Why do we celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi and how to celebrate it

Why do we celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi

In India we celebrate many festivals with great devotion and joy. Ganesh Chaturthi is one among them and it is also called as Vinayaka chavithi. It is celebrated on the occasion of birthday of lord Ganesha who is god of knowledge, wealth and prosperity. He is also called as vighna hartha (who removes obstacles). This festival is observed in the month of badhrapadha on Shukla paksha Chaturthi.

 Reason behind this festival:

Once there lived a demon by name gajamukhasura.He got a boon that he should be killed only by such a person who is born from women without any involvement of men. And he should be killed by his father (husband of that women) and again he should be reborn with an elephant head. In order to fulfill all this conditions lord ganesha’s birth has taken place.

Goddess Parvathi mata is creator of lord Ganesha. In the absence of lord shiva, maa Parvathi used her nalugu(haldi and chandan paste) applied to her body to create ganesha and gave life to him. Mata asked the boy (ganesha) to stand outside the house to guard and went for bathing.

ganesha chaturthi

In the mean while lord shiva came there to meet maa Parvathi. The boy stopped shiva from going inside according to his mother’s order. Out of anger lord shiva cut off the head of the boy. By seeing this maa Parvathi told all about her creation and cried a lot. Then lord shiva ordered his followers to get the head of any living being which is sleeping by keeping the head to north side.

The followers brought the head of an elephant which was facing the head in north direction. Then lord shiva placed the head of elephant on the body of the boy and brought him to life again. All gods blessed lord ganesh and this day was observed as ganesha Chaturthi.

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How to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi :

On this auspicious day we should place the statue of lord ganesha made out of mud and decorate him with haldi, kumkum, chandan and flowers. We should pray lord ganesha with 21 kinds of plants which is called as pathri ( it includes plants like maredu, doorva, Datura, Badari, uttareni, mangoleaves, karaveera, daanimma, Devadaaru, maruvam, sinduvara, jaaji, shami, ashwatha, Maddhi, arkapatram etc), all these plants have great medicinal values.

ganesha chaturthi gaensha

There is also a good social and environmental reason behind using this plants in this Pooja. That is after worshipping lord ganesha for 5days or 9 days we immerse the idol of ganesha in the water body along with this 21 plants. Generally in this maasam( month) all the water bodies will be contaminated. So when we immerse this patri in water, it purifies the water.

These plants will be available in the market or by roadside before the day of vinayaka chavithi. We should offer naivedhyam to lord like modhakas, laddu, kudumulu, undralu, payasam etc. After offering naivedhyam sit peacefully in front of the god and chant ganapathi ashtotharam, other stotras and then read or listen to story behind ganesh birth and story of shamanthakamani. Then perform arthi by singing arthi song which gives you a pleasant feeling.

Also Read Understanding Hindu calendar

Reason behind not to see moon on this day:

Once on the day of vinayaka chavithi lord ganesha ate lots of food and was unable to bend to take blessings of his parents. By seeing this lord Chandra(moon) laughed at him.Then maa Parvathi got anger and cursed moon that whoever see moon on this day will be falsely blamed for bad deeds which one has not done (neelapaninda).

Remedy to avoid this curse:

In order to avoid this curse one should perform ganesha Pooja and should read or listen to the stories of birth of ganesha and shamantakamani and put akshintalu (rice mixed with haldi and kumkum) which are kept near god on their heads. This will protect , even if someone see the moon accidentally on this day.

Jai Ganesha

Best Qualities of an Ideal person - Ramayan Lessons

Let us learn about the best qualities of a Ideal person from Ramayana

Ramayan starts with sage Valmiki asking Narada muni, if he know any ideal person having best qualities.

Then Narada Muni starts explaining about Lord Shri Rama and his qualities.

Now we will understand some qualities of Rama which are told by Narada muni. If we can implement these qualities in our life we can also become good and ideal person.

1. Rama has controlled his Indriyas (senses)

This is the first quality a person should have if he want to become successful. Most of us will think to start some good work but we will not be able to start and complete the work properly because we will get distracted or get attracted to something else.

For example many people will think of doing exercise or yoga early in the morning. But we will not be able to it regularly because our senses get attracted to extra sleeping. All the people who smoke, know it is injurious to their health. Still they don’t stop smoking because they don’t have control on their senses.

2. Rama can differentiate good and bad, and will always do good.

This is a very good quality every human being should have, but unfortunately most of us don’t have this quality. So to become an idea person we should first learn what is good and what is bad. If we are not able to differentiate between good and bad, how we can do good?

For example if you want to drive on a road and if don’t know which is correct side and which is wrong side, what will happen? Accident. And there are some people who know which is correct side and wrong side but still they choose wrong side and finally get fined.

So you should know which is correct and which is wrong in the journey of life and you should always choose correct side

10 best qualities to learn from Lord Rama

3. Rama has lot of patience, but if he gets anger no one can stand in front of him

We will get irritated for every small thing. If there is a power cut we will get irritated, if internet is not working we will get irritated, if food doesn’t taste good we will be irritated. Like this we if we get irritated for each and every small thing there will not be any value for our anger. People will think that we are mad and they not care us.

But if there is a situation where you should get angry, you should not hesitate to show your anger and your actions should be so much powerful that others should be afraid of your anger.

[Please note: here actions doesn’t mean harming someone physically]

4. Rama will be always Happy

Whatever the situation is , Rama will be always in a state of happiness. We will get mood swings for small small things. If we get something good we will be excited, if we lose something immediately we will become sad. Because of this high mood swings we will never be at peace. So whatever the situation is, try to be cool and happy.

5. Rama is Brave

 To become a Leader or to do great things on should be brave. You should be ready to face any situation. If you are not brave enough you can never be successful. As per Puranas fear is the biggest disease, one can have. So be brave all the time.

6. If Rama decides to do some work, he will complete the work at any cost

Most of us will start some work, put some effort and will leave it incomplete and start putting efforts in some other work. But if we continue like this we will be keeping efforts but we will not get the result, as we are not completing the work. So if you start a work complete it so that you will get the output.

Best qualities to learn from Lord Rama

7. Rama will not have hatred or jealousy for any one

Many people waste time and energy in hating someone. Because of this we will develop a destructive mind set. If we develop a destructive mind set, we will never be able to reach higher goals.

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8. Rama has a strong physic

Rama used to keep himself fit and strong. If we are healthy and strong, our thinking will be good and we can achieve anything. So daily do some physical activity and make yourself fit and strong

9. Rama always helps people and other living beings and will protect the Environment

Now a days we are so busy that we are not helping our selves. But it is our duty that we should become strong and we should help others and protect the environment. Even small help is also help. Don’t think help means only donating money. You can share your knowledge, food, you can help someone in their work if needed, you can give some food items to animals or you can give some water to plants etc. Like this try to do some help at least twice in a week.

Also read Navavidha Bhakti

10. Rama always makes others happy and motivated with his words

We should always talk good and positive words. If someone is in a problem we should make them relaxed and motivated with our words. So that they will come out of their problem.

There are many people in our society who will add masala to others problems and make them feel more depressed. This people might not be doing it intentionally but it is a bad habit they got. So next time if you see someone who is in problem, try to motivate them with positive words and when you are in problem avoid people who add masala to your problems and make you more depressed.

So friends you also in built these best qualities of Lord Shri Rama and become an Ideal person.