Ganesh Chaturthi - Legends

Birth Of Lord Ganesha

One day when Goddess Parvati was taking bath she made a boy from the dough she used for her bath and put life into it. This is how Ganesha was born and she told him to stand on the main doorway of the house. Then, there came Lord Shiva and while going in the house he was stopped on the gate by Ganesha on orders of her mother.

Lord Shiva became very angry and cut off Ganesha's head with his trident. When Goddess Parvati came out and saw all this, she, in her anger, asked Lord Shiva to make her son alive or to see her destroying the world. Lord Shiva then went to the earth with Lord Vishnu and took the head of the very first living being to fix it on the body of Ganesha. It was the head of an elephant. After this, Lord Shiva apologised and declared that Lord Ganesha will be worshipped before all the gods and goddesses.

 From Skanda Purana

There is yet another popular legend associated with Ganesh Chaturthi, arising from Skanda Purana. It goes that once Ganesha was invited for a feast in Chandralok. He ate many Ladoos and later, as he got up to walk after the meal, he could not balance himself, because of his huge stomach, and slipped. His stomach burst and all the laddoos came rolling out. Seeing this, the moon could not control himself and began laughing. Ganesha got angry and cursed the moon that it will vanish from the universe.

Because of moon's absence, the whole world began to wane. The gods asked Lord Shiva to get Ganesha to change his mind. The moon also apologized for his misbehavior. Finally, Ganesha modified his curse saying that the moon would be invisible on only one day of a month and would be partially seen on Ganesha Chaturthi. He also added that anyone who watches moon on Ganesha Chaturthi would face a false accusation. This is the reason why, even today, it is considered inauspicious to look at the moon on Ganesh Chaturthi.