Ganapati Bappa Moraya

Puranas are authentic sources of rituals. Rituals are the actions that help us earn punya, essential for leading happy and contented life.

One of such ritual is worshiping Lord Ganapati on the day of Chaturthi. In fact there are numerous people who with devotion observe sankashti chaturthi vrat every month with a belief that all their desires are fulfilled by observing this vrat.

In all chaturthis two chaturthis are more widely celebrated all over world. One is chaturthi (fourth day) that falls in shukla paksha (waxing phase) of month Bhadrapada and second is chaturthi that falls in shukla paksha of month Magha (popularly known as Maghi Ganapati or Ganesh Jayanti).

The ritual includes making of idol of Lord Ganapati from clay and then performing shodashopchar puja (sixteen steps of hospitality) including abhishek (offering sacred bath to Lord while chanting of veda suktas). And then on second day perform farewell to Lord by immersing his idol in the river.

Lord Ganapati is considered presiding deity of intellect. It is the intellect that really helps us in life to achieve all success. And that is why children are encouraged from early age to chant Ganapati Atharvashirsha. Many people follow a practice of performing avartana (repeated chanting) of Ganapati Atharvashirsha on the day of chaturthi to firmly establish in devotion to Lord Ganapati.

One can imagine why worshiping Lord Ganapati is so popular and important. Ganapati has many forms. His main form is omkar, the primordial sound, which is the origin of this universe. From omkar all gods emanated. Om letter is in itself combination of three letters – AUM. A represents Lord Brahma, U represents Lord Vishnu and M represents Lord Shivam. So worship of Ganapati is really worship of all three gods.

Wishing you all happy Ganesh Chaturthi!!! May Lord Ganapati bring you and your beloved ones most auspicious gains.