It was finally the morning of Ganesh Chathurthi. The boys woke up and ran downstairs to see what all was going on. Their dad was getting ready to go to the market to bring flowers, incense sticks, and other necessary items for the pooja, which is the religious ceremony. Their mom and grandma were in the kitchen cooking and making sweets for the occasion.
“Grandma! Good
morning!” shouted the boys. Karan who was
still sleepy, rubbed his eyes while asking, “Grandma, can we help make
some
sweets for Ganeshji please?”
The grandma laughed and said, “Boys, I think you two would eat more sweets than make them. First go take a shower and get ready because the pooja is in the afternoon.”
The boys were full of excitement and ran to get ready as fast as possible. Arjun said, “Karan, you better hurry because I’m going to get ready before you!”
Karan laughed and said, “I’m going to race you to the bathroom and you watch, I’ll be ready first!”
Finally it was time for the pooja and friends and family had started arriving. Flower garlands were placed around the Ganesh statue and the house was filled with the aroma of sandalwood and jasmine incense sticks. All the sweets that were made, including Ganeshji’s favorite Modaks, were placed in front of the statue as an offering.
Karan and Arjun hurried downstairs dressed in their best Indian outfits. The boys were as curious as ever and went to see all the decorations and the statue of Ganeshji.
“Boys, don’t touch the sweets; remember they are for Ganeshji,” said the grandma. She looked at both the boys and gave them a big hug. “You two look so smart in your outfits,” said the grandma.
“Is it time for Ganesha’s birthday ceremony?” asked Karan.
“Yes!
It is now time
for the pooja. Go stand next to your
mom and dad while I start the ceremony,” said the grandma.
During the pooja, everybody sang religious prayers while Karan and Arjun rang little silver bells. After the pooja was over, everybody enjoyed lunch and all the sweets.
The boys quickly finished their lunch and ran over to their grandma. “Grandma, pleeeeeeease tell us another Ganesh story.”
“Okay, okay, let me tell you how Ganeshji banished the moon on his birthday!”
Just like today, it had been Ganesha’s birthday and his mom, Parvati, made all of Ganeshji’s favorite sweets, including Modaks. Ganesh was so excited seeing all of his favorite sweets that he ate them all at once. His belly grew to be so big because of all the sweets he had eaten.
Ganesha started to feel sick and decided to go outside for some fresh air. He rode around on his mouse enjoying the nice cool night just as he fell down. Ganesha looked around to see what had happened and saw that his mouse had tripped over a snake. Ganesha got back up and decided to tie the snake around his belly as a belt. All of a sudden he heard someone laughing at him and looked up to see the moon. The moon couldn’t help but laugh because Ganesha had fallen down.
This angered Ganesha very much and he shouted at the moon, “How dare you laugh at me like that? Have you no respect?”
The moon immediately stopped laughing and said, “Well, it was funny to see you fall with your big belly bouncing around everywhere.”
This angered Ganesha even more and he shouted at the moon, “Today is my birthday and you are making fun of me?”
Ganesha was so angry that he pointed at the moon and said, “From this moment I banish you! You will no longer shine and your beauty will not be seen by anyone hence forth!”
The moon got scared and said, “No, please don’t do that. I’m very sorry; I had no intention of making you angry.”
“My decision is made and this will teach you a lesson. Maybe next time you will think before you laugh.” said Ganesha. The moon sadly disappeared and Ganesha made his way back home.
The gods were not happy with Ganesha’s decision. After all, how would the Earth be able to go on without the support of the moon? Darkness would take over if there was no light from the moon to be seen. The gods rushed to see Shiva and asked him to please make Ganesh make the moon come back again. Shiva assured the gods that he would talk to Ganesha.
Shiva went to
see
Ganesha and asked him, “Ganesh, why did
you banish the moon?”
Ganesha angrily said, “Well, because he laughed at me and my big belly when I fell down, so I banished him!”
Shiva laughed and said, “Ganesh, now just because the moon laughed at you doesn’t mean you should banish him. Now what will happen to our Earth, how will she go on with out her moon? Think about how you won't be able to go out at night because there will be nothing to light your path when you travel.”
Ganesha looked down at his big belly and said, “Okay, okay, I guess I was just angry and didn’t think before I banished him. Let me go fix this, but don't think I'm going to let the moon off so easily.”
Ganesha ran outside and called the moon back. He said the moon was allowed to come back but that no one would be allowed to look at him on his birthday every year.
The moon agreed and Ganesha made him shine once again. To this day people believe it is inauspicious to look at the moon on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi.
Karan and Arjun looked at their grandma and then at each other. Both of them shouted, “I am NOT going to look at the moon today!”
The grandma smiled and said, “We better get back to the celebrations. How about we go eat some more Modaks?”
“YEAH!” shouted Karan and Arjun, as both had come to love Ganeshji’s favorite sweet too.
“Grandma, will you tell us one more story please?” asked Arjun.
“Alright, tonight I will tell you one more story about Ganesha,” said the grandma.
The
boys were as
happy as ever and couldn’t wait to hear
another story from their grandma.
Author’s Note: The story of how
Ganesha banished the moon
had many versions just as all of Ganesha’s stories do. The most common
version
I read talked about how Ganesha’s belly actually burst open when he
fell and he
tried to put everything back in his stomach. Due to this, the moon
began
laughing at him and therefore he got angry and banished the moon. Some
versions
I read actually said that first Ganesha broke off his tusk and threw it
at the
moon. I chose to tell this version but changed some things and tried to
retell
it in a fun way. Some versions said that Ganesh could not take back his
curse
and therefore made it so that the moon would wax and wane. He also made
it so
that the moon would be absent from the sky once a month. I had heard
before
that looking at the moon on the day of Ganesh Chathurthi was bad, but I
never
knew why until now. Also in my version of this story, I wanted to
include both
Parvati and Shiva in this story, who were not mentioned in the original
story. I plan to tell one last story about Ganesh
where the grandma will tell the boys later that same evening.