Lord Ganesh or The Elephant God as known in the western world (due to his elephant head) is the god of removal of Obstacles.Easy to please and hence the first one to be worshiped in any and every kind of pooja or beginning of a new good venture/task.

Lord Ganesh is the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.There are several stories of his birth or how he got his elephant head. I won’t go in the details of it, but if you need the info do post the comment and I will be happy to explain.

Like every Indian rituals that have some scientific base to it similarly every Indian deity represents something. Lord Ganesh not only is the removal of all obstacles, but also teaches many lessons through his idol. One of the first few lessons that we teach our little ones is body parts , Have you ever wondered when they grow up a little bit and are able to understand basics you can include it and teach them some of the basics of life. Here are few things that can be taught through Lord Ganesh’s body parts :

Head : The big head of Lord Ganesh teaches to think big. Have good thoughts in the mind. Rather than entangling your mind in worldly affair ,think up and beyond that. It can also be interpreted as think out of the box.

Mouth : Mouth of Ganesh is small and in worldly affair it teaches individuals to think more use the brain more but speak less, meaning to use your words wisely.Talking less and after thoughtful thinking will land you in less troubles and also take you towards the path of success and calmness.

Large Ears : The large ears of Ganesh symbolizes to be alert in life. Pay attention to the details and always be open to grasp knowledge from whatever source you can.It also means get opinions from all and then pick the best ones.This might give you a chance to ponder upon some of the aspects that you might have never registered.

Little eyes : The head of Ganesh is so big yet he has so small eyes. The reason for this is that even though one has to utilize maximum efficiency of his or her brain and think out of box, but once you have taken a task in the hand never loose focus from it. Focus is the basis for success in life , one can be good in so many things but concentrate on what you can do best and then focus all your energy in the same direction.

One tusk : One tusk of Ganesh has also given him the name “Ek Dant”. Elephant tusk is very strong in nature. We all go through many good and bad experiences in life be it people or be it incidents, hence it teaches one to be strong enough to make wise judgments and retain the good and leave the bad behind. There is no point in wasting your energy and sulking over the wrongs but to be strong and hold on to good and move on.

Trunk: Trunk represents strength, flexibility and adaptability of mind. The Ganesh’s trunk is sometime turned left which symbolizes the moon energy of the body (Ida nadi) which denotes calmness,tolerance,patience. When the trunk is twisted on the right side it represents sun energy of body (Pingala nadi) which in turn symbolizes masculinity and fierceness with which one can attain worldly happiness. The other name for right sided trunk Ganesh is “Siddhi Vinayak”. Most of the temples have right sided trunk idols of Ganesh, but in homes its suggested to always keep idol in a sitting pose and with left sided trunk. The way to find if the trunk is right or left sided is not from the end turning of trunk but in what direction the trunk is turned at the very beginning.Very rarely you will find a straight trunk Ganesh which signifies Sushumna Nadi and represents ultimate happiness or destination.

Big Belly : Lord Ganesh is also always shown with big belly. The big stomach means one should know how to digest the good and bads. People may say favorable things to you and they may also say things that might hurt you. Giving some one “piece of mind” should not be your ultimate aim, but to take the negative in without it bothering you and moving on is what is the sign of intelligence. It also tells you not to get involved in the gossips or tattle tale.

Mouse : Mouse by nature is very restless and it represents our mind or desires.If desires are not controlled properly they can lead you to wrong path. You need to make wise judgments in life  so as not to land in any troubles.The way you can tame your mind or desires is by always using your brain. Hence Lord Ganesh is seen riding the mouse indicating how our desires are have very little significance if we know how to control them and lead in the right direction.

Happy teaching and Happy learning !!!

Om Ganeshay Namah !!

Raksha Bandhan or Rakhi , personally one of my favourite Indian festivals. It makes me all nostalgic ,remembering my childhood days. They say to experience the beauty of certain things , you need to experience them personally . This holds true for this beautiful bond. You need to have that beautiful relationship to share (whether biological or made by choice) to experience this beautiful bond of brother and sister. I don’t think there is any other culture in the world that celebrates this beautiful bond.

I have been  lucky enough to be blessed to celebrate this beautiful relationship year after year. To this day I remember the first time I got to celebrate this festival. My little heart was full of joy and excitement. When I realized that I will be getting a sibling soon..I remember singing the song “kali re kali re tu to kali kali hai, gora sa ek bhayia maa dilane wali hai , laane wali hai ” . I used to sing it so often, I still remember one of our neighbouring aunt who was expecting around the same time too..her hubby called me and recorded my song in their tape recorder :-). I remembered the whole song. So lucky I was that I was blessed with a baby brother exactly 6 days before rakhi. That year rakhi was on 4th august. I remember getting mehendi done on my tiny little palms by my masi. I woke up so early to see the color of my mehendi and then getting the mustard oil and heat massage on my palm from my dad to get the color of mehendi dark :-). I still remeber the first rakhi I got and tied on those chubby lttle wrists. It was a small silver rakhi. I wonder where it is now, if its still safe with my mom. I need to ask her. I still remember cuddling him tight, holding him on my lap and covering him and myself both in a warm shawl in the cold winter days. We fought ,we loved , we argued with each other , we defended each other.We fought for the same pen,pencil but when time required we shared our savings for each other.

Coming back to the festival Raksha Bandhan : combination of two words “Raksha” meaning “Protection” , “bandhan” meaning “Bond”. Hence, raksha bandhan is also called Bond of Protection. The sister ties the raksha thread on the brother’s wrist wishing for his long life , success ,protection from all evils and in return the brother promises safety and security of his sister.

You will find many historical stories on raksha bandhan/rakhi. I won’t go in to the details of that but will shed light on how rakhi was celebrated in vedic culture.During that time it was not limited to the bond of brother and sister, there are example Lord Krishna’s mom tying the Raksha sutra to Krishna. A guru tying raksha sutra to his disciples etc.

At that time Rakhi was made of below given following 5 items tied together in a small silk cloth and then the cloth along with the sacred thread called Mauli or kalwa is tied on the wrist of an individual.

1) Durva ( a type of grass) : Durva the sanskrit word for Bermuda grass is considered sacred. While Tulsi is considered sacred to krishna , durva is considered sacred for Lord Ganesha. Significance: The way bermuda grass grows quicky and spreads around faster and a single seed of it can propagate in to thousands of seeds similarly its wished that your family line flourishes and prospers. The way the “Durva” grass spreads quickly similarly I wish your good qualities and fame spread in all directions.Since the Durva is sacred to Lord Ganesha (the god of removal of all obstacles) may he remove all the obstacles from your life.

2)Akshat (The whole grain rice mixed with turmeric).Akshat means the one thats is not broken, akshat in Pooja rituals is referred to the whole grains of rice mixed with turmeric.Just like Akshat may you remain unharmed.

3)Kesar(Saffron) : Saffron is strong in nature . It assimilates and brings its properties in to milk/water whatever it is added to.May you be as lusturous as saffron and may with your good qualities inculcate the same goodness in everyone around you.

4)Chandan(Sandal): The basic quality of sandal is to provide fragrance and provide coolness and freshness.Just like sandal may there be calmness in your life and may your good qualities spread around just like the fragrance of sandal.

5)Sarson ke daane(Mustard seeds) ; Mustard seeds are tiny but they are strong in flavor. May you become as strong as to be able to remove all the problems of society.

The Resham or silk thread has got its own significance, its lusturous, it provides warmth and even though its very fine, it is very strong.Hence Rakhi’s were mostly made of silk thread, signifying the love and warmth and the strong bond shared by the two individuals.With the marketing bursts and companies trying to come up with new ideas the rakhi’s are undergoing lots of changes, but a simple resham rakhi is still the best per me 🙂

.Its believed that the first rakhi was tied to King Bali by goddess Lakshmi.The Shlok generally recited during tying rakhi (also called Raksha sutra is )

The meaning of Raksha Mantra is as following –
“I tie you with the same Raksha thread which tied the most powerful, the king of courage, the king of demons, Bali. O Raksha (Raksha Sutra), please don’t move and keep fixed throughout the year

It has alreday been a long post hence I might some day post the story related to raksha sutra some other day .

One thing is change has to be part of customs in order for them to be carried on for generations, Olden times families used to be large hence more or less all were fortunate to be blessed with sibling bonds of brothers and sisters. With time the families becoming smaller in size and going nuclear way, it is must that we do not limit this festival as a bond between just brothers and sisters but celebrate it more as BOND OF PROTECTION and LOVE between SIBLINGS.

May all the siblings in world admire,love and respect each other. May they appreciate the beautiful bond in which the almighty has tied them and value it .

Best wishes to all.