ஓம் கம் கணபதயே நமஹ; Om Gam Ganapathayae Namah. Om refers to Atma (soul). Gam the sound of Lord Ganesha. Ganapathayae is another name of the unique Lord. Namah means I offer my salutations and bow to you.  Ganesha is the son of Shiva and Parvathi and also the elder brother of Subrahmanya (Muruga). Beginning with his absurdly endearing appearance. He has the head of an elephant and a stocky little body.  His potbelly shows that he relishes his food. He has the heart of a child, following his impulses, and does not make much ado about things. Every god has his vahana, Shiva had Nandi the bull, Vishnu has Garuda the eagle, while Ganesha rides on a mouse. He uses a serpent as a belt to hold his stomach and, one of his tusks is broken. 

Have you ever wondered why Lord Ganesha has an elephant head? He was made  by his mother Parvathi using clay, which she molded into a shape of a boy. While Shiva was on his meditative wanderings, Parvathi had asked her son to guard, while she bathed. Surprisingly Shiva returned home earlier than expected. He gets outraged finding a young boy guarding the gate. Being very impudent in claiming he was Parvathi’s son, Shiva tried to enter the room. However, little Ganesha did not allow him to enter. Hence, Shiva beheaded the boy out of anger. Parvathi came running as Ganesha started screaming due to pain and saw the boy’s miserable plight. Parvathi got angry and menaced to destroy the world if  her son’s life is not restored. Seeing the wrath of the Parvathi, Shiva replaced the head of an elephant. Ganesha gaining a new head became the most distinctive of the Hindu gods.

Now moving forward to Ganesha’s broken tusk. There are many legends regarding the tusk and Parashurama story is one of them. One day, Parashurama (an avatar of Lord Vishnu) went to pay a visit to Shiva. Along the way, Parashurama was blocked by Ganesha.  Ganesha would not let Parashurama inside to visit his father, because Shiva was resting. Parashurama getting furious hurled himself at Ganesha with his ax. Ganesha knowing that this ax was given to him by Shiva allowed the ax to be struck and lost his tusk as a result. Lord Ganesha cries in pain, while his mother comes running out of the cave. She learns about Parashurama and that he was the reason for the axing off of one of the tusks of her beloved son lord Ganesha. Parvathi worrying about her son curses Parashurama. Lord Vishnu goes to that place and disguised himself as a humble brahmin boy. Succeedingly he tells Lord Shiva that he had arrived to sort out the dilemma between Parashurama and goddess Parvathi. He preaches the Ganesha Naamaashtaka Stotra. Lord Vishnu asks  Parashurama to please the supreme goddess Parvathi by reciting holy hymns on her. Parashurama does the same, as a result of which goddess Parvati gets pacified and blesses Parashurama.  

There’s a long-held theory about Ganesha and the moon. Let’s get proceeding to that myth. After coming back from the feast at Kubera’s palace, Ganapati was riding on his mouse Dinka on the way home. It was a full moon that night. As he was riding, Dinka saw a snake and ran behind a bush. Ganapati fell to the ground and his stomach burst open. Ganapati began to put the food back in his stomach. The moon god saw him and started giggling uproariously. Angered by this, Ganapati pronounced a curse on the moon god: “You shall be always black and never be seen by anyone”. Alarmed by the curse, the moon god started pleading for mercy. Ganapati said “Ok, but you shall be changing from new moon to full moon. Also if anyone sees the moon on my birthday, he or she shall not attain moksha (liberation).” The moon god kept quiet. After Ganapati had finished putting the food in his stomach, he took the snake and tied it around his belly. Then he continued going back home.

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