Essay on “Ganesh Chaturthi” Festival
Ganesh Chaturthi is generally considered as a lucky-day festival. It falls on the fourth day of the Sukla paksha in the month of Bhadrapad. Lord Ganesha was born on this day. The Lord was declared first amongst the gods. In Maharashtra, this festival is known as Vinayak Chaturthi and is observed with great enthusiasm. In Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, the clay images of Lord Ganesha are decorated with intricate designs. After seven to ten days, the idols are dipped into sea or river water.
It is described in the Puranas that once Goddess Parvati commanded Shiva’s Gana Nandi to guard the entrance of the palace till she bathed. But Lord Shiva trespassed the rules. Suddenly she created her own guard in the form of Ganesha by taking some saffron paste from her body and mixing it with water and clay. Some fighting followed while Ganesha kept guarding, and remained obstinate. Lord Shiva cut off Ganesha’s head from behind. But once he came to know that he was on a mission, he asked Lord Brahma to bring back his head. Then Ganesha got the elephant’s head.
