It was the seventh day of Ganesh Chaturthi, and as Ganesha was preparing to enter the room where all the worshippers waited, he felt as if he was forgetting something.

"Manzara," Ganesha asked, "I feel as if I've forgotten something, but I cannot think of what it could possibly be."  Manzara's eyes traced his god's figure for a moment.

"Ah ha!" Manzara called out." The serpent is missing!"

"Oh, yes. You are right indeed," Ganesha said as he grabbed the serpent from the floor.

"I remember the day I came to have this serpent. I think I will share that story today with my devotees," Ganesha said as he climbed on his rat.

"I think that is a great idea," Manzara replied as he carried Ganesha out.

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It was the birthday of Ganesha, and he had been invited to the house of Hanuman for coconut dosas. Ganesha was very full by the time he left Hanuman's house and found it very hard to lift himself to sit on his rat for the ride home.
On their way home, a serpent crossed their path. Manzara, the rat, got very frightened of the serpent and ran in the opposite direction. Ganesha lost his balance and fell off of Manzara, and his overstuffed stomach burst open. The moon, who was watching this, burst out in much laughter that the earth began to shake. Ganesha felt humiliated, so he reached for the snake, killed it, and wrapped it around his stomach. 

He then turned around and ran towards the moon.
Determined to catch the moon, Ganesha kept increasing the speed of his pace with each step.


Seeing this, the moon feared for his life and quickly darted from the sky. Finding refuge in his home, the moon hid there until no sign of Ganesha was found.


When Ganesha finally arrived at the moon's home, he stood guard outside his house, saying, "You laugh at me from a distance, oh moon, but where are you now? Where can you run off to now? Sooner or later, you will come out, and I'll have my payback on you."



The sky became very dark while the moon was in hiding. Weeks had passed, and the nights became chaotic.



The bats and moths had a difficult time finding their food because they relied on the moon's reflected light to locate the nectar-filled flowers and fruits, the non-nocturnal animals wandered into foreign places, mistaking them for their home, and the sun began to miss his dear friend.  


The gods approached Ganesha and pleaded with him to free the moon. Ganesha finally submitted to their pleas, but cursed the moon by saying, "You hid in your house as a thief would hide after committing his crime. Therefore, on my birthday no one should gaze upon the moon, and if they do, they will be accused of being a thief!"
As Ganesha rode away on his rat, the moon rose out of his home. He greeted the stars and the sun, and he never was seen laughing at another's ill fortunes.



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As Ganesha finished his story, he looked up at the clear sky, searching for the moon.

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Coconut Dosas

Ingredients:
1. 1 cup coconut
2. 1 1/4 cup plain rice flour
3. water
4. Salt to taste

Directions:
1. Grind coconut (leave some small pieces of coconut).
2. Add coconut to plain rice flour.
3. Mix well and add water (it's better to make a slightly thicker batter with this recipe).
4. Add salt to taste.
5. Pour batter on a hot frying pan (poured in a circular motion from outer edge to inside).
6. Enjoy!

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Author's Note: I used a third person narrative in my story retelling of "Ganesha's Birthday." I had to elaborate on my retelling of the story because the original source was not very long or descriptive.  I changed the house Ganesha was having dinner at from a devotee to Hanuman, but I did not include any scenes in my story about the visit at Hanuman's. In my story, I did not include much dialogue, but I did add my own details concerning the 'chaotic events' that took place during the moon's absence. I also included coconut dosas into my story so that I could add the recipe to the end of it. I chose this recipe because it is a fairly simple recipe to follow, dosas are really good (especially with chutney), and it included coconut. I chose to include this story into my storybook to let the reader know more about the character of Ganesha and why the serpent is found in all his images.  I also found it interesting as to why no one is to gaze upon the moon during Ganesh Chaturthi (Ganesha's birthday). Although this story does not involve any family members of Ganesha, it includes more involvement of Manzara's character.
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Coverpage

Story one: The Creation of Ganesha

Story two: The Race Around the World

Story three: Birthday of Ganesha

Story four: Writing the Mahabharata

Bibliography: "Another Story of Ganesh" from Indian Mythology Story forum.
Image Information: "Bhutan Mural Ganesha" from Souljerky (2007).
Image Information: "Moon" from Astromax by Unknown.
Recipe Information: "Coconut Dosas" received from Meera's blog (2007).