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The legend goes that there was a monster called Gajasura, a powerful monster was also a devotee of Lord Shiva. It seemed that the monster prayed for many years and as a result Lord Shiva, who was touched, granted him a boon. But the cunning monster asked Shiva to reside in his stomach. Since he had no choice, Lord Shiva granted his boon and went inside the belly of the monster.
Parvati, Shiva’s wife, who was searching for her husband, became frantic with worry and went to Lord Vishnu for help. Lord Vishnu, who assured Parvati that he would find Shiva, disguised himself as a street player and set out with Nandi, the sacred bull of Shiva, to find Shiva. |
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When they reached the monster Gajasura’s kingdom, Nandi danced to please the monster. The monster that was pleased to see the bull dancing he decided to reward the bull. Nandi, the bull, asked for Lord Shiva as a reward and this made Gajasura realize that the street player was Lord Vishnu. He also realized that Lord Shiva couldn’t live in his belly forever and thus freed Lord Shiva. After that, he prayed to Shiva to make him immortal. To grant him the wish, Shiva severed Gajasura’s head and frees him from the cycle of birth and death and carried the head with him.
On Mount Kailash, in the Himalayas, Parvati comes to know of Vishnu's victory and is very happy. She makes arrangements to receive her Lord and goes to bedeck herself. She wants somebody to stand guard. So she creates a doll out of the dough that she uses in her bath. She calls him Vinayak - the one who puts off all obstacles. This boy having never seen Shiva, prevents his entry into the palace. In a fit of fury Shiva beheads the boy and enters the palace. Parvati is unaware of the happenings and receives Shiva with warmth, for he had returned after a long period. During the course of their conversation, Shiva mentions the incident at the palace gates and tells her about severing the child's head. Parvati is shocked to hear the news and pleads with Shiva to bring the child back to life for he is like a son to her. |
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Shiva who has with him the head of Gajasura, immediately puts it on the torso of the dead child. Thus the child comes back to life. That day is Bhadrapad Chaturthi. Shiva blesses him with a boon that the entire world would worship him on that day and also would propitiate him before any auspicious event. At the same time, all the Gods approach Shiva and request for a leader. Shiva and Parvati have a son called Kumarswami or Kartik. To select the best one of them as a leader of all the Gods, Shiva conducts a test between the two. He says that whoever makes three rounds of the earth sooner than the other, will be made the Ganaadhipati. Kumarswami seated on a peacock, his vahanam (vehicle), starts off for the test.
Vinayak is given a rat which moves swiftly. Vinayak realises that the test is not so easy but he cannot disobey his father. He reverently pays obeisance to his parents and goes around them three times and completes the test before Kumarswami. He says, " my parents pervade the whole universe and going around them, is more than going round the earth." Everybody is pleasantly surprised to hear Vinayak's logic and intelligence. Meanwhile, Kartik is amazed to see Ganesh completing the holy bath at each river that he reached at and ready for another round of the universe. When he comes back to Kailas, Shiva had already declared Vinayak as the winner. He is blessed as the Supreme God of the universe. After this, Vinayak is called as Ganaadhish, Ganapati and Ganesh. All the gods worship him. |
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