Happy Ganesha Chaturthi!

Today marks the day that Lord Ganesha checks in to Earth with his mother Parvati and it's a pretty big deal for us Hindus.

Of the many Gods, Shri Ganesha is one of the most known in the Hindu pantheon and most popular, not just amongst Hindus. Ganapati, one of his many names, means elephant-headed Hindu god of beginnings.

He is celebrated as the remover of obstacles and is honoured at the beginning of each prayer, this was the case with the recent Luxmi prayers I had done a few weeks ago. It might be lesser known that he is invoked as a patron of letters and learning during writing sessions. That is excellent news for me since I became a ghostwriter and blogger.

His creation tale is interesting and I know it off by heart because my mum tells it so well. There are other versions but this one is the most known. I will attempt to do my best but please forgive me for not being anywhere close to the way she tells it. 

Mother Parvati was alone whilst Lord Shiva was out hunting and she so created a child out of clay. In time he grew to be a boy of intermate age, let's say around seven-ish, also that is how long Shiva was away. He tended to go off like that which was why Parvati was so lonely.

Anyway, Parvati wanted to have a bath and so she asked Ganesha to keep watch. It was at this point that Shiva returned only to be stopped in his path by a small child. Ganesha didn't know who this guy was and his mum told him to keep watch so it went down. He refused to let Shiva pass and Shiva who had no idea what this small creature was, thought his wife was in danger so they fought. The result was a headless Ganesha just as Parvati finished her bath.

She saw this and was pretty upset, she did tell Shiva that he killed his son though. He left only to return with the head of an elephant to replace the head he chopped off. It all worked out in the end so don't fret. Ganesha and Shiva got along after that..incident. 

He does have a younger brother, Muruga who is the God of War. There is a story about the two of them that my mum tells. Ganesha and Muruga were about to compete for the prize of wisdom and knowledge. Lord Shiva told his sons that the first one to circle the world thrice would win. So off Muruga goes off on his peacock( yes, the dude rode a peacock and it was majestic), he was so far ahead that he was sure of victory. Ganesha just asked his parents to sit together and he walked around them thrice. He explained that as his parents, they represent his world. And that is why he gets to be honoured first, for any prayer. 

He loves happiness and is always singing and dancing. He loves food especially if it is sweet and rides around on a rat. Epic.