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Top 5 Books on Lord Ganesha
Ganesha is one of the most popular and loved of the gods of the Hindu pantheon. Everything auspicious starts with invoking his name. Here’s a selection of wonderful books that I’m sure will delight readers and storytellers of all ages, and would brighten your collection of books on Hindu mythology and Indian culture. All of them well illustrated, entertaining and promises interesting reading.
1. “Loving Ganesa” by Satguru Subramuniyaswami
2. “Ganesha: The Auspicious…” by Jagannathan & Krishna
3. “The Broken Tusk” by Uma Krishnaswami, Maniam Selven
This rare collection of Hindu mythological tales for young readers features 17 stories about Ganesha – ‘Ganesha’s Head,’ ‘The Broken Tusk,’ and ‘Why Ganesha Never Married’ – including one from Mongolia, where Ganesha entered the Buddhist tradition. Full of entertaining pen-and-ink illustrations, it also includes a pronunciation guide, glossary, and a prefatory discussion on Hindu mythology.
4. “Ganesha – Remover of Obstacles” by Manuela Dunn Mascetti
This book makes a great gift for someone at the threshold of a change or venturing into a new territory – entering a new job, new house, new business, or kicking off a new relationship. It comes in a box, and contains tales of Ganesha’s powers as a protector, beautifully decorated with 30 illustrations, and includes mantras, prayers, sacred symbols, songs and instructions on conducting a Puja.
5. “The Elephant Prince – The Story of Ganesh”
Author Amy Novesky retells the authentic version of how the Ganesha got his elephant head as told in the ‘Brahma Vaivarta Purana‘. Belgin K. Wedman’s lovely illustrations reminiscent of classic Indian miniatures add to the beauty of the book. The narration is direct and suitable for read-alouds to small children. This is indeed a beautiful book to possess.
Source: http://hinduism.about.com/od/lordganesha/tp/ganesha.htm
Numerous forms of Ganesh
Lord Ganesh is here. And this year, the Ganesh festival is bringing forth astonishing tales of people’s gracious love for the Lord of Wisdom. Meet Raj Kumar Shah. Taking worship of the Vighnaharta to a whole new level, he has virtually converted his house into a temple adorning a large number of various forms of the God. Each one as exquisite as the other, the idols number well over 2,000.
A chartered accountant by profession, Shah got his first idol way back in 2004. In the past eight years, he went on adding the idols one by one carefully selected and installed. The Lord can be seen in various poses, right from one engrossed flying a kite, in a joyous mood on a swing to a one busy with a computer or musing over a move while playing chess.
The 42-year-old CA has Ganesh everywhere in his house. His house name plate has a Ganesh itched on it; even a night lamp in his porch is shaped as the Lord.
Ask him how his craze for collecting the idols took off and he says, “I have always liked to collect things. When I was young, it was greeting cards, and in the past few years, I have drawn my attention on Ganesh idols. It’s not just plain craze, it’s a question of faith that gets me emotionally involved and motivated. As such, I have never tried to calculate the value of the collection.”
Seema, his wife, assists Shah in collecting and preserving the idols. “We have specially made cabinets in silver, other metals, marble and wood, each having several sections. These are used to place the idols,” she said.
When asked where did they find the unique idols, Seema proudly says, “It’s an on-going search, wherever we go we try to bring home at least one Ganesh idol, and each time its a different shape and form.”
Shah has spent around eight years collecting the idols. Shah’s hobby has the whole family captivated now. The children are also equally enthusiastic about their father’s hobby. Son Rajat says, “I present my father with a distinctive Ganesh idol on his birthdays and other occasions. In-fact I have developed a liking for this whole idol-collection thing.”
Shah’s younger brother Rachit, 9, makes Ganesh idols with clay. “My younger son has made some Ganesh idols with playing dough. I keep them with our idol collection.” Although most of the collection has been brought from Indore, it has idols from almost every part of the country. “We have idols from Andaman, Sikkim, Kashmir, Udaipur and Mumbai,” said Seema.
Each member of the family has its own favorite pose of Ganesh. Young Rachit likes the one in which the Lord is posing as farmer with bullock cart. “My favorite is the cricketer Ganesh,” said Rajat, while Seema’s likes the one resting on a wooden cot. Raj Kumar Shah’s favorite is the one with mother Parvati.
Ganapati: First and foremost
The Matsya Purana says that Ganesha (lord of the ganas or hosts) was lovingly moulded by his mother Parvati out of the scented scrapings of bath-paste and oil from her own body. The Varaha Purana has it that Ganesha sprung from the radiance of his father Shiva’s luminous gaze. A popular legend recounts how Parvati’s “baby shower” for her handsome son turned into a terrible tragedy when the malefic gaze of Shani or Saturn fell upon the child, causing its head to burst into a thousand pieces. This resulted in a unique identity for Ganesha or Ganapati as an elephant-headed, corpulent personality who loves his modaks and laddoos. The elephant is regarded as wise and mature in Indian lore, hence Ganapati’s formidable intellect continues to inspire men of letters.
The story of how Ganapati came to possess the privilege of being the foremost among the devas is variously told in the Puranas but the broad consensus is that both his powerful parents granted him this boon in different contexts.
That he should be worshipped first by all humans and celestials is a dictum followed to this day by the devout as well as the ritually casual. Commencing a pilgrimage or any new venture with an invocation of him is a time-honoured tradition handed down to us by our ancestors. The first invitee to a wedding is always Ganesha.
Modern variants involve the collection of Ganesha figurines to tastefully decorate our homes.
Inherent in these practices lies an instinctive belief in the power of Ganapati to grant kaaryasiddhi or success in our efforts. He is the Vighna-nashak or remover of obstacles and is therefore famously saluted as Jai Mangalmurti (Victory to the auspicious being). Bringing Ganesha home and keeping him in it, figuratively speaking, is to usher peace and prosperity into our homes. Great powers are attributed to this lovable deity.
A hymn venerates him as parabrahma roopam or verily the Supreme Absolute:
Ajam nirvikalpam niraakaaram ekam
Niraanandam aanandam advaita poornam
(He is the unborn, formless, unique embodiment of the supreme, the absolute, the infinite and the complete. He is bliss.)
One may offer garlands and sweets to a bejewelled, richly clad Ganesha at a large temple this Ganesh Chaturthi. Or one may dip one’s head in hasty obeisance to a vazhi pillaiyar (Tamil term for the roadside Ganesha peeping out of niches in boundary walls).
Our prayerful sentiments are beautifully captured in the celebrated hymn, Bhadram Karnebhih (from the Ganapati Atharvashirsha): May we always hear and see auspicious things; may we live our entire lifespans healthy even as we praise the lord, who guides our thoughts and deeds and protects us from evil.
Source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/op-ed/ganapati-first-and-foremost-872
World’s smallest Ganesh idol?
An art teacher from Sangamner, Anil Kamble, has claimed that he has created the world’s smallest Ganesh idol. The idol is smaller than a mustard seed, approximately .68 mm in size, measured with the help of a micro meter screw gauge and a travelling microscope.
Kamble, who was recently in Pune and has done his Applied Arts and procured an arts ‘teachers’ diploma from the Abhinav Kala Mahavidyalaya, said, “The weight of the idol is 0.022 miligrams. I have not used any magnifying glass or lens while creating this idol and all body parts, including the idol’s left hand and the ‘modak’, are clearly demarcated,” he said, adding that the idol has been made using the glue M-Seal.
The idol has to be viewed with a magnifying glass. The tiny idol will be auctioned in Mumbai during this year’s Ganesh festival.
“25% of the proceeds will go an organisation working against female foeticide, while another 25% will go to the Sangram Mukbadhir Vidyalaya and Niwasi Matimand Vidyalaya in Saykhindi,” he said.
At 86-ft, Vizag Ganesha towers over Khairatabad idol
If the popular Khairatabad Ganesha in Hyderabad stands at 58 ft, the 86-ft Dondaparthy Ganesha in the city towers over every other idol in the state. The Dondaparthy Ganesh, this time in Krishna avatar playing flute, isn’t going to give up the title of being the tallest idol any time soon, claim the organisers. Appal Raju of the organising committee said that it took them a month to prepare the gigantic idol. “Artistes from Kharagpur toiled hard to give finishing touches to the idol. It’s going to be the biggest crowd puller in the city, drawing 50,000-70,000 enthusiasts. We will also auction the Ganesha prasadam (108-kg laddu) for charity,” he said.
More than 2,000 big and small idols are being installed this time at various pandals with the organisers battling it out to come up with innovative ideas. Notable among them are the ‘bangle Vinayaka, ‘eega Vinayaka, spiderman and Krishna Vinayaka, Ganesha in train and another one playing chess and another a green Ganesha.
The gold and silver merchants’ association’s youth Vinayaka utsava committee set up a Ganesha made of one lakh colourful glass bangles near Kurupa market. Ranga Rao, chairman of the utsava committee, said that 25 artistes from Chirala prepared this special Ganesha in 10 days. “We got the bangles from Kolkata. It’s definitely going to be cynosure of all eyes this year,” he claimed.
Leaving no stone unturned to woo the 600-odd Maharashtrian families settled in the city, the Maharashtra Mandali has set up its own pandal. “We miss the festivities back home in Mumbai and Pune but we try to make up by having our own Vinayaka pandal. Gujarati and Bengali communities also participate in the celebrations,” said Mahadeo Rao Shinde, president of Maharashtra Mandali.
