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Life lessons to learn from this auspicious festival: Ganesh Chaturthi


Ganesh Chaturthi—the name itself sparks joy all over.All the devotees of Lord Ganesha come together irrespective of their differences and celebrate this festival with great joy and unity. People believe that Lord Ganesha visits their homes during this period. People welcome Lord Ganesha into their homes with great pomp and ceremony. Devotees offer Lord Ganesha 'Modak' which is the lord’s favorite dessert. Also, there is a positive vibe enveloping the entire environment. People worship, sing devotional songs, chant different mantras, perform aartis in his honor, and seek his blessings.

Let's emphasize Lord Ganesha's significance.

Lord Ganesha, the God of intellect and wisdom, is an exceptionally unique and revered deity who is profoundly worshiped by everyone, loved the most by children. 

He is also known by various names. Each name highlights a different powerful aspect about him... 
Vighnaharta - Remover of all obstacles
Ekdanta - Single tusked God
Gajanana - Elephant faced God
Heramb- One who gives confidence to the weak and hope to the poor.
Lambodara - Lord with huge belly
Siddhivinayak - Bestower of success

His physical attributes alone are loaded with symbolism that teaches us a lot.

The enormous elephant head of Lord Ganesha symbolizes wisdom.

His small eyes symbolizes focus i.e. in order to succeed at anything, one needs to have persistent concentration and foresightedness. 

His large ears and small mouth serve as a reminder to listen more and speak less.

Lord Ganesha's huge belly symbolizes the entire universe and it's magical quality of embracing everything in life whether good or bad.

His two tusks represent different facets of life. The left tusk stands for emotion, and the right tusk is for wisdom. And the broken left tusk symbolizes one must conquer emotions with wisdom.

The trunk of Lord Ganesha symbolizes both strength and kindness.
For instance, we have seen elephants uproot trees (strength) and gently lift people with their trunks as well as bestowing blessings on everyone with their trunk (kindness). 
The image of Lord Ganesha has a mouse as his chariot. Why does Ganesha have a mouse-shaped chariot despite having such a large body? 
Have you ever given it a thought?
Mouse is known for its disturbed restless hyperactive nature which strongly correlates with the qualities of human mind. 
In the image, Lord Ganesha is shown sitting over the mouse and controlling it. 
Similarly, like Lord Ganesha we should be able to govern our minds with our intellect.

Let's make an effort to incorporate all of these teachings into our daily lives, and while celebrating this wonderful festival let's not forget to spend  few moments peacefully with Lord Ganesha's heavenly form and try to bring together our energies with his higher energy, which will transform us into a new, blissful being. 
The Lord Ganesha statue is submerged into the water to mark the end of the event. 
It's incredibly moving to see people with teary eyes and praying hands asking the Lord for his return next year. We all know that - Waiting for someone is the hardest thing of all, but waiting for Lord Ganesha to arrive is an emotion that cannot be described in words.
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi 🙏

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