गणपति बाप्पा मोर्या - आम्हा सर्वांना अक्कल दया

I have been bombarding you all with these blog but what can I do. There are so many things are happening in our lives and I have hundred opinions on each of them. Whether it is directly related to me or not, I will always have an opinion.

One thing which I haven’t mentioned in my previous blog is that I have got new Laptop, the DELL Inspiron. I am still waiting for my internet connection but this is really exciting that I am working on 3 blogs at same time. Not getting time to publish them could be the reason but it’s better than only watching TV.

LalBaugcha Raja

Today only I have seen one of the lavish and grand decoration made at home. This is the faith and dedication of the people in Lord Ganesha. We all celebrate this festival with lot of faith and eagerness but do we really know about Ganesha celebration from the past. We know about Ganeshostav that it has been started by Lokamanya Tilak but what used to happen before that.

Ganeshostav is one of the several festivals we celebrate in India. We are a chaotic society so these festivals to please our gods. How it’s been celebrated in this ancient land in the past but is this important to know it. May be not but when you learn to ask “Why?” question everywhere then one has to know so did I.  As usual I did some research in my spare time for my dear and loyal readers (ha ha ha). Following is the story about it and it’s really interesting.

Previous history of Ganeshostav

It is not known when and how Ganesh Chaturthi was first celebrated. But according to the historian Shri Rajwade, the earliest Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations can be traced back to the times of the reigns of dynasties as Satavahana, Rashtrakuta and Chalukya. Historical records reveal that Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations were initiated in Maharashtra by Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaja, the great Maratha ruler, to promote culture and nationalism. And it had continued ever since. There are also references in history to similar celebrations during Peshwa times. It is believed that Lord Ganapati was the family deity of the Peshwas. After the end of Peshwa rule, Ganesh Chaturthi remained a family affair in Maharashtra from the period of 1818 to 1892.

1857 was a landmark year for India and moreso in the context of Indian freedom. It was the year of Sepoy Mutiny, an armed rebellion against the ruling British Empire by the Indian soldiers. This was the first war that India waged to gain back her independence from her white rulers. Though unsuccessful, this battle marked the beginning of the Indian struggle for independence. Many orators, leaders and freedom fighters all over India teamed to put up a united resistance to the British domination. One of these eminent leaders was Bal Gangadhar Tilak, an Indian nationalist, social reformer and freedom fighter. Greatly esteemed by the Indian people, especially of Maharashtra, Tilak was commonly referred to as "Lokmanya" or "he who is regarded by the people". It was Tilak, who brought back the tradition of Ganesh Chaturthi and reshaped the annual Ganesh festival from private family celebrations into a grand public event.

Dagadusheth Halwai Ganapati (Pune)

 Lokamanya saw how Lord Ganesha was worshipped by the upper stratum as well as the rank and file of India. The visionary that he was, Tilak realized the cultural importance of this deity and popularised Ganesha Chaturthi as a National Festival "to bridge the gap between the Brahmins and the non-Brahmins and find an appropriate context in which to build a new grassroots unity between them" in his nationalistic strivings against the British in Maharashtra. He knew that India couldn't fight her rulers until she solved the differences within her own. Hence, to unite all social classes Tilak chose Ganesha as a rallying point for Indian protest against British rule because of his wide appeal as "the god for Everyman".

It was around 1893, during the nascent stages of Indian nationalism, that Tilak began to organize the Ganesh Utsav as a social and religious function. He was the first to put in large public images of Ganesha in pavilions and establish the tradition of their immersion on the tenth day. The festival facilitated community participation and involvement in the form of learned discourses, dance dramas, poetry recital, musical concerts, debates, etc. It served as a meeting place for common people of all castes and communities, at a time when all social and political gatherings were forbidden by the British Empire for fear of conspiracies to be hatched against them. An important festival during the Peshwa era, Ganesha Chaturthi acquired at this time a more organized form all over India largely due to Lokmanya's efforts.

Since then, Ganesh Chaturthi has been celebrated throughout Maharashtra as also in other states with great community enthusiasm and participation. With the independence of India in 1947, it was proclaimed to be a national festival.

My view about these festivals.

For me these festivals are part of our lives but the real motive of this festival has lost somewhere. There real intensions where to bring the people on one platform. As India been a spiritual society, there is a preference for religion so people come together easily. By coming together, they are supposed to share their views and discuss the real issue. 

Large crowd for Ganesha immersion

What we see in there festival is people gathering in large numbers to see the decorations. The real motive of these festival was never been that. It has really become the instrument of cheap entertainment. When the festival was started at that time, the population wasn't an issue but now days it has been a real concern. Millions of people visiting to particular pandals and for what to pray. There are these politicians who spend their money collected by unethical or corrupt means. We see more pictures of these modern gods than the real god. They have exploited this festival for their individual gains.

For these gatherings also Lord Ganesha has set a great lesson by "Encircling Mother and father as they are the manifest universe". This shows the importance of parents in once lives. This story also shows that we are not giving the importance to people which are real important. Instead of wasting our time visiting these pandals we should thank to our parent by taking their care.  If we are hurting our parents and seeking the blessing of Ganesha, then it’s of no use.

All above text is to remind us all that, we are not doing the things we are supposed to do. The real motives of these festivals have been lost. These seen we will again see in the नवरात्रि festivals but we are a lost society. We have stopped asking the really questions and doing things for just an entertainment. It’s really a shame that the great teaching of our Lord Ganesha have been forgotten by the very own people who queue up for his  दर्शन so.....

गणपति बाप्पा मोर्या - आम्हा सर्वांना अक्कल दया