Happy Vinayaka Chathurthi

Wishing all my friends and readers a happy Vinayaga Chathurthi.

Legend:

Lord Ganesha is very fond of sweet pudding or balls of rice flour with a sweet core. On one of His birthday He was going around house-to-house accepting the offerings of swat puddings. Having eaten a god number of these, He set out moving on His mouse at night, Suddenly the mouse stumbled as it had seen a snake and became frightened with the result that Ganesha fell down. His stomach burst open and all the sweet puddings came out. But Ganesha stuffed them back into His stomach and, catching hold of the snake, tied it around His belly.

Seeing this the moon in the sky had a hearty laugh. This unseemly behaviour of the moon annoyed Him immensely and so he pulled out one of His tusks and hurled it against the moon, and cursed that no one should look at the moon on the Ganesha Chaturthi day. If anyone does, he will surely earn a bad name, censure or ill repute.

However, if by mistake someone does happen to look at the moon on this day, and then the only way he can be freed from the curse is by repeating or listening to the story of how Lord Krishna cleared His character regarding the "Syamantaka" jewel. This story is quoted in the "Srimad Bhagavatam".

Photograph Courtesy : Forwarded Mail