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THONDAI-MANDALA MUDALIARS |
VINAYAKA-CHATHURTHI / GANESHA POOJA
“NALAM THARUM SOLLAI NALUM SOLVOM;
OM GANESHA OM; JAYA GANESHA OM”
VINAYAKA-CHATHURTHI / GANESHA POOJA is celebrated in the month of “Avani” (between 2nd week of August to 2nd week of September of English Calendar), on Chaturthi (4th) day which comes after the new moon. Lord Ganesha was born on this very auspicious day.
It is believed that once, while Godess Parvati was bathing, she created a human figure from some unguent and balm, gave him life and asked him to guard the door while she bathed. After a long period of meditation, on Mountain Kailash (Shiva’s abode), Shiva chose that very moment to drop by to see his better half, but was abruptly stopped by the man-god, Parvati had created and posted at the door. Outraged by this, Shiva cut off his head only to discover that he had killed Parvati’s/his own son! For fear of enraging His wife, Shiva immediately dispatched His ganas (attendants) to get Him the head of the first living creature they could find. Well, the first living creature happened to be an elephant. As instructed, the head was chopped off and brought back to Shiva, who placed it on Parvati’s son’s body, bringing Him back to life. This elephant-headed god was welcomed into the first family of the Hindu heavens and named Ganesha or Ganapati, which literally means the chief of the ganas. Ganesha is the foremost god of the Hindu pantheon. As His name (Lord Vigneshwara) suggests He is the remover and destroyer of all obstacles. So, we worship Him before we start anything new, any function, any festival, any new venture etc. He removes and destroy all obstacles, hindrances and protect us from our difficult situations.
Lord Vinayaka has got an elephant face and human body. He is worshipped by many names like Vinayaka, Ganesha, Pillayar, Vigneshwara, Gajanana, Ganapathy, Mooshika Vahanaa, Modhaga priya etc. He rides on mooshika(a large kind of rat).
In our houses we celebrate this pooja in a grand manner. We decorate the floor with kolams using rice flour. On this day, we buy a new Vinayaka idol (made of clay). On a wooden plank, plantain-leaf is placed and raw rice is spread over it. We place the idol on this and decorate with flowers and perform pooja. However, it should be noted that it is not a must that we buy His Idol and perform pooja during this festival. Equivally we can use Photos of Him and offer our prayers. "Maa-ilai (Mango-leaf) Thoranams" and "flowers thoranams" are made and tied to the Main Doors of the house, Pooja-Rooms etc.
Lord Vinayaka likes a dish called “mothagam(kozhukkattai)” and hence His name is “Modhaga- priya” . Different varieties of Kozhukkattais are prepared and offered to the lord, on this day. It is the special item on this day. Also, we prepare Sundal, ellu-urundai (sesame laddu), Appam, Aval-pori which are also His favourites and offer them along with fruits, Coconut, betel-leaves and areca-nuts. Above offered special dishes with Vermilion(kumkum), Vibhuthi , turmeric powder are given to devotees and also to our neighbours, friends and relatives, as “Prasadam”. (Detailed, step-by-step, Preparation methods (Recipes) of these dishes are given, in “Our Community Favourite Dishes Recipe” section of Thondai-mandala Mudaliars, web site’s home page.).
On the Pooja day, a minimum of two Poojas (aarthi) (i.e. one in the Morning and one in the Evening) are offered. During Aarthi, Bhajans and devotional songs on Lord Ganesha are jointly sung by all devotees. (Devotional songs by great Tamil poets are available for ready reference and for reciting in our “Thuthi Padaalgal” section of our web-site’s Home-Page).
We can immerse the Idol after the Dusk either on the Pooja’s Day itself or on any odd-days (i.e. 3rd, 5th day etc.) and not on even days after the pooja. The Idol can be immersed in Lake, Pond, Well, Sea, River after the dusk after offering “Aarthi” and Breaking coconuts, before Immersing. We must do a minimum of 2 Poojas, a day (i.e. one in the Morning and one in the Evening) with New prasadam every-time, till the Idol is immersed. For this purpose, it is suggested that out of the Favourite dishes of Lord Ganesh as given above, few are prepared for the Morning Poojaa and rest are prepared for the evening pooja and subsequent Poojas, one or two at a time.
For this pooja, different flowers, specially red flowers like Hibiscus, Oliander are offered. Erukkampoo(calotropis), thumbaipoo(white small flowers and arugampul( a type of grass) is very special for the lord. Different varieties of fruits are also offered.
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