Story of Ganesh Chaturthi
The great king, Dharmaraja, who belonged to the Chandra clan, lost his kingdom due to magic gambling with his cousins, and one day he reached Naimisaranya (a sacred forest), exiled with his wife and brothers. There, Dharmaraja visited the great sage "Suta" who was teaching many legendary secrets to sage Shaunak along with many other sages. After greeting them Dharmaraja asked the sage Suta if there is any ritual that will help him to get back his kingdom and then Suta explained about the good fortune one can get by doing the ritual of Ganesh chaturthi. He then narrated the backstory of the ritual. Gajasura, a ferocius demon, pleased the Lord Shiva by his penance. When Lord Shiva asked what he desired, the demon asked him to give the power that nobody will be able to kill him and also requested the god to live in his belly. Shiva obliged his request and became a captive in his stomach. With this the demon became invincible. Goddess Parvati was very saddened by this condition of her husband Shiva. So she went to Vaikuntha(abode of Lord Vishnu) and asked Vishnu to tell her a trick to free her husband.
Lord Vishnu along with the Nandi (bull mount of Shiva) disguised himself as a person who makes Gangireddu (a sacred bull dressed colorfully) dance. He then put on a performance before the demon and the demon was amused by the act. In this happiness, Gajasura said, "Ask for whatever you want", for which Lord Vishnu seizing the opportunity asked for Lord Shiva in his belly. Realizing that the end of his life has come, the demon said to Lord Shiva in belly, "My life is coming to an end due to the influence of Lord Vishnu. I have one last request. After my death my head should be worshipped by all the people and you should wear my skin as an attire." Lord Shiva agreed to his wish and then the bull Nandi with his horns freed Lord Shiva from the demon's belly. Lord Shiva took Gajasura's head and skin and started to his home (Kailasa). Goddess Parvati who was waiting in Kailasa for the arrival of her husband got ready for bath. While going for a bath, she smeared flour on her body. In a distraction, she made a statue out of that flour. With the help of magical words taught by her father, she induced life into the statue and it turned out be a lovely boy.
The charming boy guarded the door of the house when his mother Goddess Parvati went to bath. When Lord Shiva arrived at home the boy stopped him at the entrance. Shiva requested the boy to allow him to enter but the boy was adamant and stood his ground. Enraged, Shiva hit the boy's head with his powerful trident. Goddess Parvati, who came out on hearing the sound, shed tears seeing the tragedy. On knowing the truth and realizing his mistake Lord Shiva took the head of Gajasura and attached it to the boy and gave him life and named him Gajanana.
Ganesha's rise to Power:
One fine day the Gods, Sages and humans ask Lord Shiva to appoint a ruler for all the obstacles faced in the world. Lord Shiva who was contemplating which of his two sons should be the ruler, came up with an idea. He called upon his two sons Gajanana and Karthikeya, and told them that whoever comes to him first after bathing in all the holy rivers of all the three worlds will get that supremacy. Karthikeya flew away in anger on his peacock vehicle, but Gajanana did not move forward with his rat vehicle. Chanting the sacred Narayana spell, he circumambulates around his parents. Under the influence of that spell, Gajanana appears before Karthikeya in every river bank. Thus Karthikeya, who saw Gajanana bathing first in the thirty million rivers, went to Kailasa and asked his father to give dominion to his glorious brother. Thus Gajanana also known as Ganesha becomes the lord of Obstacles. After examining Ganesha's power and abilities, Shiva established him as the ruler on auspicious day of "Bhadrapada Shuddha Chaturthi" (a particular time in a Hindu Lunar calendar).
Curse of Goddess Parvati:
On that day, Ganesha reached Kailasa, having difficulty in walking, after eating the rice cakes, dumplings, breads and fruits offered to him with devotion. The moon which resides on Lord Shiva's head laughed at the state of Ganesha. Ganesha's stomach burst and the dumplings came out as he passed out. Goddess Parvati who saw this was enraged. She said to the moon, "You sinner, my son fell unconscious after looking at you. So those who look at you from this day will become sinners even if they are at no fault and get punished like you."
At the time when Goddess Parvati cursed the moon, the seven sages along with their wives were performing yagna and circumambulating the fire god. The fire god was infatuated with the wives of the ages. Unable to fulfill his wish, the fire god became weak due to the fear of being cursed by the sages. Knowing her husband's wish, Swahadevi joined fire god in the form of sages' wives. The sages, deluded that it was their wives who were with the fire god, left them. The gods realized that the wives of the sages were afflicted by looking at the cursed moon. All of them went to Kailasa with Lord Brahma. Ganesha was brought back to life by Lord Brahma. Then he said to Goddess Parvati, "Mother, the curse you gave to the moon caused danger. So withdraw the curse", he asked. Then Goddess Parvati modified the curse saying "On the particular day the moon laughed at Ganesha, you should not see the moon". From that day everyone was careful not to see the moon on the day of "Bhadrapada Shuddha Chaturthi". Time passed by.
Saga of Samantakamani (a rare diamond):
One day Narada met Lord Krishna who resided in Dwaraka during the Dwapara Yuga. After talking the worldly affairs for a while Narada said, "Lord! Today is Ganesh Chaturthi. Moon should not be seen due to Parvati's curse. So better I take leave for the day before the moon comes" and left. On that night, Lord Krishna made an announcement in the town that no one should see the moon. Lord Krishna likes milk. That night when Lord Krishna went to drink cow's milk he saw the reflection of the moon in the milk in the vessel. He was worried about what kind of blame he would get. A few days passed. The king Satrajit obtained Samantakamani (a rare diamond) with the boon of the sun god. The speciality of the diamond is that it produces huge amount of gold each day. He went to Dwarka wearing the diamond on his necklace. Lord Krishna treated Satrajit as a guest and when he came to know about the diamond he requested if he could see the diamond's work for a few days. Satrajit did not agree to that and left back to his kingdom. Then one day Satrajit's younger brother Prasena went hunting in the forest wearing the same diamond around his neck. A lion in the forest saw that diamond and assumed it to be a piece of meat due to its color and killed Prasena. A bear king named Jambavan who was going to his cave saw the lion on the way with this strange diamond and killed it. He gave the diamond as a toy to his daughter Jambavati in the cave.
The next day Satrajit heard the news of his brother's death. He accused Lord Krishna of killing his younger brother and abducting the diamond. Lord Krishna heard it. On the day of Bhadrapada Shuddha chaturthi, he thought that he was blamed for the mistake of seeing the moon image. He went to the forest in search of the diamond. At one place Prasena's dead body was seen. From there the lion's foot prints were seen. He went searching and entered a mountain cave. He saw the diamond tied to the ropes of a cradle, and took it out. Immediately Jambavati cried loudly. Hearing his daughter's cry, Jambavan became angry and fought against Lord Krishna. There was a war between them for twenty eight days. Jambavan's power has gradually diminished. He realized that the one who was fighting with him was none other than a form of Lord Ramachandra. Long ago in the Treta Yuga, Jambavan wanted to fight with Lord Rama and requested him for a duel. He realized that he had fulfilled that desire now in the form of Lord Krishna. Bowing down to Lord Krishna, he offered his daughter Jambavati along with the diamond to him. Lord Krishna brought Samanthakamani and gave it to Satrajit. After knowing the truth, Satrajit begged Lord Krishna to forgive him and marry his daughter Satya Bhama. He also gave Samanthakamani to Lord Krishna as a gift.
The crowd who was present there at that time asked Lord Krishna, 'Because you are competent, you were able to get rid of the blame that fell on you. What is the fate of people like us?' Lord Krishna said, "Those who worship Lord Ganesha as usual on Bhadrapada Shuddha Chaturthi and listen to this story holding the holy rice grains and wear grains on their heads after the completion, even if they see the moon on that day, they will not be blamed". Since then, every year on "Bhadrapada Shuddha Chaturthi" day, gods, sages and people have been worshiping Lord Ganesha according to their power for fulfilling their wishes.
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