On the 16th of September, 2015, 14:32 GMT comes Shukla Chaturthi of Bhadrapada month, the beginning of Ganesh Chaturthi festival. It is an ancient Indian festival, also known as the Vinayak Chaturthi, celebrated across India in honor of the birthday of Ganesha Devata.

According to Vedic classic sources Ganesha is an elephant-headed man, most of all known as Vighnaharta ("An Obstacle Remover") and Buddhi Pradaayaka ("A Wisdom Giver"). Thus, Ganesha is Devata, who’s in charge of all obstacles in the Universe and human life, as well as ways to overcome those obstacles. It is Ganesha who gives energy and wisdom to solve problems, he’s in charge of giving a divine blessing for any action or activity. Ganesha also is always the first Devata to be worshipped before starting any important action, business or activity. Therefore, the status of Ganesha in mind of a person has a very strong influence in final results that one gets from his/her activity. So generally speaking, Ganesh Chaturthi is a very special day when through the worshipping to Ganesha’s energy You can eliminate any obstacles in life current year (starting with diseases and ending up with any particular obstacles that You need to spend a lot of efforts to overcome).

The easiest way to worship Ganesha this day is a repetition of Ganesh Mantra during the Tithi (for example, ॐ श्री गणेशाय नमः (Om Shri Ganeshāy Namah)). Other ways of worshipping are endless. You can do Ganesh Pooja or Ganesh Homa (special ceremonies dedicated to Ganesha), practice Ganesh Mudra (special combination of hands and fingers to invoke energy of Devata into human consciousness), draw Ganesh Pratimas (images), make Ganesh Murti (figurines), read Puranas (stories and legends) about Ganesha and so on and so forth. The principle is the same everywhere – focus Your energy on Ganesha. And the more You give your sincere attention to Ganesha, the stronger will be Ganesha’s taking care of You, protecting from mishaps, misfortunes and mistakes as well as filling You with wisdom in any action and situation.

P.s. the only condition to Ganesh Chaturthi – one shouldn't look on Moon this day. It is believed that if a person looks on Moon during Ganesh Chaturthi, he/she becomes vulnerable to falling into disrepute because of evil tongues. Classical texts also say that it's possible to get rid from this particular evil effect of Ganesh Chaturthi if shortly after looking on Moon one will be offended or hit by one of his/her neighbours.

Stay happy! (and be careful with neighbours :-) )

Kind regards,
VedicTime team