of Lord Ganesha

Ganesha is usually depicted either as a pictograph or as an idol with the body of a man and the head of an elephant, having only one tusk, the other tusk appearing broken. His unique feature, besides the elephant head, is the large belly practically falling over his lower garment. On his chest, across his left shoulder, is his sacred thread, often in the form of a snake. The vehicle of Ganesha is the mouse, often seen paying obeisance to his lord.

Ganesha is the ONLY god to be associated in a "physical" sense with the primordial sacred sound AUM, a telling reminder of his supreme position in the Hindu pantheon.

Read it all here:
Ganesha the Elephant Headed God

Copyright © 2005, ExoticIndiaArt

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Ganpati Festival

The annual festival in honor of Ganesh or Ganapati, the elephant-headed deity who is known as the remover of obstacles and the god of auspiciousness, has been observed for at least 250 years, and perhaps at least since the twelfth century. It was at first an affair that lasted for two days or less, but by the middle part of the eighteenth century, in the reign of Madhavrao (1761-72), it began to be celebrated over six days. The modern history of the Ganapati festival dates back to 1894, when the Maratha politician and Indian nationalist, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, lionized as Lokamanya, or "Beloved of the People", gave it a distinct political face.

Though the festival had largely been a private affair, where each family purchased an idol of Ganesh and then took it out in procession on Ganesh Chaturthi before immersing it in the river, pond, or tank, it had not been without its public and community aspect, since often several families joined in the procession, or otherwise pooled together their resources to buy a larger-sized idol.

But one of Tilak’s achievements was to make the Ganapati festival the vehicle, so to speak, for the aspirations of the Maratha people as well as those of other Indians who desired independence from British tutelage. Henceforth, the Ganapati festival was to become a largely public affair.

In its present form, the Ganapati festival, which is best observed in Pune or Bombay (now Mumbai), retains to a very large degree the characteristics with which it was endowed by Tilak. The festival is observed for ten days, and immersions of the deity are carried out over the last twenty-four hours of the festival, and the honor of the last immersions, when immense crowds are gathered, falls to the most well-known or affluent communities.

Pavilions are put up by various communities, residential blocks, streets, markets, wealthy merchants or industrialists, and organizations, and an image, usually quite lavish, of Ganesh is placed on each mandap.

Read a lot more about it here:
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/Culture/Festivals/Ganpati.html



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Worldwide use

Japan

Kanki-Ten, Kangi-Ten 歓喜天
The Indian deity with an elephant head, in its Japanese version usually depicted as two humans , male and female, in embracing position. Most of the statues are hidden in a special sanctuary and never shown to the public.

More about Kankiten (Ganesh) in Japan

Read about my encounter with a Kanki-Ten statue

Gabi Greve

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Tibet

Maharakta Ganapati


http://www.carltonrochell.com/view_image.html?image_no=133

In Tibet, Ganapati is said to be an incarnation of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. He hold a blood-filled scull cup in one of his hands and dances in an enthrusting manner with his plump legs. His tusks are quite sharp and white. Behind him is a whirl of energy patterns.


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

First published in midnightedition

lamplight incants
red silk lillies around my
cherished Ganesh ~

Amanda Cazalet


my Ganapathy icons
in disarray ~ sunlight,
flute music engulfs.

Narayanan Raghunathan

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Lord, son and friend
to all benevolent, Ganesh:
for you love, reverence.

(c) Aju Mukhopadhyay, 2007


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Related words

***** Ganesh Chaturthi Festival
kigo for autumn

On the fourth day of the bright half of Bhadrapad, the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi comes to India.

See the LINKs in the comments.





coloured pond-
Ganapathy parts
after a great celebration


Ganapathy -
the epitome of pranava
"aum" in the elephant trunk.


Ganapathy immersed -
an urchin comes out of the pond
with a rupee coin

( It is a practice to immerse the Ganapathy idol in a pond or sea or a water body after the celebrations. Usually a coin is embedded on the clay idol of Ganapathy during immersion).

B.Vadivelrajan, January 2008


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Ganesh utsav
shaping the rice flour
into a blossom


This food is generally called modak in Maharashtra.
After we make it into a thin calla lily-like, we fill it with puran made from coconut gratings and sugar and then steam cook it!
It's a delicacy amongst the Tamizh people.

Kala Ramesh, India, 2008

Click here for PHOTOS of "modak" .

Click here for PHOTOS of "Ganesh Ustav" .


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Om Shri Ganeshay Namoh...
(Salutations to Lord Ganesh)

Today (Sep 09, 2013) is Ganesh Chaturthi, an auspicious day in Indian calendar to offer prayers to Lord Ganesh who not only fulfills everybody's wishes but also removes all the obstacles from the path. He is the Lord who stands for wisdom and learning.

It can be seen that next to Lord Krishna, Ganesh is the most popular god followed by Lord Hanuman. In eight of his incarnations Lord Ganesh has eliminated eight demons: Matsarasur (demon of jealousy) as Vakratunda, Madasura (demon of vanity) as Ekdanta, Moho (attachment) as Mohadara, Lobha (greed) as Gajanana, Krodha (anger) as Lambodara, kama (desire) as Vikata, self-indulgence as Vakratunda and finally, ahankar (arrogance) as Dhumravarna. Is that not a great revealation?

However, a close analysis will show that all these eight demons live within us. Therefore, earnest worship of Lord Ganesh will help us get rid of the dreadful attributes like envy, pride, greed, anger, desire and attachment. There is another important aspect in the worship of Lord Ganesh. We offer different kinds of fruits, often considered poisonous, leaves, even thorny ones, and wild flower, signifying environment-friendly nature of our Lord.

Therefore, Lord Ganesh and his worship shall not only cleanse us, but thereby make a healthy society with elements of love, friendship, respect for each other, peace, non-violence and co-existence. The Lord inspires us to protect the fauna and flora, too. In light of this, let us welcome Lord Ganesh to our midst and worship him for the benefit of mankind and his environment.

wisdom and learning --
Lord Ganesh passes on the seed
to each one us

- Shared by Kumarendra Mallick -
Haiku Culture Magazine, 2013




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