As Lord Krishna travels to town and our home, we wish all our readers in India and abroad a very happy Janmashtami. As we celebrate Krishna’s birthday tomorrow, I pray to him to bless us with a world where we can travel again like before. Without the masks.

But last night when I saw this beautiful creation by these two young artists, first it brought a smile on my face and next it gave me a real scare. Despite many of us trying to follow social distancing to the extent possible and using masks the right way, there are so many who don’t give a damn. And the next thought, ‘Oh God save us so that we can move freely like this and travel again’. Hearing my prayers and to add more divine intervention, there comes Ganesha – The God of travel in a few days time. With his reassuring hand.

Ganesha is the God of new beginnings and of tiding over obstacles. That’s how we mostly remember him. But how many of us know that he is also the God of travel. Want to listen to the story behind his feat? It’s very interesting.

When Lord Shiva was giving out the god heads to his sons, he tried to make it fair so that there was no fighting. But there was one god head still left. One that Shiva hadn’t given out, The God of Travel. And both the sons wanted it. ‘Let me be the god of travel’ said Kartikeya. I have a peacock who can move very fast and fly too. And Ganesha thought ‘how am I going to win? I only have Dinka, this old mouse to travel on. And I am too fat from all the laddoos (an Indian sweet) I love to have. Poor mouse, how can he ever undertake a long journey with me on top, although he has good speed’, he wondered.

Meanwhile the story also goes that Sage Narada had visited Lord Shiva on Mount Kailash and given him a mango. Now this was not an ordinary mango but a special one given to him by Lord Brahma. The one who ate it would gain knowledge and wisdom. So Lord Shiva decided to have a competition between his sons, after consulting with Parvati his wife, and made the mango the prize.

Both boys Kartikeya and Ganesha were eager to win the title of ‘The God of travel’ and have the mango to receive the privilege of ‘knowledge and wisdom’. The terms were that whoever circled the world thrice would win both the honors. Kartikeya didn’t waste any time on thought. He jumped on to his peacock and zoomed off before anyone could even blink. But at certain points, he thought he saw his brother’s rotund figure ahead of him. But he was not sure so he continued on his way.

In the meantime, after going around a bit Ganesha was soon back on Mount Kailash. He called his parents and asked them to sit together. Then he folded his hands and went around them thrice. “Now give me the travel God head and the mango” he demanded after finishing the rounds. Shiva and Parvati looked at him in surprise. “Give you the mango?” they asked. “But you haven’t fulfilled the terms of the competition”. Ganesha looked at Shiva with a devoted look and said; ‘my mother and father are the world to me’. Shiva agreed it was a nice answer. ‘You can be the god of travel and you get the mango too’ he decided. And that’s how Ganesha became the god of travel, knowledge and wisdom.

As a child I wondered why Ganesha had the head of an elephant and one day asked my father the reason. And he explained. Once goddess Parvati was taking her bath and didn’t want anyone to disturb her. Since Nandi, the bull who was Shiva’s vahana (transport) and also one of his chief attendants, was not around to keep a watch, Parvati formed a shape of a boy from the turmeric paste rubbed off from her body and breathed life into him. She instructed the boy not to let anyone enter.

As soon as Shiva came out of meditation, he wanted to see her. But he was not allowed to enter by the unknown boy despite telling him that he was the husband of Parvati. This irritated Lord Shiva and he beheaded the boy and he died on the spot. When Parvati got to learn about it, she became enraged and threatened to destroy everything. Lord Shiva convinced her to reconsider her plan, which she agreed on two conditions – the boy is brought back to life and he is worshiped before all other deities.

Lord Shiva agreed to her conditions and ordered his servants to bring the head of the first dead creature, facing north. The servants returned with an elephant head. Then Lord Shiva replaced the boy’s head with the elephant’s head and breathed life into him. Since then, Ganesha is identified as Gajanana (elephant-headed), Ekadanta (the one having only one tusk), and Ganapati (leader of all ganas and the foremost of all gods).

Ganesha being one of the most popular God in the country, he is worshiped at the beginning of every new venture as it is believed that he grants success, protection and prosperity. Devotees offer him sweets like modak and ladoo as he is believed to be very fond of them.

The annual festival which marks the birth of Lord Ganesha, Ganesh Chaturthi falls on August 22 this year. Also referred to as Vinayaka Chaturthi, the celebrations of the festival go on for 10 consecutive days and starts with an installation of clay idol of Lord Ganesha in homes (privately) or pandals (publically). People sing devotional songs, offer prayers and prepare prasadam. On the 10th day (Ananta Chaturdashi), the idols are carried away in a public procession, involving a lot of music and dance. Then they are immersed in a water body. With the immersion of the idols, it is believed that Lord Ganesha has returned to Mount Kailash

Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated throughout India, with Mumbai community Pujas being the most famous of them all. The festival is also celebrated in other countries like Nepal, Australia, Canada, Fiji, Mauritius, South Africa among others. Though Ganesha is a Hindu God, he is also worshiped in Jainism and Buddhism. This year though all celebrations are being done on a reduced scale with most organizers instead donating towards Covid 19 charity funds.

On the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, we at ‘Travels with passion’ and ‘Ajay Chandak Art’ hada very special offer.

“Ganesha – The God of travel”, a selection of ‘Ganesha & Travel paintings’ for your home and workplace.

Here were some of the paintings!

Ganesha Paintings

Travel Paintings

Hope you loved Ganesha as much as we do. PIN it for later!