It's time again for the much awaited Ganesh Chathurthi festival which is celebrated with very high spirits not only in India but also in many other parts of the world.

Lord Ganesha is a very famous deity globally who is known as a Obstacle remover and also the Lord of New beginnings. The celebration goes on for a maximum of 11 days and many families also bring Ganesha home and keep him for few days and then immerse the idol into any water body. All over the streets in India you would find Pandals (temporary sheds) where they would bring in the idol of Ganesha and then depending on the convenience will keep for 3,5,7,9 or maximum 11 days and then do the immersion.

The story of Lord Ganesha birth is very fascinating and almost unbelievable, however it holds a far deeper meaning and symbolism.

There are many versions of Lord Ganesha's birth but the most famous one is that one day Parvati the wife of Lord shiva had to go for a bath and she had no one reliable to guard the doors. In the past she had trusted the guarding to Nandi the bull and she had failed as Nandi could not stop Lord Shiva to enter. So Parvati took a paste of Turmeric, created a human form out of it and breathed life to it and thus was Lord Ganesha born.

One day when Ganesha was on Guard, Lord Shiva comes and wants to get inside the house, Ganesha would just not allow which made Shiva furious and in anger he severed the head of the little boy. When Parvati gets to know of this she feels devastated and tells Shiva to bring life back for her son anyhow.
Shiva was not in the capacity to join back the severed head and give life so he sends out Nandi and says bring the first head of a living creature you would find on the way. Nandi came back with the head of an Elephant calf. Which Shiva then joins to the body of Ganesha and thus the new form of Ganesha, the Elephant head God is born.

There is a lot of arrangements that needs to be done for the ceremony and also some sweets to be made for offerings, which later is distributed.

After the whole set up is done.

As I start setting up the table. I made all the decoration by myself, I thoroughly enjoy doing it specially for this festival.

We do a small ritual with the presence of all our family and friends. On these days we have visitors just pouring in throughout the day to seek blessings of Ganesha.

At the end of 2 days after all the rituals, we then do the immersion.

We had a truly wonderful 2 days with the blessings of Lord Ganesha and did not feel like ending it, but as all good things come to end so does this.

Ganesha is also known as the Lord of intelligence and awareness, which is why he's called the vighna-harta, the remover of obstacles. When we are able to reach the state of awareness and center ourselves obstacles leave our path.

Every part of Lord Ganesha has a significance and a teaching for us getting us aligned with the larger universal self:
The Big head stands for Intelligence, Power, and Wisdom
Small Eyes represents Concentration
The large Ears would ask us to listen more and carefully
Small Mouth means to talk less
The Conch in his left hand represents spirituality and to pull you nearer to your higher self.
The Lotus in his other left hand is a symbol for ascension of our spirit to greater heights.
The sweet in his hand represents the rewards of all the hard work that we get. The sweetest of all.
The Axe in the right hand of the Ganesh represents to cut off the bonds of unnecessary attachments.
The right upraised hand signifies blessings and the protection that one gets from the divine.
The Trident in his right hand represents the 3 powers of Love, wisdom and action.
The broken tusk tells us to retain good and throw away the bad.
The Trunk means high efficiency, adaptability.
The Big belly of the lord signifies all the known and the unknown of the universe that exist within oneself and also indicates the good and bad which is a part of life and we need to digest everything peacefully.
The mouse at his feet side represents both desire and ability to reach into every nook and corner of the monkey mind. Also it means that you should be in control of your desire, and desire should not control you.
The bowl of fruits represents that what you need is at your feel you just need to ask for it.

I always look forward to bring Lord Ganesha home every year and celebrate this festival. For me it's a time of high energies, joy, togetherness, learning, service and bonding. We will celebrate it for a period of 2 days and then do the immersion. From last couple of years we have been going in for an environmental friendly idol made of paper mache which are eco-friendly and avoids pollution.

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