Ganesa Worship Part 1

The original basis for Hinduism are the holy books called the "Vedas". In the ancient times, the followers of Vedas developed many forms of worships and cults. And they also quarrelled among themselves. So the Vedic Culture was split. This was taken advantage of, by the Buddhists and the Jains who belonged non-Vedic religions. The Vedic Culture was facing the danger of becoming extinct.

Then the great Adhi Sankara came. He overcame all the non-Vedic religions and combined all the different cults which were based upon the Vedas. He created six branches of the Vedic religion. Each of them had its own supreme god or goddess. But they were all based on the Vedas. The branch with Siva as the Supreme Lord was called Saivism. For Vishnu, was Vaishnavism. Ambal worship was called Shaktha. Surya had Saura and Muruga had Kaumara as their sub-religions.

The branch which followed Ganapathi as its chief god, was called Ganapathya. The present form of Hinduism that we follow now, is an amalgam of all these six sub-religions, with elements of totemism, paganism, ancestral worship, guardian deity worship and animism. During the course of time, all the other five sects accepted Ganapathi and gave Him prominence their systems. In all of them, Ganapathi is worshipped before any puja, ceremony or rites.  When any new venture is undertaken, Ganapathi is first worshipped. He is worshipped to prevent and remove obstacles. It is also believed that failure to worship Ganapathi will lead to problems.

There are many stories about Ganapathi. He awas created from the Body of Ambal by Herself. She made Him Her guard. In a battle His head was cut off. Siva fixed an elephant's head onto the body. So He became named as Gajaanana.  He was made as the chief of the servants of Siva, Thus He earned the name as Ganapathi, GanaNatha, Ganesvara, and Ganesa. As the remover of ostacles, He is known by the names, VignaRaja and Vignesvara. Since He is worshipped before any other god is worshipped, He is known as Vinayaka - "He who has no overlord".

When Veda Vyasa, composed the great epic of MahaBharatha, Ganesa was asked to do the writing. So Ganesa broke off His right-sided tusk and with it wrote the Maha Bharatha, while Vyasa recited the verses. Because He has only one tusk, He is known as Eka Danta. He always keeps His trunk curled and thus earned the name "Vakra Thunta". His big belly has earned for Him the name, "Lambhodhara". His large body gives Him the name Maha Kaaya. His size, shape, and elephant-head together, have given Him the name Vikata. He has the Moon as the tilaka on His fore-head. So He is called Palachandra. In Tamil, he is known as the Pillaiyar. This is because He is the eldest son of Siva and Ambal.

Once upon a time, there was an Asura demon who threatened the worlds. Ganesa went after Him. But the asura changed into a huge rat, called the bandicoot. Ganesa sent His noose called Paasa and tied him. Ganesa's Paasa removed all the ignorance from the asura. But he remained in the form of the rat which is known as Mushika. Hence Ganesa is also called Mushika Vahana. There are many exploits of Ganesa. He used His intellect to win a competition with His younger brother Muruga. His prize was the Divine Mango.

Ganesa Worship Part 2

The sage Agastya is known as the Tamil Muni. He brought one of the seven holy rivers to South India. It was contained in a pitcher. But Ganesa played a trick on him by taking the form of a crow and and toppling the pitcher of Agastya. This released the river and it ran out as the Kauveri River towards the sea, enriching, on its way, Karnataka and TamilNadu. The enraged Agastaya chased after the crow, which then took the form of a boy. Agastya went to knock hard on the boy's head. Just then Ganesa showed His true form to Agastya. Agastya was shocked with the sacrilege that he was about to have committed. In atonement of his act, Agastya knocked hard on his own fore-head. It was thus that the Pillaiyar Kuttu was born.

Ganesa also stopped Ravana, the Lord of Langka, from taking the hrine of Siva MahaBaleswara to Langka. If he had taken it there, he would have become invincible.

He also stopped Vibhishana, the younger brother of Ravana, from taking the shrine of Sri Ranga Natha to Langka. Thus Sri Ranga Natha became fixed in Sri Rangam, near Tiruchi. Ganesa occupies a temple on top of the Tiruchi Hill, and is known as the "Uchchi Pillaiyar" of Tiruchi Malaikkottai.

After Agastya settled down in the Podhiyil Mountains of TamilNadu, he compiled the grammer for the Tamil language. This was written on the side of a mountain by Ganesa with His tusk. This grammer was known as Agaththiyam. This book was later lost, and Tolkaappiyam took its place as the chief grammer book, for some time. This episode is mentioned by the Saint Arunagiri Nathar in the first hymn of his Thiruppugaalz, which is dedicated to Muruga.

One of the greatest poets in Tamil is Auvaiyaar. She was an ardent worshipper of Ganesa. She has dedicated a hymn called "Vinaayagar Agaval" to Ganesa. This hymn is a Mantra Verse and contains deep spiritual knowledge about Kundalini Yoga. After the dedication of the hymn, Ganesa lifted up uvaiyaar with His trunk and placed her in Thiru Kaiyilaaya Heaven.