Finding Nemo

When we talk about Lord Ganesha, how can we miss the multitude of stories linked with his birth? I did touch upon the same topic in my last series on Ganesha, but the interest just keep growing with the day and the stories associated with the same. There are multiple stories putting Shiva and Parvati in different situations resulting in the birth of Lord Ganesha. Some stories indicate that Shiva and Parvati were in such compassion that the entire universe was afraid. Due to their fear, they allowed the offspring to have a mixed feature set - a human and an elephant. The other story says that Parvati was so moved by the elephants that she requested Shiva to take the form of an elephant and this lead to Ganesha. In yet another story, Pavati is said to be attracted to her own son - Ganesha and hence Shiva punishes him just like Brahma by chopping his head off, later replacing the same with that of an elephant at the behest of Parvati. In another version, Parvati yearns for a baby and...

On the fourth day of the celebration and the series, I want to reflect upon the symbolism emanating from the form of Ganesha. Of all the gods, Ganesha has been adored like a baby, respected as a king and is also revered as a great scribe. Lord Ganesha has so much to offer that the various philosophers have deduced different ideas for him. The above image, though displays quite a comprehensive understanding of the meaning of Ganesha in our lives.

While we are all celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi in the month of Bhadrapada, there is another festival - Ganesha Jayanti which is celebrated much in the same way int he month of Magha. Both the festivals fall on the fourth day of the waxing moon. India being an agricultural land, all the festivals have a relation with the cultivation seasons. Ganesh Chaturthi marks the start of the new vegetation - Kharif, and the Ganesha Jayanti marks the start of the other season - Rabi. In addition to the Ganesha Jayanti and Ganesh Chaturthi, a their important season for the Ganesha devotees was established recently in 1985 as a Hindu alternate to Christmas and Jewish Hannukah in the month of December. The festival known as Pancha Ganapati is celebrated from December 21 to December 25. The festival was initiated by  Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (born Robert Hansen), a Western convert to Hinduism who founded the magazine Hinduism Today and the Saiva Siddhanta Church, headquartered in Hawaii. Du...

Yesterday's post had a few images of Lord Ganesha. And it is well known that Ganesha has taken so many forms on his own and through the minds of the people who adore him. We realized that the reasons for such fluidity and shape-shifting nature of Ganesha comes from the very form of his own body - The firm and large head displaying the highly developed mind The large rather huge potbelly displaying the abundance and prosperity. At the same time, the roundness of the belly signifies the pot beholding water or nectar of life. Any science student shall tell you that the liquid takes the form of the vessel it is kept in. Thus with just the two ideas above, people have created various forms of Ganesha.    The Mudgala Purana mentions 8 forms of Lord Ganesha -  Vakratunda (God with a curved trunk) - rides a lion to kill Matsara, the demon of Jealousy Ekdanata (God with one tusk) - rides a rat to kill Mada, the demon of vanity Mahodara (God with large belly) -...

Reposting this article from 2015! Lord Ganesha and his different forms amaze me all the time. So many songs, hymns have been written to worship him - and many of them are laced with fondness. Let's explore some of the forms and their meaning together. Last year about the same time, I posted a series of blog posts focussed on Lord Ganesha . Looking at his various aspects and the infinite limitless ideas that he signifies. I mentioned that I could never do any justice in talking about Lord Ganesha who is so fluid and so dynamic. there is much more than meets the eye. As is written in our scriptures that the eternal truth lies confound within the infinite myths or ideas or stories. To discover the eternal truth amongst all the stories, Varuna has 1000 eyes, Indra has a 100 eyes, where as I have just 2. (So says my teacher). Hence please do forgive my confusing and abstruse thoughts. I shall attempt as much I can, yet without a promise to display pansophical knowledge. I may still...

मृगनयनी, चांदनी  अविरल प्रेम संचायनी  मधुरिमा जीवनदायिनी  दुःख हरिणी, चपल चितवन मानिनी  सर्वत्र तिमिर भंजिनि हे प्रेमिका मेरा ह्रदय है सिर्फ आपका  चरण ध्वनि अनुसारिणी   

Resuming to write after a long break! A few weeks back we celebrated the Sharad-Navratri or the Navratri leading to Dussehra. This is also the time for Durga Puja and Golu. We are fortunate to have friends from different parts of the country. This helps us to understand the different cultures as well. This year, we had visited many of our friends to see their Golu and their own depiction of the stories. (DISCLAIMER – Please add Lord or God when reading the names – Shiva, Vishnu or Brahma. I mean no disrespect, but find myself lazy. Being a programmer at heart – consider this as my Global Declaration!) A very coherent theme everywhere was the theme around Shiva. Some had decorated their Golu with the dolls displaying the family of Lord Shiva. While some had taken to next level with many stories being narrated through the Shiva dolls. Even when many houses had dolls displaying the Dashavatars of Vishnu, presence of the theme with Lord Shiva at its center was very prominent. I ha...