By Shodhan Prasad

Daijiworld Media Network—Dubai

Dubai, Sep 15: It is nice to see that year after year the number of devotees who celebrate Ganesh Chaturti in UAE has increased.  Spiritual awareness is necessary to live in peace and harmony especially for the youth to keep them away from the wrong path.

This year, the festival of two different faiths fell on the same day and followers of both faiths got an opportunity to celebrate their festivals with grandeur.   Eid and Ganesh Chaturthi were on the same day and both Hindus and Muslims celebrated their festivals together in this part of the world. 

One should appreciate and thank the rulers of this country who have bestowed us with religious tolerance in this multicultural society and one needs to take care and perform his religious activities within the limits provided.  Respect all religions is the word in every book of faith.

The journey from Sharjah to Dubai gave an opportunity to witness many Ganesh Chaturti celebrations in various places bee it a place where a family lives or a place of worship or bachelor accommodations or even a brand new house. Everywhere Ganesh Chaturthi was celebrated with great devotion and dedication and nowhere could I find any short comings in their dedication.  Timely ‘aaratis’ and prayers with devotion were seen in all these places.  In some of the places, the ‘puja’ will be held till the 11th day whereas most of them will worship Lord Ganesha for three days or so. In Abu Dhabi also, there were celebrations in some places.

There was a huge rush at the temple in Bur Dubai where people flocked to get a ‘darshan’ of the deity. On the way to the temple, were Ganesha idols of various sizes for sale and the vendors had a busy time handling all the customers. There was a shortage of flowers, coconuts, and bananas because of the great demand though the wholesalers had arranged to increase imports well in advance.

Lord Ganesha, also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India , Nepal, and other parts of the world.  Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations. Devotion to Ganesha is widely diffused and extends to Jains, Buddhists, and beyond India.

Although he is known by many other attributes, Ganesha's elephant head makes him easy to identify. He is widely revered as the ‘Remover of Obstacles’  and more generally as Lord of Beginnings and Lord of Obstacles (Vighnesha) patron of arts and sciences, and the ‘deva’ of intellect and wisdom.  He is honoured at the beginning of rituals and ceremonies and invoked as Patron of Letters during writing sessions. Several texts relate mythological anecdotes associated with his birth and exploits and explain his distinct iconography.

Every element of the body of Ganesha has its own value significance:

• The elephant head indicates fidelity, intelligence and discriminative power

• The wide ears denote wisdom, ability to listen to people who seek help and to reflect on spiritual truths. They signify the importance of listening in order to assimilate ideas. Ears are used to gain knowledge and his large ears indicate that when God is known, all knowledge is known

• The curved trunk indicates the intellectual potentialities which manifest themselves in the faculty of discrimination between real and unreal

• The single tusk (the other being broken off) indicates Ganesha’s ability to overcome all forms of dualism

• On the forehead, the ‘Trishul’ (weapon of Shiva, similar to Trident) is depicted, symbolizing time (past, present and future) and Ganesha's mastery over it

• Ganesha’s potbelly contains infinite universes. It signifies the bounty of nature and equanimity, the ability of Ganesha to swallow the sorrows of the universe and protect the world

• The position of his legs (one resting on the ground and one raised) indicate the importance of living and participating in the material world as well as in the spiritual world, the ability to live in the world without being of the world

• The four arms of Ganesha represent the four inner attributes of the subtle body, that is: mind (Manas), intellect (Buddhi), ego (Ahamkara), and conditioned conscience (Chitta). Lord Ganesha represents the pure consciousness - the atman - which enables these four attributes to function in us

• The hand waving an axe, is a symbol of the retrenchment of all desires, bearers of pain and suffering. With this axe Ganesha can both strike and repel obstacles. The axe is also to prod man to the path of righteousness and truth

• The second hand holds a whip, a symbol of the force that ties the devout person to the eternal beatitude of God. The whip conveys that worldly attachments and desires should be overcome

• The third hand, turned towards the devotee, is in a pose of blessing, refuge, and protection (abhaya)

• The fourth hand holds a lotus flower (padma), and it symbolizes the highest goal of human evolution, the sweetness of the realised inner self.