Have you ever seen an amazing picture like this? You must have. But this picture is easily one the best pictures caught on camera. I forgot to tell you where exactly I had taken this picture. This picture is from my Ranthambhore expedition. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I first saw this scene in front of me. A squirrel is praying with both hands folded, paying its gratitude to the almighty. Its eyes, too, are transfixed in the genuine admiration for the symbolic idol of Lord Shiva. In this agnostic age where we human finding it difficult to bow our head in front of the god almighty, this beautiful creature is keeping the faith alive.

“God understands our prayers even when we can't find the words to say them”.

"Om Namah Shivaya"

The mantra "Om Namah Shivaya" means "I bow to Lord Shiva", "I bow to the Inner Self".

Shiva Shakti Panchakshari Mantra

"Om Hrim Namah Shivaya"

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Related Lord Shiva Mantras & Stotras

• Shiva Manasa Puja
• Shiva Thandava Stotram
• Shri Rudram Chamakam
• Shiva Panchakshara Stotram
• Shiva Gayatri Mantra
• Maha Mrutyunjaya Mantra
• Shiva Panchakshari Mantra
• Shiva Lingashtakam
• Kalabhairava Ashtakam

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Visit http://msabhiblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Shiva%20Mantras for Lord Shiva Mantras and Stotras Lyrics and Video

To satisfy my increasing curiosity, I headed to Crosswords a few weeks back and with the help of Santhosh managed to find a couple of books that looked like they could answer my questions. Devdutt Pattanaik's Shiva to Shankara - Decoding the Phallic Symbol is one of them.

The book is essentially a collection of short stories and accompanying observations by the author to understand and make sense of the overtly sexual connotations associated with Shiva. And it succeeds to a great extent in making its point. It also succeeds, partly, in uncovering the 'censored' version of Shiva that we are made to see by the powers that be in today's India that is full of elders and self-proclaimed teachers stubbornly averse to the sexual and erotic side of Hinduism. The short stories and extensive use of illustrations make a book fast read and easy to understand as well. This makes it a good reference book. For example, Shiva's detachment from the world and the frustration it causes to Parvati is illustrated in a small folklore passed down the generations:

A House for Parvati

Parvati once begged Shiva to build her a house. "Why do we need a house?" Shiva wondered. In summer when it is hot, I sit under the shade of the Banyan tree. In winter, when it is cold I warm myself in the crematorium beside funeral pyres. In the rainy season, I simply fly and sit on the clouds above the rain.

That said, the illustrations and stories mean that the book is rather short in length. It answers a lot of questions but the curiosity does not die down. So, I look forward to read more books on this weed smoking, chilled out, maverick and mystical lord of Hinduism.

While celebrated all over India, it is most elaborately celebrated in Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, and other areas which were former states of the Maratha Empire. Outside India, it is celebrated by Newars in Nepal and Tamil Hindus in Sri Lanka

Legends of Ganesh Chaturthi

According to the legend, Lord Shiva, the Hindu God of resolution, was away meditating on Mount Kailash.

His wife Parvati wanted to bathe and having no one to guard the door to her house, conceived the idea of creating a son who could guard at the door. Parvati created Ganesha out of the sandalwood paste that she used for bath and breathed life into it. She instructed Ganesha not to allow anyone to enter.

Meanwhile, Lord Shiva returned but since Ganesha didnot know him as yet, he prevented him from entering Parvati's Chamber. Shiva was enraged and sent most powerful Gods to fight against Ganesha. But Ganesha defeated all of them. The only way Ganesh could be defeated was by death. Finally Lord Shiva beheaded Ganesha with his magnificient trident.

When Parvati emerged, she found Ganesh dead. Parvati flew into a rage and took the form of Goddess Kali and threatened to destroy the entire world. She destroyed everything in her path and finally stopped when Lord Shiva pretended to die.

She was still in a dangerous mood and Shiva in an attempt to pacify her, instructed the shiv ganas to bring the head of the first living thing that they would find. The first living thing that the ganas came across was  an elephant. They beheaded the elephant and brought back the head. Lord Shiva placed the head on the trun of Parvati's son and breathed life into him. Parvati was overjoyed and hugged her son, the elephant headed boy whom Lord Shiva named Ganesha, or the Lord of his ganas. Parvati was still upset and so shiva annouced that whoever worships Ganesha before any other form of God is favored. So Ganesha is worshipped first in all Hindu Occasions and festivals.

Another most popular legend found in Skanda Purana says, once Ganesha was invited for a feast in Chandralok. The god, known for his ravenous appetite, stuffed himself with laddoos. When he got up to walk after the meal, he could not balance because of his huge stomach and stumbled. As he fell, his stomach burst and all the laddoos came rolling out. The moon could not contain himself and began laughing. Enraged, Ganesha cursed the moon, causing him to vanish from the universe. However because of the moon's absence, the whole world began to wane. So the gods asked Shiva to persuade Ganesha to relent. The moon also apologized for his misbehaviour. On Shiva's intervention, Ganesha modified his curse. He announced that the moon would be invisible on only one day of a month and would be partially seen for the Ganesha Utsav most part.

Lord Ganesha has many names. The main ones are Ganapati (Lord of the tribe or attendants), Vighnesvara (controller of all obstacles), Gajanana (elephant-faced), Gajadhipati (Lord of elephants), Lambkarn (long-eared), Lambodar (pendant-bellied) and Ekadant (having one tusk). Lord Ganesha is depicted with having four arms. These symbolize him as the universal ruler establishing four categories of beings -- firstly those who can live only in water, secondly those who can live in water and earth, thirdly those who can live only on earth and lastly those who can fly in the air. Moreover it is also Lord Ganesha who instituted the four castes and four Vedas.

The vehicle of Lord Ganesha is a mouse. As rats generally succeed in gnawing their way through every obstruction, the rat symbolizes this god's ability to destroy every obstacle. Being an elephant he passes through the thickest of wild growth in a forest, uproots and tears to smithereens the thickest trees hindering his path and fells out whatever comes in his way. While drilling holes like a mouse he can also slip through the narrowest of spaces and thickest of the walls. Moreover, the mouse is deemed to be the master of inside everything. The all-pervading Atman (soul) is the mouse that lives in the hole called Intellect, within the heart of every being. It hides itself behind the inscrutable shape of illusion.
The legend about Lord Ganesha having preference over all other gods establishes his sharpness of intellect. There was a keen competition amongst all gods to gain the first place of worship amongst the laity. It was decided that the god who would return first after traversing the whole universe shall be declared the winner. All gods and goddesses ran on their fast vehicles. Lord Ganesh with his pot-bellied body and mouse's vehicle could never hope to compete. He took a round of his parents, Shiva and Parvati, and just sat there at the starting point. He was declared the winner because one who goes round his parents and touches their feet traverses the whole universe. Since then Lord Ganesha is always worshipped first and every other god takes a back seat. Another legend says that when Parvati saw an elephant's head being fixed on her son's body, she burst into tears and could not be soothed. To pacify her Brahma announced that amongst the worship of all the gods, that of Lord Ganesha should forever bear the first preference.
Lord Ganesha has two wives, one named Siddhi (Success) and the other named Riddhi (Prosperity). Of course one who pleases the Lord automatically comes into the good books of his two wives!
As the Lord of Obstacles and the personification of those qualities which surmount all difficulties, Lord Ganesha is often honored at the outset of any project or test and consequently has become particularly popular with modern businessmen and students. He is the typical lord of success in life and its accompaniments of good living, prosperity and peace. In all ceremonies (except funeral rites) Lord Ganesha is first involked. He is revered by most Hindus, whether followers of Shiva or Vishnu.
Lord Ganesha represents the unity of the Small Being, the man, with the Great Being, the elephant.

History

In 1893, Lokmanya Tilak, an Indian nationalist, social reformer and freedom fighter reshaped the annual Ganesh festival from private family celebrations into a grand public event.  It is interesting to note that the festival was not celebrated in a public manner until this time but was a family affair among Hindus, who used to celebrate it in a traditional manner.

Lokamanya Tilak visualized the cultural importance of this deity and popularised Ganesha Chaturthi as a National Festival "to bridge the gap between the Brahmins and the non-Brahmins and find an appropriate context in which to build a new grassroots unity between them" in his nationalistic strivings against the British in Maharashtra.

Tilak chose Ganesha as a rallying point for Indian protest against British rule because of his wide appeal as "the god for Everyman". It was an important festival during the Peshwa rule in Maharashtra, but acquired a more organized form all over India during the Swaraj movement (Freedom struggle).

Tilak was the first to install large public images of Ganesha in pavilions, and he established the practice of submerging all the public images on the tenth day. The festival facilitated community participation & involvement in the form of learned discourses, dance dramas, poetry recital, musical concerts, debates, etc. It served as a meeting ground for common people of all castes and communities, in a time when social & political gatherings were forbidden by the British Rule to exercise control over the population.

Ganesh Chaturthi Rituals

Before the ten-day ceremony begins, the household achieves an unmatched state of purity. Households and specially the place where the idol is to be placed, is cleaned and whitewashed. Ganesha idols that are newly molded are brought from the innumerable street-side shops, which come up especially during the festival. The idols of Lord Ganesha are carried with their faces covered with a saffron cloth amidst the chanting and sound of cymbals. And as the evening approaches, his idol is seated in a grandiose
manner in the puja room. He is installed as the supreme one who takes precedence over all others. This is called “Sthapana” when all the members of the household gather around the decorated altar. Then the priests perform a ritual by which the idol is said to be imbued with life. After that follows the traditional puja. The puja begins at the time designated. The ceremony begins by placing the image, usually made of terracotta, in a sacred arena. The worshiper then sips the holy water and performs the pranayama and bows against Ganesha and all the other gods. The Ganapati Aarti and devotional chanting are sung along with the cymbals, bells and clapping. The “modak” a sweet is offered to the deity along with the flowers. This completes the ritual of the first day.

For the remaining days, the idol is worshiped with simple recitations of the devotional songs, offering of flowers and lamps.

After the ten days of worship, the god returns to his heavenly abode and his image is immersed in the water. This is known as visarjan (immersion). All the people join the final procession to the ghats of a river or the ocean in Mumbai and other coastal areas. Shouts of 'Ganapati bappa Morya, Pudchya varshi laukariya' (beloved Ganesha, Lord of Morya, come again early next year) echo all over.

The event is now a massive celebration and is perhaps the world’s largest religion-inspired party. Trucks carry the huge idols of Ganapatis on roads while the devotees carry a red colored called gulal to shower on each other.

Significance of Ganesh Chaturthi

The significance of Ganesh Chaturthi lies in the way people attach themselves with all their love and faith to the care and pampering of the all-embracing Lord Ganesha. Throughout the festival, people worship the ‘ashtavinayakas’ referred to the eight embodiments of Lord Ganesha that played the role of abolishing the evil powers of the demonic elements that existed in the world. The popular Mayureshwara was that divine incarnation of Lord Ganesha that put an end to the evil and harm inflicted by the demon called Sindhu by destroying him completely. This symbolizes the victory of the good over the evil. And also, there lies a message that Lord Ganesha always comes to abolish the villains in every period and every age, adding to the importance of Ganesh Chaturthi.
The significance of Ganesh Chaturthi can be felt in the wish of the people who lovingly bring the enchanting idols and perform all the required ceremonies and rituals in order to ensure the lively presence of the Lord Ganesha in the worshiped idol. The jubilation of the whole festival can be experienced while standing on the streets mainly of Maharashtra and other place located in the vicinity of sea area and beaches. There, the people gather and dance to the beats of while welcoming Ganpati to their homes and bid a farewell with the same kind of musical atmosphere.

The assembly of people takes the Lord Ganesha idols to the nearby water bodies in order to submerge the idols into the deep waters. It is believed the under the vast waters, there exists the home of Lord Ganesha, where he joins his family. And then to strengthen this belief Ganesha comes back again every year bringing the season of celebrations with the arrival of Ganesh Chaturthi. With this unflinching belief, there will always be happiness and blessings in the lives of the people during the entire, ameliorating the significance of Ganesh Chaturthi.

Information Courtesy

• Wikipedia

• Holy Mountain

• 123Greetings

Another Monday Mantra...on Tuesday. Do you think the Universe is trying to tell me something? Honestly, I tried to carve out a bit of time yesterday for this post, but it just didn't happen. Mondays are always just so busy. But, I love it, because the Universe does have a sense of humour doesn't it? I mean, my thought on posting a mantra each Monday was that it is such a frenetic day we could all use something to give us a mindfulness break, and opportunity to shift focus, to regain steadiness and concentration...and then, I couldn't find time to do that. Hmmm... will have to work on that, for now here is a new mantra for you.

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