The Story of Elephant God

In Hinduism, Ganesh is one of the most renowned Gods who is  worshiped in the beginning of every religious ritual,and special events. In Sanskrit, ‘Ga’ symbolizes Buddhi (intellect) and ‘Na’ symbolizes Gyan (wisdom).Thus, he is considered as the master of intellect and wisdom.  He is the son of Shiva (God of Destroyer) and Parvati, often regarded as Shakti (feminine power).Ganesh is easy to identify because he has an elephant’s head.   There are several myths about Ganesh having an elephant’s head.

Long time ago, Lord Shiva and Parvati used to live in the hilly mountains of Himalayas .One day Shiva decided to go to jungle for meditation. Parvati was alone at home. She wanted to take a bath, but there was no one around to guard her and stop people from accidentally entering the house while she  was taking shower. So, she created an image out her body wastes and turmeric paste and gave life to it with her divine power. Thus, baby Ganesh was born.

Parvati ordered Ganesh to guard the house and asked him not allow 

anyone from entering the house.Ganesh obediently followed his mother’s command, standing right in front of the main door. After a while Lord Shiva returned from his meditation, and tried to enter into the house. But little Ganesh did not let him in. Since Shiva was unknown about the miracle birth of Ganesh, he tried to convince  Ganesh that he was the husband of Parvati, and let him enter into his house. Faithful Ganesh  didn’t listen whatever Shiva told him. Feeling insulted,Shiva lost his temper and cut the head of the Ganesh with his divide trident.

Parvati was distracted with loud noises coming out from outside. She ran outside and shocked to see dead body of her son .She lost her temper and started to cry .She asked Shiva to restore life of her son. Shiva was ,then, helpless, and left with no choice.
Shiva and his armies tried   their best to find head of the Ganesh, but all the attempts went in vain.
Lord Shiva came up with an idea. He asked his armies to go north of Himalayas
and bring the head of anything which they would find on the way.  After several hours, armies came back with a head of an elephant. Lord Shiva attached the head of an elephant to the Ganesh’s body and brought him back to life. Since then  he was worshiped as Gajaraj, a God with an elephant’s head.

I have read and heard this story several times in my life. I don’ remember people telling this story to anyone at present,I mean since I left Nepal in 2006. This story was hidden  on my subconscious mind .As I  was typing  this  story today, several questions and curiosities  aroused in my mind regarding  Hindu culture and  religion.
Since ancient time Hindu society has been a patriarchal society. According to this folk story, Shiva   had an authority and a power of the universe. He had his own armies. He was praised and worshiped by everyone .He was considered  justice lover even though he killed people in his bad temper.
Women were considered  as weak, inferior, and insecure.  Parvati was scared  at her own home.  She looked for someone to guard her house. It is an irony that woman who had power to create a baby out of turmeric, but did not have guts to guard herself.

Video about birth of Ganesh

 

 Sources:-
 Who is Ganesh?

 What does Ganesh symbolizes? 

Perfect example of Stereotypes

Experiences

            After taking several classes in many universities, finally I am about to graduate. This is  my  last  semester at the  University of District of  Columbia, and soon I am  about to discover new  world of possibilities  in  a  real world.    But there are so many questions and dilemmas. Sometimes, I feel I am ready to go out and rock on.Then   again, some things scare me.  My unconscious  mind says I am   not prepared yet.

            I took a lot of classes and did   projects, presentations and papers on TV Production, Advertisement, Public Relations, Photojournalism and Media Ethics. All of these classes were interconnected and yet they were taught from their own unique perspectives.

            Even though I have galloped on different media theories, philosophies,ethics and rules,and techniques of production from different classes, I  feel  like  I am an unpolished diamond having  all shines and sparkles, but buried inside black crust of rocks.   There are ideas and perspectives but they are   not organized   and  not interconnected.So before graduation I  was looking  for  a magical class which combines   and connects all ideas  and lessons  I  learnt during  my  five years long  journey towards degree.And finally I registered in one called “Communicative Arts Seminar”.

           This class creates a great awareness among students, and helps them out to get their missions. and goals. It also prepares  them  to understand  the linkages between the various forms of creativity and communication, and  the fundamental complexities  of both.

           That’s all I  was eagerly looking for, the class which  would interconnect and combine all the skills I learn  at UDC. Again, I am an unpolished diamond and this is a time to hon it. I am sure  this class will be helpful to me .