Stories on lord Ganesh series - 11: From various sources of Ganesh purana

Lord Ganesh is the son of Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva. He is the first one to get worshipped before worshipping any other god. We can say in short that there is no Hindu who doesn't perform Lord Ganesh’s worship. In Ramayana Lord Rama had worshipped Lord Ganesh.

In Mahabharata Lord Krishna had also worshipped Lord Ganesh. They have become the role models to the whole world. Before the beginning of any work it is common to worship Lord Ganesh. There are many Holy hymns on Lord Ganesh. Lord Ganesh’s favorite food is modak.

He gets pleased if we offer Durva grass to him. He also loves red Hibiscus flower. He is called the vighnaharta because he wards off all the obstacles in our life. He is also called vighnaraja. There are infinite names to Lord Ganesh which we cannot explain. He ties a snake around his waist.

The vehicle of Lord Ganesh is mouse in Hindu culture. Lord Ganesh is worshipped all over India. His miracles have been described in all of the 18 Puranas. There are many forms of Lord Ganesh.

He has got two wives one is riddhi and the other is siddhi.Lord Ganesh has got 32 forms of incarnations. The modak which you offer to Lord Ganesh will give you good results. Lord Ganesh does not bias among his devotees. He is specially worshipped on sankashti days. On Ganesh Chaturthi people fast and perform vrath.On this day it is forbidden to see Chandra the moon.

On this day there is a custom to bring Idol of lord Ganesh which is made out of clay and after worshipping it will be drowned into the nearby Ponds, lakes, Canals. In some places people do keep the idol of Lord Ganesh from Chaturthi to Anant Chaturdashi and then do the Visarjan of the idol. Visarjan means leaving the idol of Lord Ganesh and make it drown.