It is a known fact that among the various gods and goddesses in the Hindu pantheon no auspicious ceremony, be they temple related or family related, invocation of god Ganapahy is first and foremost so that the function will ahead as planned without any hitch.
The following are the important facts about Vinyaka Chathurthi:
01 Vinayaka goes by different names - Ganapathi, Vigneswara, Ayenkaran (meaning one who has five arms including his trunk) etc. As a matter of fact he is known by 108 different names like Gajanana, Vinayaka, Vighnaharta (remover of obstacles) among others.
 |
| .Vinayaka Chathurthi 2021. mpanchang.com |
02. In Tamil Nadu Ganapathi is commonly called Pilliyar (in Tamil Pilli means son) because he was created by Goddess Parvathi (consort of God Shiva) from a dirt to guard the place while she was bathing, Why does he have the head of an elephant on a human body? When God Shiva was denied entry to the bathing Ghat By guard, he killed him. To pacify furious Parvathi over her guard's death Shiva's Ghanas could get only elephant so Shiva fixed the head of an elephant on the guard and breathed life into him. Later Parvatthi adopted him as her son. This is the reason why he is elephant-headed.
 |
| Eachanari Vinayagar Temple, near Coimbatore. Justdial |
03. He is the head of all ghanas according to the Narada Purana and is the very first God used for invocation at any auspicious function or ceremony as he is known to remove obstacles in our lives (in Tamil he is known as Vinai Theerpavan meaning remover of road blocks in our endeavor)..
 |
| Mukuruni Vinayagar Madurai Meenshi temple.TN Indusladies |
04. Ganesha is known as the God of wealth, knowledge, wisdom and prosperity, hence Hindus never fail to seek his blessings before starting any important work.
05. In the conduct of primary Hindu rituals at home or temples, the priests first dedicate the prayer to Ganapathi before starting other rituals. Conduct of Ganapathi homam is a must.
06. When sage Vyasa wrote the great epic Mahabharata he sought the help of Ganapathi as he is the god of wisdom and knowledge. Knowing his agility Vyasa asked Ganapathi to understand the meaning of every sentence being dictated by him and then write. This was done to buy time form the next segment of his story line because Ganapathi's writing flow could not be stopped midway. The dictation had to be continuous.
 |
| Manakula Vinayagar, Pondicherry. rajasthandirect.com |
07. To write the Mahabharata he used the sharp part of his ivory tusk, hence in all idols of Vinayaka you can see a broken tusk.
 |
| prasadam (Kozhakattai and appam delhinagaratharsangam.org |
08. Every year his birthday is celebrated on the Vinayaka Chathurthi day - 10 day festival that falls between August and September. He descends to earth with his mother Parvathi and on the final day after the immersion of his clay idol in a water body, he leaves for his home.
09. The four main rituals performed during the 10-day long festival are namely: Prana pratishhtha (infusion of life to the idol by chanting mantras), Shhodasho pachara (16 ways of upachara/prayers to please him) , Uttar puja (bidding farewell to Ganesha with deep reverence) and Ganpati Visarjan (immersion of his clay idol in water).
 |
| Rockfort Ucchi Pillaiyar Kovil, Thiruchirappali, TN tourmyindia.com |
10. On the 10th day the idol of Ganapathi is taken to the nearest water body or sea for immersion. The moral behind immersion is when the clay idol of Ganapathi is dissolved in the water, along with him re dissolved our worries and obstacles so that we can begin our life afresh on a positive note. We pray to him to be free of sins and move forward on the path of knowledge and wisdom.
 |
| Gor Ganapathi, remover of obstacles and worries. pngtree.com |
11. Worship of Vinayaka at any time will instill confidence and create positivity. Even today office goers and students, particularly, those who take exams bow before Vinayaka before moving on.
12. Mostly Vinayak Chathurthi was a domestic festival in which a clay idol of the God is worshipped and on the final day will be immersed in the well behind house or in the nearest body.
13. Since 1893 it had become a public function through the efforts of freedom fighter Lokamanya Tilak to circumvent the British govt. rule Introduced in 1870) not to hold public meeting with more than 20 people. He used the public function to spread the message of freedom from the foreign rule, political activism and patriotism. Thus the Father of Indian Unrest' was the man behind turning a private, household Ganesh Chaturthi celebration to a gala public event. It also brought together people from various castes under one roof. As for Tamil Nadu and other states, it became more popular in the last couple of decades.
14. For the first time ever Vinayak Chathurthi function was held under a pandal in public places way back in 1893 in cities like Pune and Mumbai.
15. The following are famous Ganesha temples in India: Shree Siddhivinayak Temple, Mumbai, Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Temple, Pune, Kanipakam Vinayaka Temple, Chittoor, Manakula Vinayagar Temple, Pondicherry, Madhur Mahaganapathi Temple, Kerala, Ranthambore Ganesh Temple, Rajasthan, Moti Dungri Ganesh Temple, Jaipur, Sasivekalu & Kadale Kalu Ganesha Temple, Hampi, Karnataka, Ganesh Tok Temple, Gangtok, Ganpatipule Temple, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra Rockfort Ucchi Pillayar Koil Temple, Tamil Nadu and Karpaga Vinayagar Temple, Pillaiyarpatti,TN.
https://navrangindia.blogspot.com/2017/08/famous-ganapathi-temples-of-tamil-nadu.html
https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/ganesh-chathurthi-bal-gangadhar-tilak-339232
https://www.tourmyindia.com/blog/most-famous-ancient-ganapati-temples-in-india/
